Page 65 - Exercise 2

Page 65 - Exercise 2

A hurricane is a big tropical storm in the Atlantic Ocean. There are tropical storms in the Pacific and Indian Oceans, too, but there they’re called typhoons or cyclones. Hurricanes start over the ocean, and they happen in late Summer when the water is warm.

When a hurricane is photographed by a satellite, it looks like a giant doughnut. The strong winds are pulled round the centre by the rotation of the Earth. The centre of the hurricane is called ‘the eye’. There is no wind here.

A hurricane is formed over the ocean, but then it’s blown towards the islands of the Caribbean and the coasts of Central and North America. The winds can reach ove 220 km/h, so hurricanes can be very dangerous.

Buildings ore damaged. Trees, bridges and power lines are blown down. Every year, hundreds of people are killed by hurricanes.

One of the biggest natural disasters in US history was Hurricane Katrina in 2005. It broke the flood barriers along the River Mississippi and over 80% of the city of New Orleans as flooded. Thousands of homes were destroyed and 1,836 people were killed. Another 705 people were never found. In total, Hurricane Katrina cost the USA 80 billion $.

However, hurricanes and typhoons also do some good things. Over half the rain in Japan is brought by typhoons. Hurricanes are caused by heat. Scientists believe that if climate change continues, the world will get warmer and we will see many more hurricanes each year.