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Institute for Crisis, Disaster, and Risk Management Crisis and Emergency Management Newsletter Website |
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December
2007
Volume 13
- Number 3 |
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2007 Hurricane Seasons By Ying Li Both hurricane and typhoon are severe tropical cyclones
that have wind speeds greater than 74mhp. People call “hurricanes”
in the Atlantic Ocean, Caribbean and eastern Pacific Ocean. But in
the western Pacific Ocean west of the dateline, they’re called “typhoons”.
A list of 2007’s tropical storms and hurricanes names were pre-approved before 2007 by National Hurricane Center. Only a few of them reached a high category level and becomes “hurricanes” at last. This year’s hurricanes are: Dean, Felix, Humberto, Lorenzo, Noel in Atlantic Ocean area; and Cosme, Flossie, Henriette, Ivo in eastern Pacific Ocean area. 2007 Atlantic hurricane season Tropical storm Andrea on May 9 2007 marked an early beginning of the season which was normally supposed to start at the beginning of June and continue on until the end of November. The category 5 hurricanes Dean and Felix made 2007 become one of four recorded Atlantic seasons that have had more than one category 5 storm. Dean: One August 12, tropical depression four formed in the eastern Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Africa. Dean upgraded to Category 5 status by late on August 20 and made landfall on the Yucatán Peninsula of Mexico near Costa Maya on August 21. At least 42 people have been killed by Hurricane Dean and there was major damage across the southern and central Caribbean with the largest tolls in Mexico and Haiti. Felix: On August 31, a westward-moving tropical depression six formed east of the Windward Islands. It was upgraded to Tropical Storm Felix the next day and intensified later that day into a hurricane. Felix weakened briefly overnight then re-strengthened again and stuck northeastern Nicaragua with winds of 160 mph on September 4. At least 133 people in Nicaragua and Honduras were killed by Felix. Many buildings were damaged along the coast near and north of Puerto Cabezas. Humberto: Hurricane Humberto began as an area of disorganized showers and thunderstorms off the coast of western Cuba on September 8. These storms moved slowly west-northwestward across the Gulf of Mexico and upgraded as Tropical Storm then finally reached hurricane status on September 13.Hurricane Humberto made landfall near High Island, Texas, as a Category 1 hurricane and caused some structural damages. A man was killed by falling carport in Bridge City, Texas. Lorenzo: An area of convection traversed the western Caribbean then moved slowly southwest into the Bay of Campeche and intensified rapidly on September 27 to Tropical Storm Lorenzo. It made landfall in central Mexico the next morning as a Category 1 hurricane. Six deaths, flash floods and mudslides in Mexico were attributable to Lorenzo Noel: Tropical Depression Sixteen which developed over the eastern Caribbean became a tropical storm on. It made landfall in Haiti on October 29, and then meandered across the western Caribbean near Cuba for the next three days. Noel brought torrential rain to the region, killing at least 148 people. It then accelerated northeastward, passing through the Bahamas before strengthening to a hurricane on November 1. 2007 Pacific hurricane season Cosme: On July 16, tropical depression Five-E strengthened to become the first hurricane of the season in eastern Pacific area. Cosme crossed into the Central Pacific and continued on a west-northwesterly track, moving closer to the Big Island of Hawaii. It brought gusts of 30 to 35 knots (35 to 40 mph, 55 to 65 km/h) and heavy rain. Flossie: Tropical Depression Nine-E on August 8 was located 1260 miles west-southwest of Baja California. It tracked westward and upgraded to Hurricane Flossie on August 10. Flossie's wind speeds reached an initial peak of 140 mph (220 km/h). It moved to Big Island Hawaii but finally weakened before it approached there. Henriette: Tropical Expression Eleven-E An was formed 250 miles southeast of Acapulco, Mexico on August 30. It continued to strengthen and reached hurricane strength on September 4 when it made landfall on the tip of the Baja California peninsula near San José del Cabo. Rock and mudfalls caused by the heavy rainfall in the Acapulco area caused seven deaths. Two fishermen were reported killed off the Sonora coast. Damage in Mexico totaled about $275 million (2007 MXN, $25 million 2007 USD) Ivo: On September 18, Tropical Depression Twelve-E formed about 670 miles south-southeast of the southern tip of Baja California. Later the same day it was upgraded to Tropical Storm Ivo, and it reached hurricane strength the next day. It weakened as it curved towards the southern Baja California Peninsula, causing a tropical storm watch that was issued for part of the southern tip on September 22 to be canceled on September 23. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2007_Atlantic_hurricane_season http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2007_Pacific_hurricane_season http://www.weather.com/newscenter/hurricanecentral/ http://www.nbc6.net/hurricanes07/13429080/detail.html http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/pastall.shtml http://www.komotv.com/news/archive/4087241.html |