Mexico Dodges Bullet In Hurricane Raymond

Hurricane Raymond had been in the cross-hairs of the Mexican government for some time as the storm gained strength in the Pacific. At one point, Raymond became the first major hurricane of the year (in a relatively quiet hurricane season) when it  reached the status of a category 3 storm three days ago. The storms winds reached 120 miles per hour at that point and the western coast of Mexico was bracing as it appeared the storm was headed their way.



Thankfully the storm never came ashore and it lost some of its strength on its way. That is important because Mexicans have been hit hard by tropical storms this year and the heavy rainfall that would have resulted from a major hurricane could have been a serious issue. Water has been dumped on many areas of the country recently and anything added to that could have been problematic for the citizens along the coast (especially in the vicinity of Acapulco where the storm's center was hit).



This was the 17th large storm in the eastern Pacific Ocean this year. This is above the average but the storms have largely been limited in strength with the worst part being heavy rainfall. The frequency of these storms has to have these communities prepared for flood issues and it looks like they got very lucky with Raymond.

Sources:
http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/IOTD/view.php?id=82224&src=ve
http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/archive/2013/ep17/ep172013.public.007.shtml

Update- New South Wales Fires Headed For More Populated Areas

56 fires continue to scorch hundreds of thousands of acres of land across New South Wales, Australia and they do not appear to be letting up. Hot, dry, and windy conditions are expected again for the next couple days and you have to start asking yourself when are these people going to catch a break? Sadly, it appears the answer is not anytime soon.


The weather reports in eastern Australia coupled with the fact that the fires are headed toward much more densely populated areas has forced the New South Wales Premier, Barry O'Farrell, to declare a state of emergency for the state. Thankfully there is still only one confirmed death from these fires but emergency response workers are still collecting this data.

What is even worse about these fires is the direction they are going. They are headed to the heavily populated Australian coast. Specifically, the area covered under O'Farrell's state of emergency includes the city of Sydney. This is a city of over 4.5 million people and although I do not fear that most if not all of the fires would be stopped before they reached a major city like that, but there is no guarantee of that. 12 of these fires are still considered out of control and the heavy winds expected tomorrow could add to that.


Thankfully very few personal injuries have occurred due to the fires and that has to do with terrific government response from the Australian government. Rain is expected to fall on the area on Tuesday. Lets just hope that the weather man is right for once.

Sources:
http://www.cnn.com/2013/10/20/world/asia/australia-fires/

Bush Fires In New South Wales, Australia Claim First Life

Bush fires threaten New South Wales homes and residents tonight in Australia. The fire has already claimed hundreds of homes and today has taken its first victim. A 63-year-old man died after suffering a heart attack while battling the blaze outside of his Lake Munmorah home.


News of the blaze has been airing for days across local news media and fire crews have been battling the fires since the beginning. There have been over 100 fires burning coming into Thursday and emergency workers cannot keep up.

When temperatures are hot and the wind is strong there is always going to be a chance of fires getting out of control. In this typically dry area, residents need to realize that they are putting their homes and their family's lives at risk by living among this dense, dry foliage. Thankfully fire crews were able to put out six of the fires today and the weather is finally calling for cooler temperatures and rain tomorrow. There is still an emergency warning continuing at this point and people are being ordered to stay out of the path of the fires. Emergency Services Minister Michael Gallacher was quoted today on ABC as saying, "They're saying if we get away with 100 house losses just in homes being lost in Springwood we're going to come off very lucky." He continued, "Given what we saw yesterday it's pretty clear we're going to have some absolutely shattered people and a shattered community this morning."

Although this area is known for frequent bush fires, reportedly none have ever been this severe. Lets just hope that no one else is hurt by these fires and lets hope that people realize the power that hazards like this can have and learn how to not put themselves in harm's way again.

Sources:
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/in-depth/bushfires/nsw-bushfires-still-very-dangerous-as-first-fatality-is-revealed/story-fngw0i02-1226742219464
http://www.cnn.com/2013/10/17/world/asia/australia-fires/index.html?hpt=wo_c2
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nry__T_G4nc

Early Detection Of Cyclone Saves Countless Lives In India

The availability of media coverage of a cyclone that hit Gopalpur, India today most likely saved many saved as 800,000 were evacuated. In an area comprised mainly of mud and thatch homes, it is amazing that more people were not injured or killed.



Just 14 years ago, a similar storm came through the same area and killed more than 10,000 people. The infrastructure of the area cannot withstand the high wind gusts and heavy rainfall that comes power cyclones. News stations had been reporting on the potential storm for weeks. Early detection and emergency broadcast procedures are some of the best ways to prevent hazards from becoming devastating disasters in areas where there is not enough money to build fortified infrastructure that could  prevent disasters from getting worse.

This important information needs to be available in all corners of the globe. While it may not be realistic to be able to provide expensive means of prevention and reaction to environmental hazards, it is imperative that everyone who is in the path of a storm knows the potential danger it could cause and the best ways to avoid being caught in the storm. The only realistic way to make sure information like this reaches everyone is to have government intervention. National governments need to protect their citizens in any way they can and if early detection systems were installed in all corners of the world, then maybe we would stop seeing the high death counts on the news after storms like this hit.

Sources:
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/10/14/world/asia/india-cyclone.html?_r=0

Tropical Storm Karen Posed No Serious Threat To US

Tropical storm Karen never reached its full potential and that is good news for the people on the Gulf Coast. Since last week, reports showed that the storm would likely reach hurricane strength by the time it made landfall on Sunday. These forecasts proved to be false as Karen winds coming from the north slowed the storm and stopped it from reaching high wind speeds itself. The satellite image below shows the dissipating as it reached the US, making landfall first in Louisiana.



This is great news for the coastal cities that were projected to be in the path of a powerful storm. The National Hurricane Center did not issue any warnings or watches as the storm approached. It has now been eight years since the US has had a major, Category 3 or higher, hurricane make landfall.

In fact, this entire hurricane season has been noticeably quiet. At a time when major storms are thought to be on the rise due to climate change, the US seemed to get lucky this year when it came to hurricane hazards. At least that is what Robert Korty, an associate professor of atmospheric science at Texas A&M University, concluded. If Korty had to guess it would be that dryer than normal air coming from across the Atlantic prevented some of these storms from happening.

It's great news for a country that has already been hit hard by wildfires, floods, and other environmental hazards to have powerful hurricanes generally absent this year. Thankfully we will never know what sort of damage this storm could have caused. This is especially important since the National Hurricane Center is still understaffed due to the government shutdown and when a major storm hits it is important for all possible means of preventing and responding to hazards to be in place.

Sources:
http://science.time.com/2013/10/07/as-tropical-storm-karen-dissipates-the-debate-grows-over-a-quiet-hurricane-season/
http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/archive/2013/al12/al122013.public_a.003.shtml

Tornadoes Hit Midwest

Tornadoes ripped through parts of the Midwest Friday night. Powerful storms created funnel clouds in Iowa, Nebraska, and South Dakota, causing injuries to people and totaling impressive amounts of property damage. According to the National Weather Service, a two mile wide tornado tore through the town of Wayne, Nebraska. Other tornadoes were also spotted near Sioux City, Iowa, Jefferson, S.D., and Moville, Iowa. Thankfully no one was killed during the storms and the people injured do not appear to have life threatening injuries.



Tornadoes are defined as narrow, rotating column of air that extends to the ground. They are caused by the contrast of air masses, heating and cooling, and low-pressure forming near the ground. Friday's tornadoes damaged several local homes, businesses, and wreaked havoc on state and local parks. Tornadoes in places such as Nebraska are more frequent during the summer months and they are much more infrequent at this time of year. The tornadoes came at an odd time in other respects as well. Winter storms have hit the Rocky Mountain states hard over the past few days and Tropical Storm Karen is close to making landfall in the southeast. The powerful storms are just another reminder that the world's climate is continuing to change and powerful storms such as these could possibly become more severe in our near future.

Sources:
http://www.weather.com/news/midwest-severe-weather-tornado-destroys-multiple-homes-nebraska-20131004
http://www.cnn.com/2013/10/04/us/nebraska-tornado-western-storms/index.html?hpt=hp_t2
Smith, Keith. Environmental Hazards: Assessing Risk and Reducing Disaster. Sixth Edition. (New York: Taylor and Francis Group, 2013). 247.

Tropical Storm Karen Almost Certain To Be Upgraded To Hurricane

It is that time of year again. Hurricane season is upon us and hurricane Karen is on its way to the United States Gulf Coast. A watch has been put into effect for parts of coast as this storm is suspected to stretch from Grand Isle, Louisiana, east to Indian Pass, Florida. Early detection systems are in place and this storm has been tracked for days now as residents prepare for the storm.

An added element to this storm is that the Federal Emergency Management Agency is recalling some of the workers that had been furloughed during the government shutdown that happened earlier this week. It is important that these organizations and emergency response workers are made available for the people that will be effected by the storm. An important factor is the United States hazard mitigation efforts of these people that aid in the recovery after a big storm hits. 

The storm has made it past portions of Central America that saw it dump heavy rainfall over the Yucatan Peninsula in Mexico and also in western Cuba. As it stands now, the Gulf Coast is just hours away from the storm's impact which is expected to make landfall late Saturday night or early Sunday morning. I will continue to update as the storm reaches the US.

Sources:

http://www.usatoday.com/story/weather/2013/10/04/tropical-storm-karen-gulf-coast/2921343/

http://www.cnn.com/2013/10/03/world/americas/tropical-storm-karen/index.html?hpt=us_c2