Loss of Life in the United States Associated with Recent Atlantic Tropical Cyclones

Author(s):  
Edward N. Rappaport
2019 ◽  
Vol 100 (8) ◽  
pp. 1405-1417 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas Jones ◽  
Patrick Skinner ◽  
Nusrat Yussouf ◽  
Kent Knopfmeier ◽  
Anthony Reinhart ◽  
...  

AbstractLandfalling tropical cyclones (TCs) are among the greatest natural threats to life and property in the United States, since they can produce multiple hazards associated with convective storms over a wide region. Of these hazards, tornadoes within TC rainbands pose a particularly difficult forecast problem owing to their rapid evolution and their frequent occurrence coincident with additional hazards, such as flash flooding and damaging winds. During the 2017 Atlantic hurricane season, Hurricanes Harvey and Irma impacted the continental United States, causing significant loss of life and billions of dollars in property damage. Application of the Warn-on-Forecast (WoF) concept of short-term, probabilistic guidance of convective hazards (Stensrud et al. 2009, 2013), including the potential for tornadoes within TCs, offers the ability to provide forecasters with valuable tools for prioritizing the relative risk from multiple convective threats and effectively communicating them to the public.


Author(s):  
Kirsten D. Orwig

Convective storms affect countries worldwide, with billions in losses and dozens of fatalities every year. They are now the key insured loss driver in the United States, even after considering the losses sustained by tropical cyclones in 2017. Since 2008, total insured losses from convective storms have exceeded $10 billion per year. Additionally, these losses continue to increase year over year. Key loss drivers include increased population, buildings, vehicles, and property values. However, other loss drivers relate to construction materials and practices, as well as building code adoption and enforcement. The increasing loss trends pose a number of challenges for the insurance industry and broader society. These challenges are discussed, and some recommendations are presented.


PEDIATRICS ◽  
1978 ◽  
Vol 62 (3) ◽  
pp. 330-330
Author(s):  
T. E. C.

Dr. Richard Arthur Bolt (1880-1959) was both a greatly respected American pediatrician and an acknowledged leader in the development of maternal and infant hygiene programs. His chapter entitled "The Mortalities of Infancy" in Isaac Abt's (1867-1955) encyclopedic, nine-volume treatise on pediatrics, published between 1923 and 1926, contains this negative view of birth control.1 This terrific loss of life in utero or shortly after birth constitutes a serious problem from a biological as well as a social standpoint. Of recent years there has been an alarming increase in the frequency and actual number of induced abortions. This has gone hand in hand with the insidious propaganda for so-called "birth control" or "voluntary parenthood"—a movement which has gained momentum in France, Holland and New Zealand, and has gradually spread to England and the United States. While the birth control enthusiasts would indignantly disclaim any connection between the "contraceptive methods" of "voluntary parenthood" and induced abortions, it is very evident that the more "moral technique" of contraception must often break down and relief from the "accidents" which follow be frequently sought in induced abortion. Thus far contraceptive methods have been practiced largely by the elite and better educated classes. Those most able to bear children and meet their support have been the very ones to shirk the responsibility, while those for whom birth control is claimed to be a great boon still proceed to build up large families. It has been estimated that at least four children to a family are necessary to keep up the stock.


2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Monica H. Stone ◽  
Sagy Cohen

Abstract. Recent tropical cyclones, like Hurricane Katrina, have been some of the worst the United States has experienced. Tropical cyclones are expected to intensify, bringing about 20 % more precipitation, in the near future in response to global climate warming. Further, global climate warming may extend the hurricane season. This study focuses on four major river basins (Neches, Pearl, Mobile, and Roanoke) in the Southeast United States that are frequently impacted by tropical cyclones. An analysis of the timing of tropical cyclones that impact these river basins found that most occur during the low discharge season, and thus rarely produce riverine flooding conditions. However, an extension of the current hurricane season of June–November, due to global climate warming, could encroach upon the high discharge seasons in these basins, increasing the susceptibility for riverine hurricane-induced flooding. This analysis shows that an extension of the hurricane season to May–December (just 2 months longer) increased the number of days that would be at risk to flooding were the average tropical cyclone to occur by 37–258 %, depending on the timing of the hurricane season in relation to the high discharge seasons on these rivers. Future research should aim to extend this analysis to all river basins in the United States that are impacted by tropical cyclones in order to provide a bigger picture of which areas are likely to experience the worst increases in flooding risk due to a probable extension of the hurricane season with expected global climate change in the near future.


Author(s):  
Pataya Scott ◽  
Daan Liang

AbstractTornadoes, hurricanes, and other extreme winds cause deaths, injuries, and millions, if not billions, of dollars in damages every year in the United States. Mitigation is necessary to reduce the loss of life, anxiety and suffering, and economic losses. But how much are people willing to invest in their peace of mind? Policy makers typically use the range of $1 million to $10 million per life saved to determine whether a policy that would save lives should be implemented. Individuals have shown that they are willing to pay more for homes with upgrades for mitigation and safety even though they would have no insurance incentive and it is likely that the added cost only affords them peace of mind.


Atmosphere ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (7) ◽  
pp. 725
Author(s):  
Robert Mendelsohn ◽  
Liang Zheng

It is well known that seawalls are effective at stopping common storm surges in urban areas. This paper examines whether seawalls should be built to withstand the storm surge from a major tropical cyclone. We estimate the extra cost of building the wall tall enough to stop such surges and the extra flood benefit of this additional height. We estimate the surge probability distribution from six tidal stations spread along the Atlantic seaboard of the United States. We then measure how valuable the vulnerable buildings behind a 100 m wall must be to justify such a tall wall at each site. Combining information about the probability distribution of storm surge, the average elevation of protected buildings, and the damage rate at each building, we find that the value of protected buildings behind this 100 m wall must be in the hundreds of millions to justify the wall. We also examine the additional flood benefit and cost of protecting a km2 of land in nearby cities at each site. The density of buildings in coastal cities in the United States are generally more than an order of magnitude too low to justify seawalls this high. Seawalls are effective, but not at stopping the surge damage from major tropical cyclones.


2004 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
pp. 287-310 ◽  
Author(s):  
CURTIS H. MARTIN

The loss of life that resulted from the sinking of the fisheries training vessel Ehime Maru by the nuclear submarine USS Greeneville off Hawaii in February 2001 exemplifies the risks to United States–Japan alliance relations posed by US global military deployments. Following a pattern of incidents involving the US military in Japan itself, the collision violated Japanese expectations of benevolence from its stronger partner and put considerable pressure on the government to seek public apology and reassurance. This article examines the interplay of culture, national security interests and domestic politics in framing both perceptions and diplomacy during the crisis. While differences at both the cultural and security levels complicated diplomacy, asymmetry in the respective domestic political stakes, combined with overriding and largely congruent security interests, helped the United States to provide Japan with the requisite reassurance. After a decade of alliance drift, both Japan and the United States were determined to forestall defection by their alliance partner.


2009 ◽  
Vol 26 (10) ◽  
pp. 2051-2070
Author(s):  
Courtney D. Buckley ◽  
Robbie E. Hood ◽  
Frank J. LaFontaine

Abstract Inland flooding from tropical cyclones is a significant factor in storm-related deaths in the United States and other countries, with the majority of tropical cyclone fatalities recorded in the United States resulting from freshwater flooding. Information collected during National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) tropical cyclone field experiments suggests that surface water and flooding can be detected and therefore monitored at a greater spatial resolution by using passive microwave airborne radiometers than by using satellite sensors. The 10.7-GHz frequency of the NASA Advanced Microwave Precipitation Radiometer (AMPR) has demonstrated high-resolution detection of anomalous surface water and flooding in numerous situations. In this study, an analysis of three cases is conducted utilizing satellite and airborne radiometer data. Data from the 1998 Third Convection and Moisture Experiment (CAMEX-3) are utilized to detect surface water during the landfalling Hurricane Georges in both the Dominican Republic and Louisiana. Another case studied was the landfalling Tropical Storm Gert in eastern Mexico during the Tropical Cloud Systems and Processes (TCSP) experiment in 2005. AMPR data are compared to topographic data and vegetation indices to evaluate the significance of the surface water signature visible in the 10.7-GHz information. The results illustrate the AMPR’s utility in monitoring surface water that current satellite-based passive microwave radiometers are unable to monitor because of their coarser resolutions. This suggests the benefit of a radiometer with observing frequencies less than 11 GHz deployed on a manned aircraft or unmanned aircraft system to provide early detection in real time of expanding surface water or flooding conditions.


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