In this episode of the How to Protect the Ocean podcast, host Andrew Lewin addresses the devastating impacts of Hurricane Helen, which has caused significant property damage and claimed 52 lives across the U.S., particularly in Florida, Georgia, and North Carolina. The discussion centers around the implications of climate change on hurricane intensity and frequency, highlighting how storms are rapidly escalating in size and strength. Andrew also explores the current hurricane categorization system and the possibility of introducing a new category to better reflect the increasing severity of these storms.
Tune in to understand the connection between climate change and extreme weather events, and learn how you can take action for a healthier ocean.
Articles:
https://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/4904495-climcate-change-hurricanes-intensifying-how/
https://www.pbs.org/newshour/nation/live-map-helene
https://www.nhc.noaa.gov/aboutsshws.php?os=app&ref=app
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Climate Change and Its Impact on Hurricanes
Climate change is profoundly affecting the intensity and frequency of hurricanes, leading to more severe flooding and damage in impacted regions. This phenomenon arises from several interconnected factors that are altering the behavior of these powerful storms.
Warmer Ocean Temperatures
One of the primary drivers of increased hurricane intensity is the rising temperature of ocean waters. As the Gulf of Mexico and other bodies of water warm due to climate change, they provide more energy to hurricanes. This additional heat results in greater evaporation, allowing the clouds associated with hurricanes to hold more moisture. Consequently, even hurricanes classified as Category 1 can produce an unexpected amount of rainfall, leading to severe flooding.
Rapid Intensification
The recent episode discusses Hurricane Helen, which rapidly intensified from a Category 1 to a Category 4 storm. This rapid escalation is becoming more common as climate change continues to warm ocean waters. The Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale categorizes hurricanes based on wind speed, but the sheer size and moisture content of the storm are equally important. The increased size of storms means they can affect larger areas, resulting in widespread damage and flooding.
Increased Rainfall and Flooding
With hurricanes holding more water, the amount of rainfall associated with these storms has also increased. This is particularly concerning for areas that may lack the infrastructure to handle such heavy rainfall. The episode highlights that even a Category 1 hurricane can lead to significant flooding if it brings more rain than expected. The combination of heavy rainfall and storm surge can overwhelm drainage systems, resulting in catastrophic flooding in residential areas.
Vulnerable Infrastructure
Many coastal regions have infrastructure that is not designed to cope with the increased rainfall and flooding associated with more intense hurricanes. As mentioned in the episode, areas like Florida are particularly vulnerable, with many homes and communities at risk of being inundated. The episode also notes that past storms have influenced people's decisions about evacuation, leading some to underestimate the risks associated with hurricanes.
The Role of Policy and Action
The episode emphasizes the urgent need for political action to address climate change and its impacts on hurricanes. It points out that some politicians are not taking the necessary steps to mitigate climate change, ultimately affecting the safety and well-being of their constituents. The call to action is clear: voters must hold their leaders accountable and advocate for policies that address climate change to reduce the risks associated with future hurricanes.
Conclusion
In summary, climate change is a significant factor contributing to the increasing intensity and frequency of hurricanes. The warming of ocean waters leads to more powerful storms that can produce severe flooding and damage. As communities confront the realities of these intensified storms, it is crucial to advocate for effective climate policies and infrastructure improvements to protect lives and property in the future.
The Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale is a widely recognized system that categorizes hurricanes from 1 to 5 based on their sustained wind speeds. This scale helps communicate the potential damage a hurricane can cause, with Category 1 representing the least severe winds (74 to 95 mph) and Category 5 indicating catastrophic winds of 157 mph or higher. However, while this scale focuses primarily on wind speed, it is essential to understand that the amount of rainfall and the resulting flooding can be significant even in lower categories.
In a recent episode of the How to Protect the Ocean podcast, host Andrew Lewin discussed Hurricane Helen, which rapidly intensified from a Category 1 to a Category 4 hurricane. This rapid escalation in intensity not only increased wind speeds but also contributed to a substantial increase in rainfall. The podcast highlighted that the warming waters of the Gulf of Mexico allow hurricane clouds to hold more moisture, leading to heavier rainfall during storms. This phenomenon means that even a Category 1 hurricane can produce unexpected and dangerous amounts of rain, resulting in severe flooding.
For instance, Lewin pointed out that many residents may underestimate the risks associated with a Category 1 hurricane, believing it to be manageable based on past experiences. However, the increased capacity of clouds to hold moisture due to climate change can lead to flooding that overwhelms local infrastructure, which is often not designed to handle such extreme rainfall. This was evident in the aftermath of Hurricane Helen, where significant flooding occurred even as the storm was initially categorized as a lower-level hurricane.
Moreover, the podcast emphasized that the combination of storm surge and heavy rainfall can create a perfect storm for flooding. Storm surge refers to the rise in water level caused by the hurricane's winds pushing water toward the shore, and when this is compounded by heavy rainfall, the results can be devastating. Lewin shared examples of homes being flooded and even floating away, illustrating the dire consequences of underestimating a storm's potential based on its wind category alone.
In conclusion, while the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale provides a useful framework for understanding hurricane intensity, it is essential to consider the broader impacts of hurricanes, particularly in terms of rainfall and flooding. As climate change continues to influence weather patterns, the risks associated with hurricanes—regardless of their category—are likely to increase, making it vital for communities to prepare for the potential for significant flooding even from lower-category storms.
Hurricane Helen has come through the United States and it's had a lot of damage not only property damage, but it's taken 52 lives in the US not just in Florida, but in Georgia, North Carolina and other places and it's caused flash flooding in a lot of those places Homes were floating around it's not good and it doesn't look like it's gonna get better with storms And I had a question from an audience member saying hey Andrew, can you start talking about how climate change is affecting these hurricanes? And we're gonna talk about that on today's episode of the how to protect the ocean podcast. Let's start the show Hey everybody welcome back to another exciting episode of the how to protect the ocean podcast I'm your host angel and this is the podcast where you find out what's happening with the ocean how you can speak up for the ocean What you can do to live for a better ocean by taking action now today's episode. We're not talking about something That's fun to talk about in my opinion hurricane Helen just went through the Florida Georgia North Carolina's and other places taking 52 lives Causing so so much damage and we need to talk about it we need to talk about these storms and this one was Interesting in a lot of different ways in that it was a lot bigger larger in in space when you look at the the radius and the diameter of this of this storm it It really increased rapidly from a hurricane one the category one to a hurricane four We're gonna talk about these categories and we're gonna talk about what scientists are now thinking in terms of maybe adding another category So we're gonna talk about that say but we're gonna talk about why you know climate change is actually helping these storms become more intense and more frequent and I'll leave in a lot more flooding a lot more rain is have is being had in these In in these hurricanes and that's a danger to a lot of places So we're gonna we're gonna talk about that a number of times and that we're also gonna talk about ways that people can get better access, you know ways that you know past storms may have had a Influence on the decision of how people or when people will evacuate if they will evacuate and we're gonna we're gonna talk about that as well So lots to get into before we do that though I just want to remind people if you want to know more about what's happening in the ocean You can get access to our newsletter if you go to speak up for blue.com forward slash newsletter You can get access to three articles a day Monday to Friday. 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But anyway, let's get into the episode This is not a fun episode to talk about like I said people lost their lives people lost their homes Insurance is really difficult to come by especially when it comes to flash flooding or any kind of hurricanes in especially in Florida I watched a lot of videos that were that was that were covering it a lot of people were live streaming during the time A lot more people didn't evacuate and that's scary that's a scary thought and I think a lot of it was Because there were you know, it started off as a category one it hit it hit the Yucatan Peninsula So in Mexico, and it was like a category three and once it goes over land a little bit It kind of dissipates and it went down to a category one But it rapidly increased and and the size the sheer size of the hurricane not the intensity But the size in terms of how the hurricane clouds how much like area it covered Was a lot bigger probably one of the biggest ones we've seen in a long time And you can see there were videos of people being rescued on sailboats and people being rescued from flooding But even before the hurricane came in and and that's obviously that's a danger But I went from a category one to a category four and I want to just talk a little bit about the the Category so the the Saphir Simpson hurricane wind scale is what category it is what categorizes these hurricanes So those categories right now currently one to five And it basically goes by wind so category one is a 74 to 95 mile an hour winds Category two is 96 to a hundred and ten miles an hour Three a cat a hurricane category three which is a major hurricane is considered the beginning of the major hurricanes is a hundred and eleven to a hundred and nine 129 miles an hour winds category four which was what hurricane Helen was it was a hundred and thirty to a hundred and fifty six mile Power winds were sent against some big winds here and the category five which Hurricane barrel was earlier this year earlier this summer Was a hundred and fifty seven mile an hour winds or higher now? The types of damage for category one if you just think about that It's very dangerous winds will produce some damage well constructed frame homes could have damage to roux shingles vinyl siding and gutters Large branches of trees will snap and shallow rooted trees will be toppled Extensive damage to power lines and poles likely will result in power outages that could last a few or to several days So that's just a category one not gonna read all of them because I'll put a link to the show notes of where you can get access This is on the NOAA website, but a major hurricane category three is devastating damage will occur Will-built framed homes may incur major damage or removal of roof decking and gable ends I'm not sure what gable ends are but many new trees will be snapped and or uprooted blocking numerous roads Electricity and water will be unavailable for several days to weeks after the storm passes I was involved in a hurricane three when I lived in in When I lived in Halifax back in 2003 2004 it was it was hurricane one it rapidly intensified We thought it was going to be a tropical storm. It ended up being a category three Those winds were no joke. We were lucky in terms of where where my wife and I were living But the downtown areas where there's lots of huge trees that were upended put the city just disable the city for like Three weeks in the state of emergency and that is obviously not good category four, which is Hurricane Helen What has catastrophic damage will occur? Well-built framed houses can sustain severe damage with loss of most of the roof structure and or some exterior walls Most trees will be snapped or uprooted and power poles downed fallen trees and And power poles will be isolated will isolate residential areas power outages will last weeks to possibly months Most of the area will be uninhabitable for weeks or months now imagine this you are being an it's being announced that you're in It's this area where it's first gonna make landfall. I think the Tampa Bay area and the panhandle of Florida and they're saying hey, you know what earlier in the day. It's a category one, you know, you might want to Think about evacuating but because the ocean the Gulf of Mexico is so warm That this could rapidly increase into something like category two three or four and end up being four But a day is not a lot of time to get a lot of people out of a city or a lot of people out of the area It's not just Tampa Bay got surrounding areas We knew the storm surge was gonna be heavy and storm surge essentially is what water comes to the land From a storm right surging water that comes through storm surge. They were predicting maybe about eight feet high That's that's you know above most people's height, right? It'd be very I would say everybody's height It's safe to say unless you're a basketball player and you're eight feet that that doesn't exist as far as I know But you know so that's that's up up above most houses first floor houses So that could be very dangerous in terms of flooding roads. You can't get out if you can't leave There were videos that I saw of older older people who were saying look I just don't have the means to leave I'm gonna ride it out there. There was another gentleman who made CNN He was during the storm. He was actually live streaming from his house In a kayak and he was on the kayak in Probably about five or six feet of water. It looked like and he was live streaming He was fine because he was in but he basically lost everything in his home I think he tried to put stuff in storage. I don't know the full story on this But he was just sitting on a kayak throughout the whole time, but that that water could have gone higher Right. We don't we don't know exactly what that was gonna do depending on that so that on that surge and and When you have a surge you have rapidly We have water coming in rapidly and and it's it could it could have a current to it And that could be dangerous if you're out of the house or you're not even on boats boats We're being flown all over the place when the the next day subboats all over the land, right? These are some some 20 30 footers 40 footers that were just everywhere because the waves were coming in so high the storm surge was coming in so high The winds were crazy it was you know a lot of like just as I as I read for the category for Hurricanes catastrophic damage to houses homes are actually floating away Right, it's not properly framed homes or like not. What do they call it well-built well-built framed homes You know your your your home has had a risk of just floating away That's dangerous in and of itself and and you know You don't want to see that happen anybody the guy in the kayak was saying to to CNN He doesn't have insurance on his home says we'll have to start over and we're just gonna have to continue to do this This is why I tell people like you may not want to live in Florida You may know I want to live in Florida. A lot of people still say hey I want to go to Florida because it's so nice There are some times you may not want to live there full year round or have a own a own property because you one you may not get insurance for flooding And it's not necessarily just these matte major hurricanes. There's an article in the hill And I'll put that link in this show notes in the description they start talking about how because The the Gulf of Mexico in the ocean is getting hotter then that means the Clouds are holding more water because there's more evaporation of water goes into the clouds The clouds are holding so these hurricane clouds are holding more water. It doesn't matter if it's a hurricane one four or five It matters how much water this is holding there's more water that's coming down and that means more flooding You know when you you add that to the storm surge you add that to sea level rise There are a lot of vulnerable areas along those coastlines It may be even inland more because they're not ready for this type of rain the amount of rain that we're willing to have The infrastructure was not built that way And so even if you have a category one now people didn't leave when it was a category four because they couldn't because they thought It was a category one or two when it first started to come They think hey, you know what I can survive a category one Well one you have the risk of it increasing because of rapidly increasing because it's getting hotter and hotter in the ocean More evaporation is coming Apparently this is how the winds increase is when it gets hotter and hotter And so that energy transfer from the ocean to the clouds gets faster And so that means it increases not only the size of the storm But it increases the wind speeds hence why we had such a rapidly increasing category one to four It increased that wind speed super super fast So you have that risk of it actually increasing as it comes closer to land But then you also have the risk of just the flooding that comes Even if it's a category one you risk people saying hey, you know what it's only a category one I live in Florida I've lived like my entire life here and I've gone through hurricanes and there have been some where we've evacuated But the category one's that's just like a big storm and you kind of get that toughness to it Because you're like, yeah, we got some damage made a couple broken windows We'll put the the protectors on the windows and and we'll make sure we reinforce some sandbags and things like that To make sure the water doesn't come in but we'll be fine But then you get more water than expected That's a dangerous right that's dangerous to your infrastructure That's not used to that much water Right at that amount of time case in point Burlington, Ontario where I live We had the remnants of hurricane barrel came right up the midwest And it took a little right turn it came right into Ontario And we had massively rapid rains we had squalls It was like you know rain squalls Which we don't normally have we were in squall warnings for a long time And not only do you get so much water We have so much water that a lot of the infrastructure couldn't hold People were flooded out of their homes in their basements even in the first level Though not only their basements filled up all the way But the first level filled up about five or six feet in certain areas That infrastructure gets tested during these storms We just can't continue to have this That infrastructure is going to have to change we're going to have to adapt We're going to put more money in the system And really start to look at our politicians to make sure that they are protecting us For that adaptation Because until we do something to reduce climate change Which we're not doing fast enough We are going to have these storms They are going to increase in intensity They are going to increase in number There are two more storms apparently right behind Hurricane Allen And the ocean hasn't really cooled down from these storms So it's just going to get hotter and hotter And we're just going to find like it We're late September up here in Ontario And it's 23 degrees Celsius That's really hot for this time of year We are not used to seeing this on a regular basis We barely had a winter last year I don't know what this winter's going to be like if we're going to get more snow Less snow cold Or even just mild temperatures as we did before It's a lot of it's up in the air And the thing is it's going to no matter what It's going to test our infrastructure Not only in Ontario But across the Midwest And across the United States Across Canada Down into the southern United States Especially where they get these hurricanes There's going to be more and more damage And people are not necessarily leaving their homes There are a lot of videos of people staying on boats and things like that And that boat's going to get tap sized at one point At one point before the hurricane even came in during the day There was a rescue for an emergency That a man and his dog were in the actual water They had to abandon their sailboat Because they're in these massive waves And their boat was basically Just couldn't go anywhere It was just stuck It was isolated And they just couldn't move And they were afraid They couldn't get out of the They couldn't get to shore And they had to you know There's video, harrowing videos Of these rescuers You know Saving the person and the dog And to be honest like What are they doing out there in the first place? I don't know how they got out there Or if they did that on purpose But that's a danger right You know I'm a dog lover No we don't want to see a dog die No we want to see their owner die either They put themselves at risk Just by being out there Whether it was on purpose or not I don't know So I don't want to make assumptions But that's taking resources away To save those people Because they have They have to save that person Excuse me But also You know That's taking time away from Going elsewhere And saving anybody else right So Things move fast And case in point There was a video on Fox News The guy was on live The reporter There was water behind him You know Classic shot in a hurricane There was a car That was almost submerged You can almost just see The top of the window And the roof And then you hear someone saying Help me, help me, help me And the reporter said We've called 911 Should be here any minute Told the reporter that he was talking to The anchor that he was talking to That they've called 911 But then he finally just said You know what I gotta do something Hearily walked into The water You don't know what the current is like Watching to the water Got the woman out Carry the woman all the way to safety Thank God And then went back and did his reporting Emergency services can't get Everywhere all the time And by staying in those areas Which is risky You want to have You know a service Or something that can Actually try and predict These things faster That people can tune into It's going to be extremely important In the future When you have You know Rapidly growing hurricanes You have more water In these hurricanes So more flooding Available in these hurricanes Lack of infrastructure Right And a lack of action Florida Has a governor Who's not taking any action Against climate change And has removed the word Climate change from all of their policies They've gotten the opposite direction And the people are paying for it The people are paying for it The people who vote the men are paying for it But also the people who didn't vote for them They're paying for it as well And you know Florida is predicted by the IPCC To go underwater Half of it to go underwater At some point in the future You know whether it's 2050 or not People aren't believing it The IPCC was right when they said Hey clouds are going to hold more water It's science folks Like this is what's happening And we're fighting against You know Governors and politicians Who are denying this They're getting paid by fossil fuel companies And super PACs That are funded by these fossil fuel companies To say hey you know what There's nothing we can really do But people are losing their lives People are losing their homes Their livelihoods It's going to take a long time to recover from this And the amount of money That has to go into the recovery And clean up of this mess It's insane It's an insane amount And I'm working on a story now To look at the actual coverages Of like the amount of money That it takes to do this But this is insane To see this on a You know This is going to be regular happenings From now on These intensified storms Right And whether they're a category one Or category four You're still going to get the same amount of rain Right And so that that's the concern And with climate change Continuing to affect and influence Our weather systems We are going to see these storms Continue to happen And that is scary in itself Right And I But I don't want you to think That we're done For this is going to be in This is going to be There is hope There is optimism There are people out there There are politicians out there Who want to do something about climate change It's a matter of can we vote them in At some point The work for climate adaptation The work for reducing the emissions That will affect climate change Will come into play Because it's going to affect our economy I know politicians Normally focus More on economy versus the environment So we have to fund to maintain the economy But that means a lot of times That you know We don't fund environmental practices At some point Those two are going to come together And the environment is going to affect the economy As it's doing in Florida As it did in Georgia As it did in North Carolina Right by these major floods It takes money To clean this stuff up It takes money to adapt And eventually That money is going to affect our economy It could be already That's the story I'm working on So hopefully I'll be able to have Something for you soon But this is a huge, huge problem And it's not something that We need to turn a blind eye to So sorry for this Monday episode Being a little bit pessimistic But you know Sometimes we have to talk about these things And the hope that I have Is that we can actually Take care of this We can actually help the people in Florida Help the people in Georgia Help people in North Carolina Elsewhere So that we don't have to go through this In the future All we have to do Is just reduce emissions Just reduce emissions Complex as it is It's not difficult to do We just need to have the people in power To actually do that And that's up to us to vote There are major elections coming up In the US And there's going to be some major elections Coming up in Canada And it's up to us here in North America To help You know Make sure these politicians get into Get into power So ask people about their climate change policies If they come around to your door They have to They should be answering If they don't have an answer They don't have a plan They should not be in power They should not be They should not get your vote In my opinion For this audience You know Climate change is a big deal And I think You know We need to hold our Our politicians accountable for that We need to Act faster Because we're starting We're not only seeing these problems happen And now it's starting to get regular occurrence And we can't get used to this There's just too much money involved There's the livelihoods of people People's lives involved And we just don't want to see this happen again So Let's get on it Let's get out and vote You know Register to vote if you're able to register to vote And vote wherever you can And however you can Alright Only once of course But vote That's it for today's episode If you have any questions or comments on this episode Or if you've been In the years Or you know of any You know Crowdfunding ways To help some people out Please let me know I'll post them I'll add them to the list In our show notes But let me know You can get a hold of me Just by commenting On the Spotify Video Or audio However you're listening to this Or You can go to YouTube Where you can see the video of me Talking about this stuff And of course You can just hit me up on Instagram At How to protect the ocean That's at How to protect the ocean DM me Feel free to do so Because this is the starting of a conversation And I want to hear your opinions on this Let me know what you think And I want to thank Nicole For suggesting this episode Thank you so much It was great to get your email And your interaction If you have a suggestion or a comment Feel free to get a hold of me I just told you how And I want thank you so much For joining me On today's episode Of the How to Protect the Ocean podcast Have a great day We'll talk to you next time And happy conservation (upbeat music) (upbeat music)
