Hurricanes

Students Names: John A. and Cindy P.
Type of Storm: Hurricanes
Summary:

  A hurricane can be defined as a tropical cyclone with high wind speeds of more than 74 miles per hour. Flooding, high speed wind, tornadoes and torrential downpours are to be expected. The top two storms we researched are The Bhola Cyclone which hit Pakistan in 1970 and Hurricane Thelma which hit the Philippines in 1991.

   The Bhola cyclone was a disastrous hurricane that struck the east of Pakistan (now known as Bangladesh) and India’s west Bengal. It was the top most deadly hurricane of all time of the tropics, and also the most deadly natural disaster of all time. The storm claimed up to 500,000 lives from flooding due to storm surges.  Peak winds were recorded at 115mph. Bhola took out crops, vegetation. The Pakistani government was severely criticized for its delayed handling of the relief operations following the storm, both by local political leaders in East Pakistan and in the international media. Furthermore, The Indian government received many ship reports from the Bay of Bengal that were giving meteorological information on the cyclone, but as Indo-Pakistani relations were generally hostile, the information was not passed on to the Pakistani government. A large part of the population was taken by surprise by the storm. Below is a picture of the storm:

 

   

Hurricane Thelma was the deadliest storm of the Pacific in 1991’s typhoon season. Thelma was considered a minimal storm and did not produce the strongest of winds, but it did produce torrential rains. This rainfall resulted in catastrophic events such as dam failures, landslides, and flash flooding, which in turn, caused an estimated 6,000 casualties. Tens of thousands of people were left homeless in the aftermath; Ormoc City was the most impacted. The name ‘Thelma’ was retired, meaning that it cannot be used in the future. Below is a picture of Hurricane Thelma: