Hurricanes

I have always had a fascination with hurricanes. Perhaps that is because I have been fortunate enough to never have been in the path of one. I was first captivated by the intensity of hurricanes when I saw news reports about Hurricane Mitch in 1998. That year I also was fascinated with the El Nino phenomenon, which seemed to be all over the news that year.

Hurricane Mitch was a Category 5 hurricane that devastated Central America, killing almost 20,000 people. Watching the footage of the storm's destruction woke me up to a fact about hurricanes:

Just because the wind is blowing really fast doesn't mean the wind is what will kill you. It is the effect of the water that really causes the most damage. Most of the deaths and damage were caused by massive flooding.

I think that misconception about hurricanes blowing you to death is likely caused by their close association with tornados – but tornadoes are much more violent locally because they are a more concentrated column of spinning air. The spinning vortex in a tornado can get much faster than it can in most hurricanes because it's a tighter loop, comparatively.

The fastest recorded tornado wind speed ever was 484 kph. The fastest hurricane speed on record was 305 kph. I still would prefer to avoid both.

You can theoretically sidestep a tornado that is bearing down on you if you take the right path. But hurricanes cover a much larger surface area – you pretty much have to move inland to avoid a hurricane. And inland is where most tornadoes form.

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Now for a tangent.

Why are a Texas tornado and a Tennessee divorce similar? Somebody's gonna lose a trailer.

I don't understand how mobile homes seem to often get swept up in tornadoes. It's a mobile home! You can at least make the effort to put the key in the ignition and try to drive out of the path of the funnel cloud...

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In all seriousness, hurricanes are forces of nature to be wary of. I want to offer a prayer to all those living in areas that will be affected by hurricanes this year. May you be safe, and be able to rebuild all that you have lost.