REMEMBERING 2O10’S SEVERE WINDSTORMS

XynthiaTropical Storms and Hurricanes:

Atlantic BasinTropical Storms and Hurricanes:

Pacific BasinTyphoonsCyclones

Walter Hays, Global Alliance for Disaster Reduction, University of

North Carolina, USA

Rain, floods, landslides, and Water-borne diseases are usually triggered by a tropical storm, hurricane,

typhoon, or cyclone.

IMPACTED NATIONS

Western Europe (France, Portugal, Spain), Caribbean (Haiti, Dominican Republic, Bermuda, Antigua, Montserrat, St Kitts, Nevis, Anguilla, St Maarten, St Martin,…

IMPACTED NATIONS (Continued)

St Barthelemy, Saba, and St Eustatius), Central America (Guatemala, El Salvador), Mexico, USA (Texas), The Philippines, …

SOCIETAL IMPACTS DURING 2010

• High winds, storm surges, and heavy rains affected tens of thousands.

• Thousands of homes without power, damaged, destroyed, or inundated.

• Thousands evacuated.

• Lives and livelihoods of millions adversely impacted.

• Efforts to stop Gulf oil leak and Clean up slowed

SOCIETAL IMPACTS DURING 2010 (Continued)

• Infrastructure damaged and destroyed.

• $ billions in insured and uninsured economic losses.

WINDSTORM XYNTHIA

FEBRUARY 26-28, 2010

WHAT WAS XYNTHIA?

Xynthia, a violent European windstorm with winds up to 140km/hr, crossed Western

Europe on 26–28 February 2010, and was the most violent storm since “Lothar” and “Martin” in

December 1999

A powerful storm surge with waves up to 7.5 m (25 ft) high hit at high tide and smashed through a 200-

year-old sea wall off France’s coastal town of L’Aiquillon-Sur-Mer

XYNTHIA: FLOODING IN FRANCE

Xynthia: 1) caused flooding, 2) cut power to more than 1 million homes in France and Portugal,

respectively, 3) disrupted travel in Spain, 4) tore roofs off houses, 5)

downed trees, 6) caused at least 51 deaths, and 7) caused losses

estimated at $1.8 B ($1.4 insured).

The 2010 season was predicted to be less severe

than 2009 in the Pacific Basin and more severe in

the Atlantic Basin because of the diminished El Nino

conditions

The Eastern Pacific is, on average, the second-most active basin in the world with an average of 16 tropical storms annually, with 9 becoming hurricanes, and 4 becoming major hurricanes, frequently impacting

mainland Mexico and the Revillagigedo Islands, and

infrequently the USA.

PACIFIC BASIN TROPICAL STORMS – HURRICANES: 2010

• AGATHA

• BLAS

• CELIA (H)

• DARBY (H)

• ESTELLE

• FRANK (H)

TROPICAL STORM AGATHA STRIKES GUATEMALA

SHORTLY AFTER PACAVA ERUPTS

FIRST STORM OF PACIFIC SEASON FOLLOWS VOLCANIC ERUPTION

MAY 27-29, 2010

AGATHA’S PATH

Tropical Storm Agatha was a weak, but catastrophic storm that made

landfall near the Guatemala-Mexico border on the evening of May 29.

Before the arrival of Tropical Storm Agatha, the Pacava volcano,

located 25 km south of Guatemala City, started spewing lava and ash

on Friday, May 28th, forcing the evacuation of hundreds.

PACAVA ERUPTS: MAY 28

Agatha produced torrential rain all across Central America, which

resulted in the death of one person in Nicaragua. 152 in Guatemala

(with another 100 missing because of landslides), and 13 in El

Salvador.

TORRENTIAL RAINS

SINKHOLE: GUATEMALA CITY

66 FT WIDE AND 100 FT DEEP SINKHOLE

SINKHOLE

SINKHOLE

SINKHOLE

Sam Bonis, a geologist from Dartmouth, said that Guatemala

City is sitting on a bed of old volcanic ash that has not

completely lithified (turned into solid rock), and that he believed that the sinkhole was caused by

leaking pipes underground.

Remnants of the storm were expected to deliver 10 to 20 in (25 to

50 cm) of rain over southeastern Mexico, Guatemala and parts of El

Salvador, creating the possibility of "life-threatening flash floods and

mudslides.”

HISTORY OF BLAS

• AGATHA

• BLAS

• CELIA

• DARBY

• FRANK

HISTORY OF CELIA

• AGATHA

• BLAS

• CELIA

• DARBY

• FRANK

HISTORY OF DARBY

• AGATHA

• BLAS

• CELIA

• DARBY

• FRANK

HISTORY OF FRANK

• AGATHA

• BLAS

• CELIA

• DARBY

• FRANK

ATLANTIC BASIN TROPICAL STORMS AND HURRICANES: 2010

• Alex (H)

• Bonnie

• Colin

• Danielle (H)

• Earl

TROPICAL STORM – HURRICANE ALEX:

The first named tropical storm of the 2010 Atlantic

Hurricane Season.

JUNE 26 - JULY 1, 2010

ALEX STARTED AS A TROPICAL WAVE IN THE CARIBBEAN: JUNE 20

After forming on June 25, a tropical storm warning was issued for the

east coast of Quintana Roo on Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula and the

east coast of Belize

In the central Caribbean Sea, the system produced heavy rainfall in

the Dominican Republic that caused flooding and prompted the

evacuation of more than 3,000 people.

TROPICAL STORM ALEX: LANDFALL AT BELIZE; JUNE 26

After making landfall in Belize and the Yucatan Peninsula of Mexico, Tropical Storm Alex strengthened again as it entered the very warm waters of the Bay of Campeche.

On the evening of June 28, a hurricane warning was issued for the coast of Texas, south of Baffin

Bay to the mouth of the Rio Grande, and by the Mexican Government from the Rio Grande south to La

Cruz.

FORECAST: TROPICAL STORM- HURRICANE ALEX

Although waves and winds along Alex’s path slowed work to stop the

BP Gulf Oil Spill, in its 71st day of 107, the good news is that the

storm did not push the oil landward faster or accelerate movement of the oil eastward into the Atlantic.

TYPHOON CHANTHU (Category 1)

July 17-23, 2010

TYPHOON CHANTHU: A CAT 1 STORM

TROPICAL STORM COLIN

August 3, 2010

TROPICAL STORM COLIN: FORMS ON WED, AUGUST 3

25/08/2010 S.MORA 47

Hurricane Hurricane DanielleDanielle

TS EarlTS Earl

25/08/2010 S.MORA 48

25/08/2010 S.MORA 49

TS EarlTS Earl

25/08/2010 S.MORA 50

25/08/2010 S.MORA 51

Hurricane Hurricane DanielleDanielle

Tropical Storm Tropical Storm EarlEarl

COLIN, DANIELLE, EARL, AND POSSIBLE FIONA: AUG 28

DANIELLE, EARL, POSSIBLE FIONA, AND FRANK: AUG 28