[Music]
hurricane alert hurricane alert the
National Weather Service has announced a
hurricane hey kids if you heard this
emergency report on TV or the radio
would you be concerned would you be
alarmed what would you do would you know
what to do today we're talking about the
severe weather phenomenon you know a
giant swirling storm accompanied by
severe thunderstorms with sustained
winds of at least 74 miles per hour the
event we call a hurricane this kind of
storm is known as a typhoon in the
Northwest Pacific and called a cyclone
in the South Pacific and Indian Oceans
these severe storms grow by different
names around the world each one gets its
own name have you ever been in a
hurricane have you ever experienced
seeing in a heavy rainstorm with thunder
and lightning were you scared
it's okay to be scared in a storm
severe weather scares us all because
it's so unpredictable let's learn about
how hurricanes are formed a hurricane in
the northern hemisphere generally boils
up between the months of June and
November as tropical sea water is heated
by the Sun this warming air rises into
the atmosphere forming rain clouds while
down below the warm air is replaced with
cooler air which is warmed and rises
it's like a cycle and the cycle repeats
over again as long as there is a supply
of warm sea water as a clouds cool rains
fall and winds develop the earth as it
rotates causes the storm to spin and if
the resulting circulating winds reach 39
miles per hour the storm becomes a
tropical depression and the storm gets a
name tropical storms are tracked very
closely by radar until they peter out
and die but if they gain more energy
from warm waters they grow and grow and
if the sustained
wind speed reaches 74 miles per hour BAM
a hurricane is born these massive storms
can reach 50,000 feet high and spread
out a hundred and 25 miles in diameter a
hurricane with a name may wander
aimlessly out at sea in the northern
hemisphere they rotate counterclockwise
the southern hemisphere they rotate
clockwise
look at the center of the hurricane and
this satellite imagery can you see the
eye of the hurricane the eye of the
hurricane has common peaceful and the
skies are clear in the eye you might
think the storm is over
but it's not over it's about to get
worse the eye wall is where the winds
are the fastest and the most destructive
we may know a lot about hurricanes but
we still don't know enough it takes two
courageous men and women of NOAA the
National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration to help us learn more
flying aboard the two powerful lockheed
p-3 orion airplanes also known as Kermit
and Miss Piggy these brave scientists
called Hurricane Hunters fly into the
hurricane yep
they fly in and out of the storm and
even through the eye with special
instruments they collect data to help us
learn more about hurricanes well that's
incredible thanks Noah hopefully a
hurricane dies at sea but it may wander
toward land watches and warnings go out
to entire regions and States asking the
people to prepare for the coming storm
they may have to leave their homes a
list of names has been established and
they are used on a six-year rotation
it's important to name these violent
storms to avoid confusion that way they
can be followed boys names and girls
names are used alternately in
alphabetical order and if the hurricane
has been especially destructive and loss
of life severe that name is retired the
saffir-simpson hurricane wind scale is
used to grade the intensity of a
hurricane let's look at the categories
category 1 winds are clocked between 74
and 95 miles per hour and may result in
some damage a category 2 storm has winds
at 96 to 110 miles per
and the damage can be expected to be
extensive category three hurricanes are
extremely dangerous and with wind
measured from a hundred and eleven to a
hundred and twenty nine miles per hour
the damage will be devastating you can
expect extreme damage from a category
four hurricane with winds reaching a
hundred and fifty six miles per hour and
with the category five hurricane
the damage is catastrophic with winds
exceeding a hundred and fifty seven
miles per hour on September 20th 2017 a
category five hurricane struck the
island of Puerto Rico the damage and
loss of life has been devastating all
three point four million residents were
plunged into a deep crisis this
hurricane was named Maria and it
affected many of the islands of the
Caribbean it will take years for them to
recover destruction is not only caused
from high winds of a hurricane but also
from the tremendous amount of water that
comes with it
bringing massive and widespread flooding
the most important thing to do when a
hurricane is approaching is to evacuate
often local governments have emergency
areas to evacuate to and provide shelter
until the storm passes in the year 1900
the unnamed hurricane that struck
Galveston Texas was the deadliest
natural disaster in US history killing
between 6,000 and 12,000 people other
hurricanes of recent years which have
also left a path of widespread
destruction are Andrew of 1992 which
pummeled South Florida and Louisiana in
2005 hurricanes Wilma Rita and Katrina
bowled through the Atlantic Basin and
with the one-two-three punch showed
little mercy
and in October of 2018 hurricane Michael
the first category 5 hurricane since
Andrew smashed into the Florida
Panhandle this storm also affected
Central America parts of Mexico and Cuba
and there were billions and billions of
dollars in losses to homes and
businesses and to roads and bridges
Hurricane Michael was devastating
although a hurricane begins to lose
energy as it makes landfall the size and
strength that even a weakening storm is
still enough to cause a lot of grief
severe tornadoes are also a byproduct of
weakening hurricanes what would you do
if you heard the hurricane warning go
out would you be prepared and would you
be willing to help the countless people
and their pets harshly affected by these
unforgiving spectacles of nature if you
should ever be in the path of a
hurricane don't panic follow the
instructions of your local emergency
response team and be safe
be prepared thanks for following
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