Case Study On Hurricane Floyd Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

On Hurricane Floyd - Case Study Example The strength of this hurricane however has been recorded as the largest and strongest hurricanes to have ever hit the Atlantic. The reason for opting for hurricane Floyd for this particular case study is the intensity with which it pounded the Bahama Islands and moved into New England subsequently while damaging North Carolina and Florida on the way. Furthermore, it was also the cause for heavy floods and devastating storms which have led to several lives being lost. What originated as a mere tropical wave, turned into something so sinister that even the level of preparedness that had been taken care of in order to mitigate the effects of the hurricane, was not enough. While it crossed the Bahamas it remained under a category 5 status on the Saffir-Simpson scale, giving the meteorology department not much to alert the citizens about. Furthermore, it even weakened to a category 3 status with the winds ranging between 120 mph. thus the forecast that was broadcast regarding the tropical wave when it was out at sea was merely average as compared to the forecasts in the last decade. Only a fraction of the islands of the Bahamas received heavy winds for a small period of time and thus people were not aware that something bad could have struck, due to lack of common warning because of the varying wind pressure. Mitigation is the process of lessening the impact of an impending disaster in order to minimize its effects and cause the least amount of trouble and trauma to the people, possible. Not much could have been done in order to mitigate or lessen the impact of this hurricane except for keeping an eye on its movement and the meteorology department keeping a check on the wind speeds and directions of movement of the hurricane. People were informed well in time in order to leave their homes and as the President had declared emergency, it was the maximum that could have been done. Preparedness on the other hand refers to the measures that are