Page 25 - 9788179931820
P. 25
WORLD’S WORST 24-25
Other big cyclones and hurricanes
In August 2005, Hurricane Katrina caused damages estimated to be worth eighty-one
billion dollars, making it the costliest hurricane in American history. It also killed
1,833 people. This Category 5 hurricane, the highest classification of tropical intensity on
the Saffir-Simpson hurricane scale, struck the north-central Gulf Coast of the US. With a
wind speed of 280 kilometres per hour and huge storm surges, it devastated New Orleans,
flooding over eighty per cent of the city.
The coast of Myanmar was hit by a severe tropical cyclone, named Nargis, on 2 May, 2008.
It devastated the low-lying Irrawaddy Delta, which was known for its fertile rice fields.
The United Nations estimated that more than 130,000 people died and two million were
left homeless.
Rainbands Cyclone Nargis was the worst natural disaster in the recorded
history of Myanmar.
Did you know?
A hurricane the size of the earth has
been raging on Jupiter for about
340 years and is called the ‘Great
Red Spot’.
STRUCTURE OF A CYCLONIC STORM
I bet I could
blow that tiny
planet away!
The Japanese called this typhoon the kamikaze, meaning Âdivine windÊ.
Other big cyclones and hurricanes
In August 2005, Hurricane Katrina caused damages estimated to be worth eighty-one
billion dollars, making it the costliest hurricane in American history. It also killed
1,833 people. This Category 5 hurricane, the highest classification of tropical intensity on
the Saffir-Simpson hurricane scale, struck the north-central Gulf Coast of the US. With a
wind speed of 280 kilometres per hour and huge storm surges, it devastated New Orleans,
flooding over eighty per cent of the city.
The coast of Myanmar was hit by a severe tropical cyclone, named Nargis, on 2 May, 2008.
It devastated the low-lying Irrawaddy Delta, which was known for its fertile rice fields.
The United Nations estimated that more than 130,000 people died and two million were
left homeless.
Rainbands Cyclone Nargis was the worst natural disaster in the recorded
history of Myanmar.
Did you know?
A hurricane the size of the earth has
been raging on Jupiter for about
340 years and is called the ‘Great
Red Spot’.
STRUCTURE OF A CYCLONIC STORM
I bet I could
blow that tiny
planet away!
The Japanese called this typhoon the kamikaze, meaning Âdivine windÊ.
