Hurricane Floyd in North Carolina.

research.unc.edu/endeavors/win2006/feature_03.php

One hurricane that I have experienced was Hurricane Floyd in 1999. I lived in a two-story house nearby a river. When Floyd hit us the whole bottom floor of my house was completely flooded to the roof. To get out of our house we had to canoe out of our front door.

The trees, once standing tall in my front yard, were floating around in the swamp that my front yard became.

It took around 2 years to repair the damage caused to my house by Floyd. I have experienced other milder hurricanes but Floyd was the only hurricane that actually made an impact on my life.

Hurricane Floyd killed 52 people and wrecked 17,000 homes were I lived.

Hurricane Ike.

Hurricane Ike was categorised as a level 2 hurricane. It made landfall in the U.S. in Galveston Texas on Saturday . A night time curfew had to be put on Houston because of looting and the whole city is without power.

Ike made landfall with 110 mph winds. It destroyed cities in Texas and has also caused damage to Louisiana. One main concern of U.S. officials is the shortages and disruptions in gasoline refineries. Oil refineries in Texas had to be shut down in preparation of Hurricane Ike. The refineries accounted for about a quarter of the United States fuel production.

Ike has also made landfall in Havana, Cuba second. It arrived as a category 3 but weakend as is came inland in Havana. Giant waves and torrential rain have been occuring in the wake of Ike.

(top is Ike in Texas, bottom is Ike in Cuba)

My source of weather information is BBC news.

Hurricane Gustav.

BBC News. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7591197.stm

Hurricane Gustav hit the U.S.A on the U.S. Gulf Coast and gradually moved inward. Hurricane Gustav was originally categorized as a level 2 hurricane but as it moved inland into Louisiana it degraded to a level 1 hurricane.

Over 90 people were killed as the eye of Hurricane Gustav passed over the Caribbean. West of New Orleans was hit by the worst of the storm but the damage wasn't as bad as the damage done by Hurricane Katrina 3 years ago. New Orleans population of 200,000 is now down to 10,000 as residents are fleeing the storm. The U.S. predicted the worst of Gustav but the damage was not as bad as they thought it would be. The evacuations turned out to be only needed as a drill and clean up of the city is taking place.

Hurricane levels.

Hurricanes can reach categorys up to 5 levels.

Category one hurricanes do not generally cause damage to buildings only to property and shrubs. Flooding in coastal areas is common. Hurricane Guston in 2004 was a category one hurricane.

Category two hurricanes cause roof, door and window damages. Coastal and low lying escapes flood hours before the hurricane arrives. Hurricane Frances was a category two hurricane.

Category three hurricanes cause trees and shrubbery to blow over and complete destruction of mobile homes and roof structures. There is also damage to small residences. Flooding on the coast destroys property and roads. Terrain lower than sea level can flood inland up to 8 miles. Hurricanes Jeanne and Ivan of 2004 were category three hurricanes.

Category four hurricanes cause complete roof and curtain wall failures. Mobile homes are completely destroyed and sign posts are blown away. Because of flooding on terrain 10 feet below sea level, massive evacuation is essential and flooding can occur up to 6 miles inland. Hurricane Dennis of 2005 struck the island of Cuba as a Category Four hurricane.

Category five hurricanes cause complete roof failure on residential and industrial buildings. Complete building failures and small utility building or blown away. All shrubbery, signs and trees are blown down. Windows and doors are severly damaged. Flooding can occur up to 3 hours before initial arrival of the hurricane. Damage to lower level floors on any terrain lower than 15 feet below sea level.Massive evacuation can occur up to 5-10 miles from the shoreline. Hurricane Wilma of 2005 was a Category Five hurricane and is the strongest Atlantic tropical cyclone on record with a minimum pressure of 882 mb.

Causes of Hurricanes?

Hurricanes such as Hurricane Katrina are formed over warm ocean waters during the summer and autumn months. Water vapour from the ocean waters condenses and causes storm clouds and rain. Usually wind would limit the thunderstorm but when there is little wind the warm condensed water vapour can create an area of low pressure. As the warm air moves inward and spirals it creates the 'eye of the hurricane.' As the warm winds are moving they cause more water to evaporate and feed an already growing thunderstorm with rain! The centre or eye of the hurricane is calm and warm because of the sinking air.

http://video.google.com/videosearch?q=hurricane+ike+&emb=1&aq=f#q=satelite%20hurricanes&emb=1