Page 271 - Geosystems An Introduction to Physical Geography 4th Canadian Edition

Chapter 8 Weather 235
in widespread flooding in the Historic Properties and surrounding areas along the waterfront. The largest sig- nificant waves resulted from the storm outside Halifax Harbour, where significant wave heights (average of the highest one-third of waves) reached 9 m and maximum waves reached 19.9 m.
In comparison with some of the hurricanes that have made landfall in the United States, Hurricane Juan was not a particularly large or fierce storm. However, this hurricane claimed the lives of eight people and re- sulted in millions of dollars in property damage. Hun- dreds of thousands of Nova Scotians and Prince Edward Islanders were affected by the storm’s passage, and it took two weeks to restore power to all. There was also widespread damage to wharfs and marinas along the eastern shore. Perhaps the greatest damage, other than loss of life, was the loss of trees throughout both prov- inces. Streets and sidewalks were impassable for days. Especially hard hit were Halifax’s Point Pleasant Park and Public Gardens, where the reestablishment of trees will take decades. The World Meteorological Organiza- tion recognized the impact of Juan on Maritime Canada in April 2004 by retiring the name from its list of hur- ricane names.
An Avoidable Cycle Tropical cyclones are potentially the most destructive storms experienced by humans, claiming thousands of lives each year worldwide. The tropical cyclone that struck Bangladesh in 1970 killed an estimated 300000 people, and the one in 1991 claimed over 200000. In Central and North America, death tolls are much lower, but still significant. The Galveston, Texas, hurricane of 1900 killed 6000. Hurricane Mitch (October 26–November 4, 1998) was the deadliest Atlantic hurricane in two centuries, killing more than 12000 people, mainly in Honduras and Nicaragua. Hurricane Katrina and the associated engineering failures killed more than 1830 people in Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama in 2005.
Despite these statistics, the risk of human fatalities is decreasing in most parts of the world owing to better warning and rescue systems, and ongoing improvements in the forecasting of these storms. At the same time, the damage caused by tropical cyclones is increasing sub- stantially as more and more development occurs along susceptible coastlines.
The history of major hurricanes in North America re- veals a recurrent, yet avoidable, cycle—construction, dev- astation, reconstruction, devastation—especially on the U.S. Gulf coast, beginning with Hurricane Camille over 40 years ago. The same Gulf Coast towns that Camille washed away in 1969—Waveland, Bay Saint Louis, Pass Christian, Long Beach, and Gulfport, among others— were obliterated again by Hurricane Katrina in 2005. This time, the below-sea-level sections of New Orleans may never recover; nevertheless, the mantra repeated after each storm—that “the Gulf Coast will rebuild bigger and better”—was heard once again.
No matter how accurate storm forecasts become, coastal and lowland property damage will continue to increase until better hazard zoning and development re- strictions are in place. The property insurance industry appears to be taking action to promote these improve- ments, requiring tougher building standards to qualify for coverage—or, in some cases, refusing to insure prop- erty along vulnerable coastal lowlands. Given rising sea level and the increased intensity of tropical storms, the public, politicians, and business interests must respond to somehow mitigate this hazardous predicament.
Weather has many consequences for human soci- ety, especially as anthropogenic climate change worsens severe weather events across the globe. The human de- nominator summarizes some of the interactions between weather events and humans, with a few examples of se- vere weather events across the globe.
CriTiCALthinking 8.2
Hazard Perception and Planning: What Seems to be Missing?
Along coasts subject to extreme tropical weather, the cycle of “construction, devastation, reconstruction, dev- astation” means a cycle of ever-increasing dollar losses to property from tropical storms and hurricanes, even though improved forecasts have resulted in a significant reduc- tion in loss of life. given rising sea levels along coastlines and the increase in total power dissipation in these tropi- cal storms since 1970, in your opinion, what is the solution to halting this cycle of destruction and increasing losses? How would you implement your ideas? •