If you’re at home:
j Open the windows slightly, then get away from them.
j Go to a storm cellar if you have one, or go to a cellar and stay underneath a staircase, mattress, or heavy piece of furniture, such as a table.
j Don’t go a into a mobile home. Find shelter in a strong building.
If you’re away from home:
j Get away from the street.
j Try to find a building to enter, but stay away from windows and doors.
j If you can’t find a building, lie in a ditch and cover your head with your hands.
j If you’re at school, go to an inside hallway on the lowest floor, bend over and place your handson your head.
Hurricanes are the cyclonic storms that cause the most widespread destruction. They are also known as typhoons in the South China Sea and the Indian Ocean, and willy-willies in Australia. The wind speeds are usually 120 to 240 kilometers (75 to 150 miles) per hour; however, unlike tornadoes, hurricanes may be hundreds of kilometers in diameter and last for several days. They can travel hundreds or thousands of kilometers. Hurricane Gilbert, for example, formed in a low-pressure system off the coast of Africa and traveled to the United States. In 1989, Hurricane Hugo devastated areas of Puerto Rico and other areas in the Carribbean and traveled to the southeastern United States and destroyed areas of Charleston, South Carolina.
If you ever receive warning that a hurricane may strike your area, begin to take precautions. It’s important to follow the advice of the authorities. Sometimes you may be told to leave the area before the storm hits. Many people have died because they ignored such warnings. If you are not advised to leave the area, use the precautions listed below.
The center of the hurricane is the area known as the eye. Within the eye the air begins to sink because of an area of low-pressure. The air within the eye is quite calm. The eye of the hurricane can be 20-200 kilometers across. When the eye passes over an area, the wind speed drops and the sky may be clear and sunny. When the eye passes, fierce winds and heavy rainfall begin to pound the land and water again.
When hurricanes pass over coastal areas, the winds cause terrible destruction. Savage winds can uproot trees and level buildings. What the wind does not harm may be washed away by the high waves that develop due to high winds. These waves may be as high as 12 meters. Flooding may result from the heavy rain and waves, with sometimes as much as 30 centimeters of water falling in a few hours.
4A hurricane can release as much energy as 400 20-megaton H-bombs every second.
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