EXTREME WEATHER: A Guide to Surviving Flash Floods, Tornadoes, Hurricanes, Heat Waves, Snowstorms, Tsunamis and Other Natural Disasters (MacSci) - Softcover

SCHNEIDER, BONNIE

Softcover

ISBN 10: 023011573X ISBN 13: 9780230115736

Verlag: Griffin, 2012

Inhaltsangabe

Flash floods, tsunamis, earthquakes, hurricanes, mudslides, thunderstorms, and wildfires - these devastating events are happening around the world at an alarming rate. As a Meteorologist on CNN and HLN, Bonnie Schneider reports on these natural disasters, explaining when they're likely to strike, and telling viewers how to respond when they do. In Extreme Weather, Schneider distills that information into a guide for readers. She interviews experts from a wide variety of agencies - including FEMA and NOAA - to provide a comprehensive understanding of the science behind weather patterns and the latest thinking on how to act in dangerous conditions. Ranging from topics that cover every season and every climate, Schneider introduces the reader to the best course of action during weather emergencies, including:

*how to handle extreme weather scenarios in your car, outside, on a boat or at home

*how to prepare for potential dangers, such as deadly lightning, when planning a camping trip, vacation or sports outing

*what you need to have at home to protect against floods, earthquakes, or severe storms

*how to protect your home from rapidly spreading wildfire

*how to create a family evacuation plan for different emergencies

*making sure your beloved pet is taken care of in time of disaster

Drawing on actual survivor stories, Extreme Weather reminds readers that disaster can strike at any time, changing your life forever.

*making sure your beloved pet is taken care of in time of disaster

Drawing on actual survivor stories, Extreme Weather reminds readers that disaster can strike at any time, changing your life forever.

Über diesen Titel

Über die Autorin bzw. den Autor

Bonnie Schneider

Auszug. © Genehmigter Nachdruck. Alle Rechte vorbehalten.

Extreme Weather

A Guide to Surviving Flash Floods, Tornadoes, Hurricanes, Heat Waves, Snowstorms, Tsunamis, and Other Natural Disasters

By Bonnie Schneider

St. Martin's Press

Copyright © 2012 Bonnie Schneider
All rights reserved.

ISBN: 978-0-230-11573-6

Contents

Foreword by Max Mayfield, 
Introduction, 
1 Hurricanes, 
2 Tornadoes, 
3 Flash Floods, 
4 Extreme Heat, 
5 Wildfires, 
6 Rip Currents, 
7 Landslides and Mudslides, 
8 Tsunamis, 
9 Severe Thunderstorms, 
10 Snow and Ice Storms, 
11 Earthquakes, 
12 How to Use Social Media in Natural Disasters, 
13 How to Create a Family Disaster Plan for People and Pets, 
14 Emergency Supplies for People, 
15 Emergency Supplies for Pets, 
Acknowledgments, 
Notes, 
Index, 

CHAPTER 1

HURRICANES

At 2:30 a.m. on Monday, August 29, 2005, the blast of the telephone ringing woke 47-year-old Mary Theriot of Chalmette, Louisiana, from a deep sleep.

"Hello?"

"Mary! It's Rose. I'm in Mobile, watching this storm on TV, and it's gettin' real bad! They're sayin' it's headed straight for you in N'awlins."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes! Whatever you do, don't go back to sleep. Wake up! Are you ready if it hits?"

"Yes, hang on Rose," Mary told her friend. "I'm up. I'm going to take the phone downstairs with me and make some coffee. Don't worry, I'm not going back to sleep."

They talked a little longer, and then the phone abruptly cut off at 3 a.m. The lines were dead. Power was out.

For hours, Mary watched in the dark outside her kitchen window. Her husband, Joe, and her 11-year-old daughter, Cheyenne, were asleep.

The wind was getting stronger. It was howling loudly through the glass. Large trees had been completely uprooted and were lying in the yard. Some were on top of cars. At around 8 a.m., there was enough light to go out back and check on things. Trash and lawn chairs were everywhere. Even though they had no power, it wasn't so bad, Mary thought. Things could have been worse.

Looking past downed trees and power lines, Mary noticed an old pickup truck in her neighbor's yard that was now drenched in muddy water. The water level was halfway up the tire. She surveyed the damage to other neighbors' homes on her street.

Then Mary brought her gaze back to that pickup. It had been only a few minutes, but now the water covered all four tires and was almost at the hood of the car.

"Cheyenne, get Joe!" Mary called to her daughter. "We are fixin' to flood and flood bad!"

Mary's heart was racing. Once inside the house, the three of them frantically started picking things up off the floor. Pictures, books, and anything they could grab went on high shelves or on top of the refrigerator. Water began to seep in from under the walls. Mary looked out the front door; the porch they'd been standing on moments ago was no longer visible. All she could see was that brown, oily water. Mary felt herself panicking.

"Hurry!" she yelled. They worked faster gathering what they could. Cheyenne climbed up the ladder to the attic. Mary grabbed her cat Sasha and handed her up to Cheyenne. But where was Otis? Mary had rescued both cats and considered them her babies. Otis was hiding in the closet. Mary scooped him up, her hands squeezing his wet paws.

"Bless his heart! He's scared out of his mind!"

By Wednesday morning, the water had receded enough for officials to drive into their neighborhood. A local police officer arrived to announce a mandatory evacuation. He told Mary that her family pets were not allowed at the shelter unless they were very small and caged. The cage for Mary's two cats was too large to carry. She'd have to leave Sasha and Otis behind. Before leaving, Mary set out plenty of food and water for her beloved cats. Joe knocked out a window screen so the animals could get out if they had to. Mary had raised Sasha and Otis from the time they were kittens, and she felt like she was leaving part of her family behind.

The weather was hot and humid. Carrying what they could of their belongings in garbage bags, the family eventually found their way to a shelter. Days later, they finally made contact with Joe's relatives. They then went to Joe's family home in Assumption Parish, where they could rest and recover. It would be months before they would return home to Chalmette.

When Hurricane Katrina made landfall on the Gulf Coast, it came in as a Category 3 storm, with the eye passing east of New Orleans. This meant the strongest winds, those found in the northeastern quadrant, didn't hit Louisiana. Mississippi saw much worse wind damage.

One of the biggest problems was the overtopping and breaching of the levees. In New Orleans, there were at least 50 levee failures after Katrina hit: water overtopped some levees completely; others just broke down. The failure of the levees released billions of gallons of water into the city and surrounding areas.

In Mary Theriot's town of Chalmette, only about a mile east of the Lower Ninth Ward, a 15- to 19-foot surge of water flooded the town through the Mississippi River Gulf Outlet. Chalmette was completely underwater and remained that way well after the storm had passed. Many of the homes and buildings were permanently destroyed.

Mary and her family lived with relatives for two months. Wondering what had become of the cats, Mary went back home the first time briefly in September, and found her cat Sasha, but not Otis. In November, the Theriot family set out to Chalmette for the second time since Katrina. On this trip back to Chalmette, Mary had given up on seeing Otis again. She didn't even bother taking his cage with her this time.

The Theriot family drove into their old neighborhood in Chalmette. They were turning off Delille Street and making a left onto West Moreau when they saw him. The cat was stretched out on the sunny driveway of the home of one of their old neighbors. Mary swung the passenger door open before Joe could even hit the brakes.

"Otis!" she screamed, rushing toward him. "Otis! My God! There you are!"

Joe screeched the car to a halt. Cheyenne jumped out. Otis was alive! He was safe. They were all safe. They lost their possessions, lost their home, but they were safe. They survived Hurricane Katrina.

AS HURRICANES DEVELOP FROM RELATIVELY SMALL clusters of thunderstorms, they may initially be categorized as tropical depressions, with sustained wind speeds of 38 mph or less, or tropical storms, with sustained wind speeds of 39 to 73 mph. These events might not boast the extreme wind speeds that hurricanes do, but don't write them off. Tropical depressions and tropical storms can do plenty of damage from flooding and wind, particularly if they are slow-moving. The longer a storm lingers over a given area, the more rain it can produce and the higher the likelihood that the region will experience flooding.

Though you might think the monumental force of 100 mph+ winds would be the most deadly effect of hurricanes, flooding is the leading killer in hurricanes. That is particularly true on the coast, where storm surge, an abnormal rise in water generated by a storm, can occur.

Even if you don't live or vacation directly in a coastal area, hurricanes can still affect you. Strong hurricanes can cause flooding well inland from where the storm makes landfall. They also can spawn tornadoes and severe thunderstorms far from the coast.

The National Hurricane Center issues the advisories on tropical cyclones...

Details zur Ausgabe

• Verlag: Griffin
• Erscheinungsdatum: 2012
• Sprache: Englisch
• ISBN 10: 023011573X
• ISBN 13: 9780230115736
• Einband: Taschenbuch
• Anzahl der Seiten: 256
• Kontakt zum Hersteller: Nicht verfügbar
• Verantwortliche Person: KreGa Onlinehandel GmbH; 4950000000000; info@krega-onlinehandel.de; ; Birkenweg 31; Brakel; 33034; Deutschland