REMEMBERING 2O10: PART 4

SEPTEMBER - DECEMBER

SEVERE WINDSTORMS (CONTINUED), EARTHQUAKES (CONTINUED), LANDSLIDES

(CONTINUED), WILDFIRES (CONTINUED), VOLCANIC ERUPTIONS, (CONTINUED)…

Walter Hays, Global Alliance for Disaster Reduction, University

of North Carolina, USA

IMPACTED NATIONS

• USA (North Carolina, Texas, Florida to Maine, Atlantic Canada, Illinois, Wisconsin), Mexico, Honduras, New Zealand, Guatemala, Nicaragua, Saint Lucia, Haiti, Cuba, Jamaica, Pakistan, Indonesia, …

SOCIETAL IMPACTS DURING 2010

• 18 named storms in the Atlantic Basin leave 2010 tied with 1995 as second worst season.

• Rain-triggered landslides kill 100’s in Guatemala and Mexico.

SOCIETAL IMPACTS DURING 2010

• M7.0 earthquake strikes Christchurch, New Zealand, with $1.5 billion in estimated damage, but no deaths

• Oil leak in the Gulf of Mexico finally under control, but massive and expensive cleanup just starting.

• Complex recovery from flooding in Pakistan begins.

SOCIETAL IMPACTS DURING 2010

• Over 500 dead after M7.7 earthquake and a 10-m tsunami wave run up strike Java, Indonesia.

• Nearly 400 dead after Mount Merapi erupts for one month, starting one day after M7.7 earthquake and 10- m tsunami wave run up strike Java, Indonesia.

SEVERE WINDSTORMS

Tropical Storms: Fiona, Gaston, Hermine, Matthew; Nicole,

Hurricanes: Earl, Igor, Julia, Karl, Lisa, Otto, Paula, Richard, Shary,

Tomas

SEPTEMBER 1

On September 1st, the National Hurricane Center also announced the formation of Tropical Storm Gaston, setting the stage for 3

simultaneous active storms.

TROPICAL STORM GASTON JOINS EARL AND FIONA: SEPT 1

SEPTEMBER 1

• On Wednesday morning, September 1, Hurricane Earl had diminished to a very large CAT 3 storm with winds of 125 mph and wind bands extending outward 200 miles from the eye..

HURRICANE EARL

HURRICANE EARL’S FORECAST: SEPT 1

The forecast for Earl identified the Cape Hatteras, NC, area as at

highest risk on Friday morning, September 3rd, and the

Massachusetts' Cape Cod and the Maine shoreline on Friday night and

Saturday morning.

Cape Hatteras and other parts of NC’s barrier islands did experience huge waves, beach erosion, up to 6

inches of rain, and property damage, but no landfall.

5,000 EVACUATED NORTH CAROLINA’S OUTER BANKS: SEPT 1

EARL’S SIGNATURE: NAGS HEAD, NC

The situation for Cape Cod, Nantucket, Long Island, and Rhode

Island was worse than for Cape Hatteras, North Carolina because the storm’s rain- and wind- bands

were spread out over a much wider area as Earl moved north into New

England and Atlantic Canada.

.

SEPTEMBER 3

Earl weakened as it raced towards New England and ended

in Atlantic Canada

Fiona and Gaston had little impact and died.

TROPICAL STORM HERMINE FORMS IN GULF: SEPT 6

TROPICAL STORM IGOR: SEPT 8, 2010

HURRICANES IGOR AND JULIA AND TS KARL: SEPT 15, 2010

BERMUDA EXPERIENCED IGOR’S GUSTY WINDS AND HEAVY RAIN: SEPT 19-20

HURRICANE IGOR (LEFT) & HURICANE JULIA (RIGHT): SEPT 13, 2010

TROPICAL STORM KARL: SEPT 14-17, 2010

Tropical storm Karl became a Cat 1 hurricane on September 16th.

Karl dumped 8 inches (21.5 cm) of rain in Veracruz within

90 minutes, 31.4 cm in the nearby mountains, causing

landslides, and 25.4 cm across the central and

southern Gulf coast region before drenching Mexico City.

FLOODING FROM KARL: NORTH OF VERACRUZ; SEPT 18

State-owned Petroleos Mexicanos closed 14

production wells in the northern part of Veracruz

state and evacuated workers from some oil platforms in

the Gulf.

TROPICAL STORM MATTHEW: SEPT 24, 2010

After landfall in Belize, Matthew’s rains and winds

hit Honduras and Nicaragua on Friday (24th), forcing

hundreds of residents and tourists to evacuate and

threatening coffee and sugar crops.

FAST MOVING NICOLE FORMED NEAR CUBA: SEPT 29

Nicole, a rainmaker, soaked Cuba and Jamaica on

Wednesday (29th), then its remnants became part of a low-pressure system that

soaked the USA from Florida to Maine.

OTTO’S PATH AFTER BECOMING A HURRICANE IN 2 DAYS: OCT 8

TROPICAL STORM PAULA FORMS NEAR HONDURAS: OCT 11

HURRICANE PAULA SOAKS CANCUN: OCT 13

DEPRESSION 19 BECOMES TROPICAL STORM RICHARD: OCT 21

AS A TROPICAL STORM AND HURRICANE; SHARY WAS NO PROBLEM: OCT 27

TOMAS BECAME A HURRICANE IN ONE DAY: OCTOBER 30

In the eastern Caribbean, Tomas left at least 14 dead, many homeless, and island

nations suffering from millions of dollars in

damages to banana crops, housing, and infrastructure

from wind, flooding, and landslides

Tomas, as a CAT 2 storm, was

the “the worst in St. Lucian history,” causing the loss of its

entire banana crop, which along with tourism, is extremely

important to Saint Luccia’s economy.

.

TOMAS: IMPACTS SAINT LUCCIA

Hurricane Tomas, which intensified overnight on Thursday (Nov. 4) to CAT 1, is bearing down on Haiti, a country with a triple disaster: 1) the January 12, 2010 earthquake, 2) cholera affecting at least 6,700 people, and 3) more than 1 million people still living in tents.

.

A TREELESS, LANDSLIDE-PRONE HAITI FACING TOMAS, A RAINMAKER

HAITIANS: AWAITING EVACUATION ON NOV 4th

HAITIAN’S POOREST OF THE POOR WITH NO PLACE TO GO

Tomas, a CAT I storm and rainmaker, came ashore at

Haiti's far southwestern edge on Nov. 5th, slamming the

coastline with 135 kph (85-mph) winds and deluging the area

with heavy rain.

.

Old and new disasters were mingled in Leogane, where

milky-brown floodwaters filled quake-cracked streets and

patched-up homes and cut off a camp that had been home to

hundreds of refugees.

.

FLOODING IN CITI SOLELI, HAITI: NOV 5

NOV 13: REGION OF INTEREST IN SO. CARIBBEAN MAY BECOME TS VIRGINIE

NOVEMBER 20th If tropical storm Virginie, the 20th storm of 2010 forms as

expected in the next 2 days, 2010, currently tied with 1995 as the 2nd busiest hurricane

season, will take over 2nd place.

TORNADOES

Rare Late November Tornadoes strike in Illinois and Wisconsin

THANKSGIVING WEEK TORNADOES IN ILLINOIS: NOV 23, 2010

As many as seven tornadoes were reported in Illinois and Wisconsin, damaging homes and businesses and causing

injuries

LANDSLIDES

• GUATEMALA

• SANTA MARIA TLAHUIPOTEPEC, MEXICO

MASSIVE LANDSLIDES AFTER A PERIOD OF INTENSIVE RAINFALL

BURY A BUS and

OVER 100 RESCUE WORKERS IN GUATEMALA

A National Tragedy 80 km from Tecpan, the Capital

September 4-5, 2010

Several landslides had occurred along the Nation’s

highways during the last year, and authorities knew of the danger, but did nothing; NOW, at least 58 are dead.

Massive landslides were triggered in Guatemala

following constant rain from Tropical Depression 11 E in that left the hillsides in the

region saturated with water.

More than 30 separate landslides cut the Inter-

American Highway, one of Guatemala's main roads,

within a single 30-mile (50-km) stretch.

A LANDSLIDE ON THE INTER-AMERICAN HIGHWAY

LANDSLIDE NEAR NAHUALA

TRAGEDY STRUCK: Approximately 100 people

were attempting to dig a bus out of a mudslide on

Saturday, September 4th when a second landslide

engulfed them on Sunday.

BUS BURIED BY LANDSLIDE: SEPTEMBER 4

EXCAVATING THE BUS