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Destructive power

The combined effects of the high winds, flash floods, mudslides, and storm surges can cause major destruction: large ships are iifted on to land, houses swept away, and entire towns buried beneath deep mud. A major hurricane can even set off an earthquake because the air pressure is so Iow that it can allow Earth’s crust to rise!

Shattered lives

Hurricanes kill morę people than tornadoes, volcanoes, and earthquakes combined. This is partly because they are so frequent—in 2005, there were 13 hurricanes in the north Atlantic alone. Most victims are killed by mudslides and storm surges, the latter accounting for morę than 200,000 deaths when Cyclone Nargis hit Myanmar in 2008.

Tracking the storm

Satellite technology allows us to track hurricanes as they build up and move across the oceans. Specially equipped aircraft even fly into the storms to collect data! Nothing can stop a hurricane—all that can be done is to prepare for the worst and, if necessary, evacuate areas at risk. Such measures cause chaos, but they also save lives.