Management Of Flood, Tropical Cyclones, Storms, Hurricanes And Tornadoes

Contents: Preface. 1. Introduction. 2. Flood forecasting, mitigation planning and management. 3. Tropical cyclones. 4. Storms, hurricanes, tornadoes, lightning and frost disasters. Bibliography. Index.

"Humans can make their environment more prone to floods and droughts. They can even increase the likelihood of earthquakes by lubricating the earth\'s underground rock strata. But they have found no way of bringing cyclones upon themselves. Cyclones just happen.

A tropical cyclone is an intense tropical storm with wind speeds of over 118 kilometres per hour (73 mph)--force 12 on the Beaufort Scale f Wind Force. Cyclones usually tear away anemometers (wind gauges), so their speeds are rarely measured accurately. But most are thought capable of sustained speeds of 200 kph (125 mph).
 
Such tropical windstorms are called hurricanes in the Caribbean, Atlantic and North American regions; cyclones in the Indian Ocean; typhoons in the Pacific; and Baguio around the Philippines. All of these are the same phenomenon. about 80-100 tropical cyclones develop each year from low pressure areas in tropical oceans, usually between latitudes 5 and 30 degrees on either side of the equator, but more usually in the north. The biggest storms are found in the West Pacific.

A cyclone begins to form when moist air heated by the sun rises from the surface of the war tropical seas and is tunneled upwards in a natural updraft. As this most air rises, it cools and condenses into rain. This condensation feeds back into the air large amounts of heat, which add to the force of the storm\'s updraft and which stokes the power of the cyclone. Air continues to go spiralling up, and hot moist air rushes in from all sides to replace it and to feed the updraft. The winds spiral around an "eye", an area of calm and light rains a few kilometres across.

This book will be of immense help to all those contemplating to acquire an expert knowledge of floods, tropical cyclones, storms, hurricanes and tornadoes." (jacket)