Organizational behavior is majorly a study of the way people act in their workplace. Public administrators and managers usually learn organizational behavior to help them understand employee motivation from different perspectives, such as engaging the staff members, managing bosses, and working with the public behind the scenes. Many theories of motivation have been formulated by theorists to create mechanisms for regulating the behavior of people working in organizations. Some major theorists studying this issue include Shafritz, Luddites, Hugo Münsterberg, and Frederick Taylor. This paper mainly addresses the methods each of these theorists would use to manage the consequences of the Katrina disaster and whether their approaches could be implemented or not.
Theories applicable to those affected by Hurricane Katrina
Most public administrator’s organizations are mainly created to serve human needs, hence the government should ensure that those who were affected by Hurricane Katrina are taken care of (Shafritz, Ott & Jang 2011). Those who needed more funds to rebuild their Louisiana homes should be given the remaining funds by the government through public administration to improve their lifestyle. According to Shafritz, both the organizations and the people are interconnected, whereby every organization needs new talents, ideas, and energy, while people need work opportunities, salaries, and careers.
Ruberts’ family which lives in Covington, Louisiana, after being affected by the Katrina disaster, complains of a lack of jobs; especially, this concerns Michael Ruberts who has not been able to get a steady job since the disaster occurred. The families had lost their homes and were displaced by the Katrina disaster and that is why they no longer had their jobs. It is the responsibility of the government to ensure that such kinds of people get stable jobs to enable them to support their families (Vakola 2010).
Michael Ruberts and Angie Ruberts are talented people, but they will not be able to fully reveal all their talent in organizations if they are undermined when it comes to payment. According to Hugo Münsterberg, people should be properly appreciated in the organizations, and I agree with him as this can help such people as Ruberts family.
Shafritz explained that a poor relationship between an organization and individuals may impact negatively both parties. Either the individual may decide to exploit the company, or the company may exploit its employee (Shafritz & Borick 2010). In the case of Michael Ruberts, the gas company is actually exploiting him. He is expected to pay more each day yet he does not earn enough. The gas company failed to communicate with the people and consider their financial status, so when the bills for the gas were brought, they appeared to be extremely high to be paid at once as the organization expected.
Good communication between the organization and individuals is usually a benefit for both, thus the people will be able to see the meaning of their work and feel confident and satisfied with what they are doing, especially if they are treated well by the managers and receive good payments (Shafritz & Borick 2010). On the other hand, the organization will be able to get new ideas and the needed talents to achieve success. According to Sigmund Freud, it is the mandate of an organization to motivate employees, especially those who seek work because they are in need of security; these are, for example, Roberts’ family (Katherine 2012).
Conclusion
This paper has mainly addressed in what ways each of these theorists would approach the Katrina disaster. Most of the approaches stated by the theorists are acceptable. However, one of the biggest questions one can ask is whether the government will be able to apply the theories or not to help those affected by the Katrina disaster?
Have you ever been through something so traumatizing and devastating that it gave you nightmares? One of my worst experiences was of hurricane Katrina. Everything was unexpected from the time we were informed, during the storm, and even the aftermath. One thing I can say is that it was one unforgettable experience. One beautiful morning I was sitting in the living room eating breakfast before school, as usual, when something caught my attention. The news anchor was informing us of a tropical storm forming in the Bahamas. Predictions said it would be in route for Louisiana. It really didn’t bother me because we rode out every other storm so this one here was just going to be a breeze. Later on I would find out I was totally wrong. They issued a mandatory evacuation of the entire city. By us living on the outsurts we still were thinking ‘How bad could it really be?’ With our minds still made up we started preparation.
I remember the day Hurricane Ike struck Texas and Louisiana back in 2008. It was Friday night, September 12, 2008, in Houston Texas. I was 11 at the time and my mom and dad were sitting in front of the TV watching as Ike crept closer towards Texas. My dad went to Walmart and got some dry food, flashlights and batteries for the storm. I was really nervous because of the size of Ike (it was 450 miles wide!) and the damage it might cause overnight. I was walking around thinking the worse and even taking a long last look at my apartment complex with my neighbor’s friend!
It started getting windy around 6 pm (winds around 40 mph) and we got scared and ran home. Twigs from the 100 foot pine trees started to break off and leaves were flying everywhere. My mom and I were walking to Pops Supermarket to get some last minute things and the checkout line was long. When we were finally done, the winds blew open the door and everybody went silent.
We went home quickly. Dad was in the bedroom with his hardhat on playing with the flashlight as he watched the news. There was a phone bank with citizens asking questions to Dr. Neil on Channel 11 about what kind of damage they could expect. I ran outside at 10 pm and the winds were still at 40mph but they started to gust past 50 and I was on my porch watching the palm tree near me sway in the wind. The tall pine trees were bending slightly as I heard them rustle in the wind. More leaves and trash were airborne now.
I couldn’t stand against wind as I tried to go downstairs and the wind kept pushing me back. I gave up and went back upstairs once my folks told me it’s no longer safe to be wandering. The wind was howling at the back window. My dad managed to use an old bed to cover the window and it was reinforced with the couch in his bedroom. I tried to fall asleep but the wind was howling constantly and gusts started to become a little more frequent. At around 11:30 pm, it was getting blustery outside and my dad tried to microwave a burrito (worst time for a snack!) and the lights started to flicker. We ran to the closet but we started to fuss when my mom didn’t want to get in. She was terrified and we tried to calm her down but another loud gust blew in and the carport downstairs started rumbling.
The wind was starting to make squealing and screeching noises. We were silent for a couple minutes staring at the back window. I could see an outline of the trees whipping in the wind from the street light. Dad and I went inside and mom slept in the living room. For another 30 minutes the lights would flicker as we listened to Paul and Tom on the radio. I lay down on the floor and dad sat on his big tool box playing with the flashlight. Around 12:30 am, we lost power and he winds got louder. It sounded like a train one minute and a wolf howling the next second. The winds were probably between 70 and 80 by that time. My dad went out to get my mom but I remember my mom opening the door to look outside to get a peek. It was terrifying. In the sea of darkness the palm tree was bending back and forth violently. Water was falling from the roofs like Niagara Falls. The giant pine trees were bending at 45 degree angles with branches snapping off.
Mom closed the door and finally took refuge in the closet. She was crying at one point and we told her we were going to make it out. At 1:30 am the back window shattered and glass and rain started to come in. I flashed a light to help dad see and he had to get some trash bags to cover the TV and computer in his room and push the couch to push the beds that were covering the broken window back up but the wind kept pushing them down.
Around 2:00 am, the radio said Ike made landfall at Galveston and Houston and the surrounding area was being battered by high winds and heavy surge flooding. Dad took note of the sky looking orange when we opened the closet door to let some cool air in since it was hot inside the closet! I heard debris hitting the building and the wind was deafening. The winds were above 75mph around that time. All night the wind was screaming. We spent 10 to 12 hours in the closet until noon Saturday.
It was a mess outside. Shingles littered the floor and tree branches and twigs were everywhere. My dad’s old pair of shoes were still next to the door! The courtyard was even worse. Pine trees were snapped in half and entire trees were down on the ground. I helped our neighbors clean up the debris and clear the pathways. Dad went to get more food and water. We ate what we could and had to walk around to find some food and hot water. Mom and dad were upset but glad we made it out unscathed. We walked around the neighborhood seeing the damage. A lot of tree damage and some leaning power lines. I couldn’t sleep that Saturday night with all the humidity. My mom and I were listening to updates from the mayor and city officials.
We were both scared out of wits and I cried but my mom reassured me that we made it and we are OK. By Sunday afternoon the power was restored and we started to learn about the true devastation Ike did to the state. I was thankful that we didn’t lost our home or lives for that manner. Some areas along the coast were wrecked or wiped out from the storm surge. I remember the reporter on 13 trying to get a grip on his emotions as he went through the damage and ruins at Bolivar Peninsula. Watching the wreckage, it ran a chill down my spine but but it showed me the true power of these cyclones. Ike would cause me to take preparations more seriously and now I stock more supplies to prepare for every season. I know it’s not much of a story but tropical cyclones are nothing to mess with.
Hurricane Barry took place July 11th-19th, 2019 primarily in Marsh Island, Louisiana and in Intracoastal City, Louisiana. These cities lie near a Latitude of 29.3 North and Longitude of 91.9 West (AccuWeather 2019). Although Hurricane Barry is mostly known for its large impact on the central coast of Louisiana, other states such as Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, and Mississippi, also suffered many minor damages due to the strong winds and rain of Hurricane Barry. Before Barry was officially considered a hurricane, a hurricane had not developed in the Gulf of Mexico since Hurricane Cindy in 2017 (AccuWeather 2019). Barry has been traced back to having began as a mesovortices over the midwestern United States, specifically Kansas, on July 4th, 2019 (Nhc.noaa.gov 2019). The system gradually was able to make its way over to the Gulf of Mexico on July 10th by passing through Tennessee, Georgia, and the eastern Florida Panhandle. When the system finally reached the Gulf of Mexico, it was almost immediately classified as a tropical cyclone, named Tropical Cyclone Barry. (Nhc.noaa.gov 2019).
Some of the beginning signs of Hurricane Barry consisted of tropical storms, and a widespread abundance of rainfall and thunderstorms along the southeastern coast of the United States. As Barry was forming a large ridge, or elongated area of high atmospheric pressure, was over the central and western United States (Wpc.ncep.noaa.gov 2019). Because of this large ridge, it caused Tropical Cyclone Barry to be pushed out more towards the southern portion of the United States, which is why Hurricane Barry took place primarily off the coast of Louisiana.
Barry became the second named storm of the 2019 Atlantic Hurricane Season, and when it reached its maximum wind speed of 75mph and low pressure of 991mbar on July 13th, it became the first official hurricane of the season (AccuWeather 2019). When it had reached its hurricane status, Barry touched land both in Marsh Island and Intracoastal City, Louisiana, and proceeded to progress further on land for about a 24 hour period. In preparation for Hurricane Barry to hit, Louisiana’s governor, John Bel Edwards, declared a state of emergency on July 12th, 2019, and on the same day, he requested a federal disaster declaration for the entire state, which was approved later that evening. When the storm weakened on July 15th, Barry was classified back down to a tropical storm status and degenerated over Arkansas. As Hurricane Barry was nearing its end, it slowly weakened and simultaneously moved eastward. Finally on the morning of July 19th, 2019, the remains of Barry were drawn up by another frontal system, or low pressure area off the coast of New Jersey, and the atmospheric pressure along the southeastern coast was able to return back to normal (The Weather Channel 2019).
Although Hurricane Barry only ever reached a category 1 rating on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale, the scale in which classifies hurricanes, there were still multiple minor damages and a few major damages that can be attributed to Hurricane Barry. Among the many rescue calls by distressed swimmers in Panama City Beach, Florida, there was one older man who was unable to make it out of the waters in which unfortunately resulted in his passing. This is the only death that is attributed to Hurricane Barry (Rocha 2019). However, there were many people in Louisiana, Arkansas, and Mississippi who were rescued because of fast moving waters. Because of Hurricane Barry’s strong winds, a tornado blew through New Orleans, Louisiana in which causing the complete damage of two homes. Fortunately, not many homes were damaged, but many people in Louisiana did experience multiple day power outages and on the banks of the Atchafalaya River in Morgan City, Louisiana, there was heavy flooding in which caused some damage to the homes, streets, roads, and other features of the city making it difficult to get places (The Weather Channel 2019).
Although hurricane Barry was only responsible for one death, there were many different places along the coast of Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi, and even in southern Ontario that were significantly impacted by Hurricane Barry, and had to bare the expenses of fixing their state’s damages. For example, in Mobile, Alabama, there were over 80,000 gallons of water flooding into the streets resulting in the closing of highly attended beaches such as Gulf Shores and Orange Beach (AccuWeather 2019). Hurricane Barry made state history in Arkansas by being the state’s wettest tropical cyclone. The state of Arkansas experienced a total of 16.59 inches of rainfall near the city of Dierks (AccuWeather 2019). Louisiana was even experiencing damages before Hurricane Barry was even declared a true hurricane. Flooding occurred in New Orleans on July 10th due to the amount of rain in Barry’s developing stages. Barry also caused damages in southern Ontario on July 17th in which flash flooding occurred on the highway leading to multiple cars immersed in water. Toronto had not seen this much rainfall in the month of July since 2013 (AccuWeather 2019). Since Hurricane Barry was not as dramatic as other hurricanes we have seen in the last five years, not many people think of it as having impacted the United States very much, but even for a lesser hurricane we still see expenses quickly add up. Ultimately, the damages caused by Hurricane Barry added up quickly amongst all the areas it impacted, and to repair all of the destruction ended up costing $600-650 million (Nhc.noaa.gov 2019).
Fortunately for the people living on the southeastern coast of the United States, Hurricane Barry was short lived. It was a quick forming hurricane in the Gulf of Mexico that meteorologists were able to quickly predict because of its early forming mesoscale convective vortex in the midwestern United States about a week and a half before it was declared a category 1 hurricane. It fluctuated from tropical storm to cyclone to hurricane and then back to tropical storm, but it is still an interesting natural disaster to study because of its mild severity compared to what is normally thought of when one hears the term hurricane. Hurricanes do not always have to be massive, destructive, and long-lasting to be classified as one, rather, they come in all different types of intensities to be measured.
Hurricane Ida was a deadly and destructive Category 4 Atlantic hurricane that became the second-most damaging and intense hurricane to make landfall in the U.S. state of Louisiana on record, behind Hurricane Katrina in 2005. In terms of maximum sustained winds at landfall (150 mph (240 km/h)), Ida tied 2020’s Hurricane Laura and the 1856 Last Island hurricane as the strongest on record to hit the state.[1] The remnants of the storm also caused a tornado outbreak and catastrophic flooding across the Northeastern United States. The ninth named storm, fourth hurricane, and second major hurricane of the 2021 Atlantic hurricane season, Ida originated from a tropical wave in the Caribbean Sea on August 23. On August 26, the wave developed into a tropical depression, which organized further and became Tropical Storm Ida later that day, near Grand Cayman. Amid favorable conditions, Ida intensified into a hurricane on August 27, just before moving over western Cuba. A day later, the hurricane underwent rapid intensification over the Gulf of Mexico, and reached its peak intensity as a strong Category 4 hurricane while approaching the northern Gulf Coast, with maximum sustained winds of 150 mph (240 km/h) and a minimum central pressure of 929 millibars (27.4 inHg). On August 29, the 16th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina making landfall, Ida made landfall near Port Fourchon, Louisiana, devastating the town of Grand Isle. Ida weakened steadily over land, becoming a tropical depression on August 30, as it turned northeastward. On September 1, Ida transitioned into a post-tropical cyclone as it accelerated through the Northeastern United States, breaking multiple rainfall records in various locations before moving out into the Atlantic on the next day. Afterward, Ida’s remnant moved into the Gulf of St. Lawrence and stalled there for a couple of days, before being absorbed into another developing low-pressure area early on September 5.
The precursor to Ida caused catastrophic and deadly flash flooding in Venezuela. Ida knocked down palm trees and destroyed many homes in Cuba during its brief passage over the country. Throughout its path of destruction in Louisiana, more than a million people in total had no electrical power. Widespread heavy infrastructural damage occurred throughout the southeastern portion of the state, as well as extremely heavy flooding in coastal areas. New Orleans’ levees survived (unlike during Katrina), though power line damage was extensive throughout the whole city. There was also substantial plant destruction in the state. Numerous tornadoes were spawned by Ida as it moved over the Eastern United States. The remnants of the storm produced unexpectedly severe damage in the Northeastern United States on September 1–2. Several intense tornadoes and catastrophic flash flooding swept through the entire region, which had already been impacted by several tropical cyclones, Elsa, Fred, and Henri during July and August. The flooding in New York City prompted the shutdown of much of the transportation system.
Ida is the fifth-costliest tropical cyclone on record, and the fourth-costliest Atlantic hurricane in the United States, having caused at least $75.25 billion (2021 USD) in damages. Of this total, at least $18 billion was in insured losses in Louisiana, $250 million was in Cuba, and $584 million was from agriculture damage in the U.S., surpassing Hurricane Ike of 2008. CoreLogic estimated that Ida caused an estimated $16 to 24 billion in flooding damage in the Northeastern United States, making it the costliest storm to hit the region since Hurricane Sandy in 2012, with an estimated $44 billion in Insured loss.
A total of 107 deaths were attributed to Ida, including 87 in the United States and 20 in Venezuela. In the United States, 30 deaths were in Louisiana, 29 in New Jersey, 17 in New York, 5 in Pennsylvania, 2 in Mississippi, 2 in Alabama, 1 in Maryland, and 1 in Connecticut. There was also a remarkable number of hospitalizations and deaths in the Greater New Orleans Area as a result of carbon monoxide poisoning while using portable gas generators with inadequate ventilation, including three in a family of four in Marrero, Louisiana on September 1, 2021.
Hurricane glass candle holders are some of the ancient tools that are still valued highly today. You may have come across them during the festive season shopping sprees. These beautiful antiques at the store are quite catchy to the eye. Nonetheless, how to intermarry them with house aesthetics remains a mystery to most.
The adorable hurricane glass candle holders come in different designs suited for different functions and events. Getting the trick right is key. Furthermore, they still come in handy when the lights bail out on you. In this case, they not only come as a quick fix but also serve to give a cool and peaceful ambiance. Buying the right type is key. You may, therefore, need the following helpful tips during your next trip to the store.
Consider the event
Hurricane glass candle holders come in various works of art which suit different purposes. For instance, if planning for a dinner party, the variety to choose from is wide. The big metal and glass candle holders are one alternative. They come with tall chimneys that can fit a three-inch candle, while at the same time, keeping the breeze at bay. Contemporary hurricane glass candle holders adorned with metal facets come in handy for a big party. They are characterized by diamond-shaped metal facets towering over the hurricane glass candle holder at the center. They are best suited in high places that are out of reach during the thronged event.
Sections of the house
While many might only think of the dining room, hurricane glass candle holders can be used in several other spots within your house. Think of the patio! That’s why it is called a hurricane glass candle holder; to keep the strong breeze away from your precious flame! The ceramic and glass hurricane candle holder is perfectly suited for such a spot. Its ceramic base keeps it from toppling over.
In case the lights go out while you are in the living room, the wood and glass hurricane lamp is the best companion. Adorned with a wide, curved base made of wood, it can accommodate a large five-inch candle. With this, you can consider the night sorted for a long read or for a nice long chat.
The mood
This is where you get to set the atmosphere you want for different days. Be it the time for the reflective nights or the romantic dinners, you are definitely spoilt for choice. The Chauncey hurricane glass candle holder is specially designed for classic quiet evenings by yourself. The soft candle flame dancing in the reflection of the gold honeycomb-shaped metal will blow your mind away. Better still, the list is endless when it comes to romantic dinner evenings. One such option is the nautical hurricane candle lamp with a flared top. The best thing about it is its adaptability with many add-ons such as burlap runners.
The wonder is all in your mind
The grand secret in using a hurricane glass candle holder is in the flexibility of your own imagination. You can even dare get out of the box and replace the candle with simple but catchy items. Talk of sea glass, beads, pine cones, glass tiles, ball ornaments, holiday candy, etc. So long as they reflect the lighting and blend in, your creativity cannot be caged.
The essay talks of the 1900 Hurricane that rocked the city of Galveston on September 8. The City of Galveston on the U.S map is located on the Western part of the South-Central part of the United States. The speed of the wind had estimates of 135 miles per hour (217 km/h) on its landfall placing its mark as a category 4 storm as defined by measurements on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Scale. The effects that accompanied the storm were severe causing a situation where an estimated 6,000 – 12,000 people succumbed to death and left many families homeless. This storm was considered as one of the deadliest to ever hit the Atlantic after the Great Hurricane of 1780 and Hurricane Mitch which hit the United States in 1998.
U.S Army Signal Corps Weather Bureau Relationship with Cuban forecasters
The U.S Army Signal Corps Weather Bureau and Cuban forecasters had one main aim of monitoring the weather patterns so as to guide sailors while at sea and also to ensure that any activities that could be perilous in nature are prepared for and help device methods to handle the activities. At the start of signs that a storm was to strike, signals were not prompt enough for the preparation to be established. Communication between the two weather centers was not clear of what was going on as the U.S weather Bureau was not sure of the situation and had reported of a storm which was of moderate intensity. Though they did not know to which the direction the storm was heading to. The U.S bureau believed the storm would take a curve and was later reported to be traveling towards Galveston days after it had been reported over Cuba and Florida. This issue created controversy with the Cuban forecasters which led to disagreement. The Cuban forecasters reiterated that the hurricane would head west which meant that there would be continuity of course. On the contrary, one of the Cuban forecasters made a predicament that the hurricane would follow its original course and head into Central Texas close to San Antonio. Communication between the weather centers was hindered by the gust winds of the hurricane and before long, it had already struck the city of Galveston – claiming lives and causing massive destruction. Due to this misunderstanding, the unremarkable weather at the time caused confusion as few of the residents of Galveston were attentive to the warnings issued. In this respect, the few persons were forced to evacuate across to the mainland over Galveston Bridges. This meant that the majority of the residents who ignored the warnings were in danger as the clouds bearing rain had already rolled in by the middle part of the morning.
Forecasting Errors made by Isaac Cline that resulted in Thousands of Deaths
Isaac Cline, who by then was the director of the Galveston Weather Bureau, placed his arguments which were based on the statements saying that the city of Galveston did not require a seawall which would protect the city from future hurricanes. He also reiterated that, there were no more chances of intense hurricanes which would strike the island. In this regard, the seawall was not erected thus increasing vulnerability. In the area This information made by Cline were seen as misleading as the area was a target for hurricanes and storms hence needed much attention for the protection of residents of Galveston. This needed much attention thus the city of Galveston had to be prepared at all times and monitoring systems placed on alert as the Area was prone to thunderstorms and hurricanes and was likely to be hit unexpectedly.
On the afternoon of September 8, 1900Cline took the responsibility of traveling along the beach including other areas that were of low altitude and sent out warnings to the people of Galveston indicating the arrival of an oncoming hurricane. This idea was executed without the permission from the Weather Bureaus’ office. This undertaking took twists as his responsibility in the occurrence of the disaster sparked controversy with author Erik Larson indicating in the book Isaac’s storm that prior to the hurricane’s occurrence, Cline never warned any of the residents of Galveston about a the hurricane that would soon cause havoc.
Conclusion
Preparation and the management of natural disasters is a key and important factor for consideration for the security of a Nation. This is evident as due to ignorance, many of the people who lived in Galveston in 1900 perished. Disaster management needs fast reactions as soon as an alert is sounded so as to avoid loss of lives even though damage can be experienced. For this to happen there must be proper communication through weather departments and the people so as to ensure security. This can only be achieved through teamwork as processions to work on a solo basis are a recipe for a disaster. In this sense, Cline was faulted for alerting people though having no permission granted from the Weather Bureau.
The nature of disaster is rather complicated when it is connected with elements of nature. The United States of America became a pawn of natural disasters such as hurricanes and tornadoes. The inevitable and unpredictable essence of theses phenomena leave many questions for the researchers and meteorologists. The more nature shows its “wrath”, the more it intends people to investigate the means by which it does so.
Nowadays and before many scholars and researchers get information about how to analyze hurricanes only by means of direct examples. Though, the reasons are not identified as well as the forecasting schedule of hurricanes from their primordial impulses till the very beginning of a whirlwind creation. Traditionally the US researchers gave names to different hurricanes in order to designate their individual structure and hazards as well as the anatomy of it. While analyzing any hurricane one should bare in mind that everything in the nature presupposes order. Thus, a hurricane is divided into 4 constituent parts in its anatomy:
Outflow;
Feeder bands;
The eyewall;
The eye. (Hurricane facts 2009)
Low pressure is a factor which makes water pull up and gives a way for the ominous “eye” to take over the territory within a part of ocean and shore. Here the weather mapping is an indicator which helps in designing further flow of air mass. The unstable and severe activity over the Atlantic Ocean is the major factor for hurricanes in the United States.
Among meteorologists such types of hurricane evaluation are taken into account as: physical and statistical. (Hurricane facts 2009) Many scholar draw hypothetic schemes of probable weather development over the ocean, but when the situation is straightforwardly in process and the structure of a hurricane can be designated, then comes the turn of so-called “hurricane fighters” meaning researching aircrafts with scholars and a lot of equipment aboard.
NOAA, P-3, and G-IV are the best-known aircrafts which are determined especially for analyzing hurricanes in storm and detecting their characteristic features from the inside. “The jet, which can fly high, fast and far with a range of 4,000 nautical miles and a cruising altitude of 45,000 ft., paints a detailed picture of weather systems in the upper atmosphere surrounding developing hurricanes.” (NOAA’s “Hurricane Hunter” Aircraft 2003) These aircrafts are chosen because the entire nature of a hurricane can be learnt from upside part of it. Due to GPS devices built in dropwindsondes of these machines can indicate pressure, temperature, humidity, and wind information from the inner layers of a hurricane “eye”.
The National Hurricane Center perpetually makes several observations of the oceans and work hard especially in the period from the first of June until the thirtieth oh November, when the activity of hurricanes is the most terrible and such of them like Katrina, Teresa, El Nino, Anna, Sam may plainly appear and cause human and economic destruction for the coastal objects in the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. The aircraft data gives information not only about the current formation of a hurricane but also such “hurricane hunters” comprise the information about wind tracks of further hurricane spread.
Thus, the phenomenon of hurricane is not well learnt so far. Due to every effort of scholar to analyze and predict the emergence of a hurricane it became possible to figure out the probable development of this or that particular hurricane.
Works cited
NOAA’s “Hurricane Hunter” Aircraft Lockheed WP- 3D Orions (P- 3s) and Gulfstream IV SP (G- IV) Jet, 2003. Web.
Thesis statement: A hurricane can be the most terrifying storm, people as well as the land can ever experience. The devastation caused by hurricanes is immense and the effects are felt for a long time after it is over. Hurricanes have brought destruction, loss of many lives and will remain etched in the minds of everyone who will have been affected by it, by the time it ends.
Introduction
A hurricane’s ability to cause immense damage to everything it comes across leaves people all over the world in awe, even those who do not expect to have to go through the effects of such a storm ever in their lives. Reports of Hurricane Katrina and the devastation it caused in New Orleans, the coast of Louisiana, parts of Mississippi and Alabama, in 2005, reflected just how much destruction both people and land could face in a hurricane (Leatherman & Williams 56).
This was because they lacked some form of caution and preparation in handling an attack of a storm having been given warning of its coming. This hurricane showed everyone just how powerful hurricanes usually are. Hurricanes might not really be the main storms on the earth, but their mixture of size and strength make them fatal and the most disparaging storms on earth.
Eye of the Hurricane
‘The eye of the hurricane’ is a round area, which has lighter winds in the middle of tropical cyclone. This is at the axis, where precipitation is often lower as compared to the surroundings. It has less surface pressure with warmer temperatures as compared to the surroundings. They differ in size although they allegedly have a diameter of thirty to sixty kilometers. It is outlined by an ‘eye wall, ‘which has intense convection while the sunken air results to compression and warming in the eye.
The eye occurs in the midst of wild tropical storm and is characterized by clear sky, calm air and warmer breeze. As hurricane gains its strength, the winds swirl wildly and an eye is created, which is circular and radiate like a chimney amid the storm. Several legends have been associated with the eye such as they only affect coastal areas but it is not true since they have been known to be affected by hurricanes, thus the eye of the hurricane may also occur there.
Others maintain that within the eye, one is safe from any damages and can therefore move outside freely. This is however not accurate since eye of the hurricane is not permanent and may change anytime. Therefore, it is advisable to keep indoors even when one is within the e eye of the hurricane.
It was traditionally perceived as being spiritual and often regarded as a save haven, which meant blessings for the individuals within the eye. In some places, it was regarded as an eye of God, able to see all places. Today, these perceptions have changed due to ample scientific knowledge in place. The eye of the hurricane is now perceived as just a natural occurrence, which can be explained scientifically.
Statistics
In a typical year, the Atlantic Ocean can usually come up with at least six hurricanes. At the beginning of the year 2010, the predictions made were that the Atlantic would produce at least seven or eight hurricanes. Researchers were very pessimistic about the conditions being observed during the year and that is why they likened the hurricane season of 2010 to the one experienced in 2005, when hurricane Katrina occurred.
Hurricanes have baffled researchers over the years as no one has yet to discover a way of preventing them from happening. Studying about hurricanes can be very beneficial as one gets to learn just how interesting, though dangerous some of the world’s phenomenon can be. Hurricanes are at times compared to tornadoes, which are storms that occur on land because of heavy thunderstorms. They both compare in the way they form in a whirlwind sort of way.
Causes of hurricanes
A number of atmospheric conditions have to occur simultaneously to form a hurricane. There must be a disturbance that has been there for a period of time, warm water in the ocean, unsteady levels of pressure in the atmosphere, which are low enough forces known as Coriolis forces , moist mid atmosphere and varying upper atmosphere levels.
The major means that contributes to the growth of a hurricane is known as the “monsoon trough”. It comes out of the Inter-Tropical Zone (ITCZ), where a swirl known as the cyclonic spin has already formed. This zone is a depression of low force caused by the coming together of the northeast and southeast trade winds (Christopherson 235).
Another cause of hurricanes can be observed as per what happens in the north Atlantic side. Here, waves known as easterly waves that have low forces usually form over North Africa then move towards the Atlantic. This can also happen with a wave from the eastern side. These waves are of extreme strength and the force that pushes them towards the coastline forms them into storms that later occur as hurricanes.
A façade that occurs in the ocean can also bring about the formation of a hurricane. When the winds that form above the water are favorable with not so much strength and little movement, rains and storms increase and this may bring about the formation of a hurricane. Finally, a structured collection of storms can move off the land and flow into the warm waters of the ocean. These storms contain a small whirlpool, which causes very favorable conditions for the formation of hurricanes.
Effects of hurricanes
The occurrence of hurricanes can bring both positive and negative impacts on people and the environment as research has shown. When the storm is forming in the water body, mostly the ocean, the air is cleaned up and due to the force of the storm; it is then distributed all around making the air around void of pollution. The occurrence of a hurricane also helps to bring people together during evacuation efforts and rebuilding of the area that has been destroyed. This helps to foster togetherness.
The negative impacts of a hurricane however, outweigh the positive ones. This is due to the trail of destruction that hurricanes leave in their wake. From the environment, to the human beings, nothing is left unharmed wherever a hurricane occurs. Population along the coastlines is always affected in the event of a hurricane.
Loss of lives and property is usually observed here. Most of these areas near the coastline have a large population and this at times proves it difficult for rescuers to clear out everybody in time, as people have to be moved to higher ground to escape the effects of the rising waters.
Storms are usually a source of great rainfall. However, this kind of rain is considered destructive because it causes flooding. Once the hurricane has destroyed the coastline, the storms usually move towards land and this is where the floods occur. These floods are a cause of many deaths and destruction to the environment.
Water sources are also polluted such that the residents do not have access to enough clean water for their consumption during and after the floods. The road and rail network as well as communication cables are also destroyed when hurricanes occur.
Some secondary effects are felt mostly by the economy in that the country ends up spending a lot of taxpayer’s money in rebuilding the destroyed areas and reimbursing the affected people who incur losses caused by the hurricanes (Pielke 5). Diseases, such as typhoid and cholera also befall this population affected by hurricanes. This is usually due to the lack of clean water for drinking, and the stagnant water left behind after the flooding.
Conclusion
Researchers have been trying to come up with means of reducing the intensity of the hurricanes that are experienced nowadays. Climate change being a natural occurrence cannot really be avoided it therefore remains that humans reduce the activities that interferes with the natural phenomenon such as hurricanes through climate mitigation.
If such efforts are invested, then there will be a decrease in the strength of hurricanes expected to happen in times to come (Keim & Muller 188). Americans are also being encouraged to adhere to warnings given about the coming of a hurricane to reduce the damage caused in future. When people are put on alert about an incoming hurricane, they should move to higher ground that is far from the coastline. This would all go into at least reducing the number of casualties recorded due to a hurricane attack.
Talking about the relationships between Americans and the Natives has never been easy, mostly because of the notorious historic events that took place during the colonization of America, and the following misunderstandings between the Native Americans and the descendants of the colonists that took place afterward.
There is no need to remind of the conditions that reservations for the Native Americans provided; the laws generated by the American Congress often resulted in poverty and lack of life essentials for the Indian residents.
In her short story titled Every Little Hurricane, Sherman Alexie tells a seemingly simple story of a boy and his friend visiting their home in Spokane Reservation for a New Year celebration; however, when digging a bit deeper, one will find that Alexie, in fact, touches upon a range is serious cultural, economical and political issues that the residents of Indian reservations were facing at the time.
Despite a very complicated issue to tackle, Alexie does his job pretty well by introducing humor into his work in ample quantities. Weirdly enough, the numerous fun moments and comedic reliefs that the novel has worked for the advantage of the story and the characters’ arcs.
For instance, the conflict between the two uncles is pretty funny. The extremes that they go into to fight against each other are hilarious, as well as the misery that they put each other into: “Victor’s uncles were in the midst of a misdemeanor that would remain one even if somebody was to die” (Alexie 3).
Another great detail about the novel is that it does not take the political issues to their logical extremes, leaving the elements of racial and political issues in the shadow and allowing the characters to breathe and develop. The novel keeps its readers guessing all the time whether a particular detail was added to make the story more coherent or to portray the specifics of life in a reservation.
For instance, at some point, one of the main characters has nightmares about his father having a drinking problem (Alexie 6); disrupting the flow of the narration, it works both for the story and for the artistry of the novel. However, for almost every sad and thought-provoking moment or thought that there is in the book, there will always be a funny scene to balance it off.
The story never goes into dark moral overtones to prove a point for several reasons, the key one, perhaps, being the setting. There is a reason for Alexie to choose the New Year Eve as the setting for his story; the author picks a cheerful event to make it offset the serious issues that the author raises.
What makes Alexie’s story all the more believable and tragic is the fact that the author does not shy away from tackling very sensitive and controversial issues, such as the fact that the residents of the Spokane Reservation are also far from being flawless; moreover, Alexie stresses that they are quite irresponsible, often getting intoxicated and being very unwilling to change the state of affairs within the reservation.
Such details do not make the characters less likable or, for that matter, less compelling; instead, the fact that the characters do have flaws helps the readers relate to them, believing that these characters are real and that they deserve to have another chance. The description of the constantly arguing uncles, who cannot give each other any rest, for example, is pitch perfect: “The two Indians raged across the room at each other” (Alexie 2).
It is weird to think that people could go into such extremes in trying to triumph over the adversary; however, sadly enough, the two uncles in Alexie’s novel represent the relationships between Americans and Native Americans rather accurately, though quite grotesquely. Also, the lack of enthusiasm for finally settling the conflict among those concerned is also portrayed rather well, though, perhaps, a bit over the top:
“’ They’re going to kill each other!’ somebody yelled from an upstairs window. Nobody disagreed, and nobody moved to change the situation” (Alexie 3). The scenes like this show that the Indians living on reservations have been fighting their way to liberty and the ability to provide for themselves for several centuries running, yet these efforts seem to have been upsettingly fruitless.
One of the fascinating things about Alexie’s stories in general and the given short novel, in particular, is that they help the reader come to his/her conclusion by offering him/her a range of snapshots from the author’s life. Alexie does not foist his opinion about the policies towards Native Americans in the United States in the given period; neither does the author attempts at persuading the reader to take sides in the notorious conflict.
Instead, the author creates a unique atmosphere that his readers can immerse into by envisioning the subtle details that Alexie mentioned here and there in his novels. Another great opportunity to look at the specifics of life within a very close community, Alexie’s Every Little Hurricane is one of those stories that are most likely to grow timeless.
The United States experiences periods of catastrophic weather occurrences, especially between June and November. In “How Do Hurricanes Form? A Step-Step Guide”, Plumer and Arrieta-Kenna indicate that people get bombarded with different meteorological terms during this period. Terms such as “Tropical storm, Tropical depression, Category 3 hurricanes, Category 4 hurricanes” are invidiously used (3). However, in research from Plumer and Arrieta-Kenna, these terms characterize different weather events.
The most important aspect is for the population to understand the diverse phases of a hurricane, step by step. Plumer and Arrieta-Kenna seek to describe the different phases of the hurricane by using the case of Hurricane Irma, which struck in 2017. It commenced as a wave off the African coast. It kept becoming bigger, causing major destruction on numerous Caribbean islands and finally hitting the U.S coast of Florida as a Category 4 storm (2). Plumer and Arrieta-Kenna use their knowledge of the development of a hurricane to prompt the reader’s feelings to make them understand the differences in terms used by meteorologists. They begin by describing the initial stage of a hurricane in the form of a tropical disturbance. A systematized thunderstorm commotion characterizes the first stage. The activity stretches for 100 miles and keeps this character for over 24 hours (RedCross). The tropical disturbances usually begin as storms in the course of the summer that move westward off the coast of Africa in the form of “tropical waves.” The attention of meteorologists is usually drawn to tropical disturbances that show signs of further development, after which they start to observe their progression keenly (14).
Plumer and Arrieta-Kenna continue to build on the logic of a hurricane by introducing the second stage, which they call a cyclone or tropical depression. In a logical progression, they introduce a spinning element into the tropical disturbance. Spinning takes place in a region where the tropical disturbance bounces into low pressure. According to Plumer and Arrieta-Kenna, other favorable conditions for forming a cyclone include warm water with temperatures not less than 80°F. Adequate moisture must also be manifest, and the local winds need to be arranged in a manner that facilitates spinning (4a). The readers are taken to the next stage of developing a hurricane, which entails a decline in pressure allowing more air into the cyclone that engenders strong winds. The additional power and speed of wind exceeding 39 mph create a tropical storm. Irma reached this stage on August 30, 2017, in the far eastern Atlantic.
Finally, Plumer and Arrieta-Kenna introduce the term hurricane, which embodies the fourth stage of development. A hurricane occurs when a tropical storm passes over a region with warmer temperatures, and winds maintain their speed. In the process, pressure at the center of the tropical storm decreases, and the winds accelerate, creating the form of a circle that appears like an eye. Once the winds hit and sustain a speed of 74 mph or more, the tropical storm qualifies to be called a hurricane. The hurricane is then classified based on the damage they cause and the speed of the wind. The Saffir-Simpson Scale is used to classify hurricanes, with category 1 signifying less intensity (wind speed of 74 – 95 mph) and category 5 being the most extreme (wind speed of 155 mph and above) (3a) (NHC/NOAA). Irma attained wind speeds of 185 mph, earning it a category five classification. The hurricane is scaled down to a tropical storm once the wind speeds drop to below 74 mph.