By Albion Middle Schools Lego League Team A

By Albion Middle School’s Lego League Team

A Powerful Storm Hurricanes, typhoons, and cyclones, what is the difference? Location. They are all the same storm that causes the same amount of damage. These massive storms can destroy towns and kill many people. They can get to speeds from 75 to 200 mph. They can be up to 600 miles across. Each one lasts for over a week. But what causes this massive, deadly storm? Hurricanes are caused when warm, moist air from the ocean rises rapidly and mixes with cooler air and then condenses into storm clouds. These storm clouds start to flow in a circular motion, like water going down the drain. As the wind speeds rise, the storm becomes more dangerous. The most damage in a hurricane is caused by the eyewall.

A Powerful Storm Cont. The eyewall of the storm is where most of the damage is done. The eye in the center is usually calm. The eye can be obscured in a weaker storm because of a dense overcast. The intensity is the maximum wind speed in in the hurricane. Hurricanes are judged on a scale from 1 to 5 based on the intensity of the wind speed and the size of the storm. Category 1, the smallest of the storms, has winds of 74 mph to 95 mph. Category 2, which can knock down trees, has wind speeds from 96 mph to 110 mph. Category 3 winds, which can destroy mobile homes, blow large trees down, and cause damage to the roofs of buildings, range from 111 mph to 130 mph. Category 4, which can destroy small homes, has wind speeds of 131 to 155 mph. The most destructive of these storms, category 5, can get winds speeds of over 155 mph. Category five storms can completely destroy homes.

Deaths Caused by Hurricanes from 2000 -2012 1%1% 0% 0% 1% 2% 87% 4% 3% 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012

Warning! How are people warned? How do they prepare for these monstrous storms? Who provides food and shelter in the event of a hurricane? Who does the rebuilding? Who rescues the people in danger? We have chosen Cuba as a constant to answer these questions. Cuba has a meteorologist institute with 15 providence offices. They share their information with U. S. scientists. When a storm or potential storm is 72 hours away from hitting, the media issues an alert to check evacuation plans and shelters. Schools have practice drills in case of a hurricane. Each block takes a census on who is being evacuated to which shelter.

Warning! There are four stages to their response system. Stage one takes place 72 hours before the storm hits land. People are warned through the media. 48 hours before, stage 2 begins. NCD (National Civil Defense) begins to organize hurricane preparation efforts, such as sending students home from school. When the storm hits land, stage 3 begins. The media provides more information, while the NCD tries to keep the phone lines open. When the hurricane has passed, stage 4 is put into effect, and people return to their homes when the NCD confirms it is safe.

Clean Up! It takes an average of $79, 906, 500, 000 to repair the damage done by a hurricane and it can take up to four years to repair. Although Cuba has an effective evacuation plan, there is no way to prevent the damage from a hurricane. Cuba has a swift, effective way of fixing the damage, it still requires additional help. The United Nations System organized a system to help raise funds for the repair done by a hurricane. Cuba’s main concern is to get medical structures up and running and provide the citizens with food and basic necessities. They also focus on getting the schools reorganized. They start repairs on homes as soon as they possibly can.

Can It Be Prevented? We believe that a hurricane can be prevented. There a few ways that scientists have tried so far. One is to release smoke in the eye of the storm, slowing the winds. Another is to send a super sonic jet to fly against the rotation of the storm. A third way to stop a hurricane is to use a giant funnel to divert warm water into the ocean, thus stopping the flow of warm air with cooler air.

We think it can! We have come up with a solution that could possibly prevent a hurricane. We think that if we could dump thousands of pounds of dry sand on the hurricane, the weight of the sand will slow the wind speeds. There is evidence that this method might be possible. A sandstorm from the Sierra Dessert blew over the Atlantic Ocean, decreasing the potential hurricane rate. If we could replicate this situation, it just might be possible to prevent a hurricane. The sand is also an eco-friendly solution to this massive disaster. This solution would cost an estimate of $100, 000 -$1 million including the costs of supplies like planes, attachments, sand, and fuel. Although this seems like a big cost, this method could save over $100 billion dollars caused by damage from hurricanes.

THANKS TO • American Meteorological Society. "AMS Glossary: C". Glossary of Meteorology. Allen Press. Retrieved 2006 -12 -14. • Zhang, H. , et al. (1998). "Tropical cyclones and global climate change: A post-IPCC assessment" (PDF). Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society (79): 19– 38. Retrieved 2013 -06 -03. • Kris, Hirschmann. Hurricanes Natural Disasters. San Diego: Lucent Books, Inc. , 2002. Print. • Brian, Marshel, Craig Freudenrich, and Robert Lamb. "How Hurricanes Work. “ http: //science. howstuffworks. com/nature/natural-disasters/hurricane. htm. How Stuff Works, n. d. Web. 11 Dec 2013. • Carson, Mary Key. Inside Hurricanes. New York: Sterling Publishing Co. , 2010. Print.

Knights If you want to learn more, go to our website, www. hurricaneslegoleague. weebly. com