Hurricane Matthew - Effect on Haiti and the USA
Welcome to the first instalment of 'The Real Issues' blog. This is the first so called 'proper' post where I actually talk about the news and things like that. So let's get into it I guess.
The first thing I had to include from the last few few days is Hurricane Matthew. When the massive storm hit Haiti, it registered as a category 4 on the Saffir-Simpson hurricane scale, which means that there were winds of between 130 and 156 mph. Haiti can be considered as being a LEDC, (Less Economically Developed Country,) and therefore do not have the necessary early warning systems, facilities or defence systems in place to be able to limit the impact.
This contributed to the absolute devastation of Haiti, and it has been argued that it was the "country's worst natural disaster since a devastating earthquake struck the country in January 2010."
Although original estimates of the death toll were in the region of 400-500, the known death toll now at 842. It's particularly disturbing that the people of Haiti weren't actually sure when the hurricane was going to hit. This was shown starkly in a quote by a local 10 year old resident: “It happened so quickly and suddenly,” the 10-year-old told aid workers. “I heard my neighbour screaming: ‘Water! Water everywhere!’ It had completely surrounded us.”
The storm is now heading along the coast of the USA, where a number of counties in states such as Florida have been evacuated. Although the storm has been downgraded to a category 3 storm, it still has winds of 111 to 130 mph, still considered a 'major hurricane.' It was originally thought that Florida would have to bear the full brunt of the storm, but thus far it has remained some distance off the coast, meaning that although there are strong winds, there is not nearly as much flooding or destruction than originally thought. However, there have been statements issued warning people "not... to let down our guard."
The National Hurricane Centre have said that "We have been very fortunate that Matthew’s category 3 winds have remained a short distance offshore of the Florida Coast thus far," but that "Only a small deviation to the left of the forecast track could bring these winds onshore." Georgia is one of the other states thought to possibly experience the worst of Hurricane Matthew, and people have subsequently been evacuated for their own safety.
Eyes will be on Hurricane Matthew and the path it takes on the coast of the USA all throughout the rest of tonight, (GMT,) and the hours of tomorrow morning. I will be following live updates on the storm and will more than likely include them in tomorrow's blog post.
This story has gone on much longer than I had anticipated, so I'm going to leave it there for today. I will include updates on this story tomorrow, along with more news for you. Thank you very much for reading, and please consider following this blog. If you want to contact me about anything, tweet me @jman0605 or you can comment on this post, (although I won't see this as quickly.)
Thanks for reading, and I hope you read tomorrow's post.
:D
The first thing I had to include from the last few few days is Hurricane Matthew. When the massive storm hit Haiti, it registered as a category 4 on the Saffir-Simpson hurricane scale, which means that there were winds of between 130 and 156 mph. Haiti can be considered as being a LEDC, (Less Economically Developed Country,) and therefore do not have the necessary early warning systems, facilities or defence systems in place to be able to limit the impact.
This contributed to the absolute devastation of Haiti, and it has been argued that it was the "country's worst natural disaster since a devastating earthquake struck the country in January 2010."
Although original estimates of the death toll were in the region of 400-500, the known death toll now at 842. It's particularly disturbing that the people of Haiti weren't actually sure when the hurricane was going to hit. This was shown starkly in a quote by a local 10 year old resident: “It happened so quickly and suddenly,” the 10-year-old told aid workers. “I heard my neighbour screaming: ‘Water! Water everywhere!’ It had completely surrounded us.”
The storm is now heading along the coast of the USA, where a number of counties in states such as Florida have been evacuated. Although the storm has been downgraded to a category 3 storm, it still has winds of 111 to 130 mph, still considered a 'major hurricane.' It was originally thought that Florida would have to bear the full brunt of the storm, but thus far it has remained some distance off the coast, meaning that although there are strong winds, there is not nearly as much flooding or destruction than originally thought. However, there have been statements issued warning people "not... to let down our guard."
The National Hurricane Centre have said that "We have been very fortunate that Matthew’s category 3 winds have remained a short distance offshore of the Florida Coast thus far," but that "Only a small deviation to the left of the forecast track could bring these winds onshore." Georgia is one of the other states thought to possibly experience the worst of Hurricane Matthew, and people have subsequently been evacuated for their own safety.
Eyes will be on Hurricane Matthew and the path it takes on the coast of the USA all throughout the rest of tonight, (GMT,) and the hours of tomorrow morning. I will be following live updates on the storm and will more than likely include them in tomorrow's blog post.
This story has gone on much longer than I had anticipated, so I'm going to leave it there for today. I will include updates on this story tomorrow, along with more news for you. Thank you very much for reading, and please consider following this blog. If you want to contact me about anything, tweet me @jman0605 or you can comment on this post, (although I won't see this as quickly.)
Thanks for reading, and I hope you read tomorrow's post.
:D
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