CONTENTS CHAPTER 1 The Most Violent Storms on Earth 4 CHAPTER 2 Wind Power 8 CHAPTER 3 Hurricane Zones 14 CHAPTER 4 Under Attack 20 CHAPTER 5 After the Disaster 28 CHAPTER 6 Living in a Hurricane Zone 36 GlOSSARY 46 FOR MORE INFORMATION 47 INDEX 48
CHAPTER 1 THE MOST VIOLENT STORMS ON EARTH Hurricanes are the strongest and most dangerous storms on Earth These large swirling and fast-moving winds start over warm ocean waters far from land Some slow down and die out before they are anywhere near a coastline Others travel quickly across the sea crashing onto shores where people live When a large hurricane hits a coast the results can be disastrous Deadly Storms Hurricane winds can travel quicker than the fastest train on Earth These speeding violent winds can flatten everything in their path and wreak terrible destruction Deadly hurricane storms also bring sudden torrential rains from the skies The heavy rain can submerge land beneath large amounts of water in a short time causing floods Some hurricanes last for a only few hours while others last for days or even weeks They can impact injure and kill thousands of people 4
Name That Hurricane Hurricane winds can whip up high menacing waves as they blow across the ocean’s surface Hurricanes are given names because there may be more than one happening at the same time Having different names makes it easier to keep track of the different storms so that everyone can immediately recognize which storm is being talked about Each year the names are given out in alphabetical order as they occur although there are few names beginning with the letters Q U X Y and Z so these letters are not used Some names are used more than once but the worst hurricanes have their names retired so they are never used again For example Katrina the name of the 2005 hurricane will not be used again It was one of the costliest natural disasters and one of the five deadliest hurricanes in the history of the United States EARTH UNDER ATTACK The word hurricane comes from Hurican the Carib god of evil People in the Caribbean gave these giant storms this name because of their destructive power 5
