Hurricanes and Their Effect on the United States

Hurricanes and Their Effect on the United States
By: Tommy

Hurricanes affect the United States both economically and physically. The economic toll is usually into the billions of dollars each year, with most of the damage lasting from June 1st to November 30th, the Atlantic Hurricane season ( NHC ). Though not as likely, hurricanes occur in other months of the year as well.

There are many factors in hurricanes that cause damage. These are torrential rain, powerful winds, and the storm surge. The storm surge has been seen to cause the most damage, as seen in New Orleans during Hurricane Katrina, when the storm surge damaged the levees and the city flooded. Hurricanes also cause tornadoes and thunderstorms that break off and cause damage in states such as Oklahoma and Arkansas. All of these factors cause damage to the landscape and wildlife along the coasts, which in some cases can be permanent ( The Weather Channel ). More noticeably, hurricanes cause damage to communities along the coast. They have the power to wipe entire neighborhoods and even towns off the map because of these effects.

According to NOAA, there are an average of 5.8 hurricanes in the Atlantic Ocean. Costing about 6 billion dollars each, that is 34.8 billion dollars per year in hurricane damage, directly and

indirectly from a storm. That’s a lot of money. There are many things that money can be used for, including strengthening buildings and other structures such as bridges in areas that are most affected by hurricanes. During Hurricane Irene, which hit New England in 2011, gas prices rose up $ 0.08 ( NY Times ). Hurricane Irene also cost many businesses jobs, because during the storm the businesses were closed for obvious reasons. One more major economic impact Hurricane Irene had on the United States was damage of infrastructure. Train lines, bridges, roads, Interstates, and in larger cities such as New York, subway trains, and even hospitals. All of these types of infrastructure are almost essential for the face paced lives of Americans today. Without a road, you can’t get goods and people to where they need to go. Without a hospital you can’t treat the wounded and sick. Hurricanes do much more than flood streets and brick buildings, they have to power to break a region ( such as New England ), which can affect the whole of the United States.

The other major (visible ) impact of hurricanes on the United States in the physical damage to buildings and other structures. Hurricanes have the ability to break all the windows on a skyscraper ( as in Hurricanes that hit Houston ), flood a neighborhood and even destroy a poorly built house. The physical damage of hurricanes is also the leading/main cause of economic difficulties after a storm. When people are without homes, the government has to spend money to put them somewhere. Hurricanes also damage coastal resorts in popular states such as North Carolina, Florida and Texas, which can hurt a local economy greatly.

So, there are many ways Hurricanes affect the United States. These ways are negative, but they can lead to positive, because with more research and development, we can prevent major physical damage and possibly even economic damage.

Works Cited

"10 Most Expensive Hurricanes in US History, 10 Most Expensive Hurricanes in US History." CNBC.com. Thomson Reuters, 2013. Web. 20 Feb. 2013.

"National Hurricane Center." National Hurricane Center. Ed. NHC. National Weather Service, 14 Dec. 2012. Web. 20 Feb. 2013.

NHC. "Storm Surge Overview." Storm Surge Overview. National Weather Service, 11 May 2012. Web. 20 Feb. 2013.

"Weather Encyclopedia: Hurricanes." The Weather Channel. Ed. The Weather Channel. The Weather Channel, LLC, 2013. Web. 20 Feb. 2013.

York., Michael Cooper; Michael Cooper Reported From New York. Reporting Was Contributed By Dirk Van Susteren From Calais, Vt.; Abby Goodnough From Chester, Vt;, And Patrick Mcgeehan, Timothy Williams, Thomas Kaplan And Michael M. Grynbaum From New. "Storm Cost Seen To Rank In Top 10 Of U.S. Disasters." The New York Times. The New York Times, 31 Aug. 2011. Web. 06 Mar. 2013.