As you probably know, many of the fatalities that are associated with hurricanes have to do with the drowning deaths of those who are caught up in the storm surge or its aftermath. Yet did you know about the freaky power of hurricane winds? These high winds may reach up to 160 miles per hour [...]

Hurricanes are the strongest of the windy and circulating storms, and are often called cyclones.  They are prominent in the Atlantic and eastern Pacific oceans and in the western Pacific they are referred to as typhoons.  Most Atlantic hurricanes are born in the southern Atlantic Ocean, off the coast of Africa, in the months of [...]

When discussing hurricanes, very frequently the term “eye of the storm” comes into play.  For those who are not intimately familiar with these destructive forces of nature, this terminology might mean very little. As a matter of fact, even those who live in the parts of the country where hurricanes are a given, sometimes find [...]

When a hurricane threatens their area, boat owners have a lot of decisions to make about how to get their watercrafts through the storm. If you keep your boat in a marina which allows boat to remain during hurricanes or have access to your own dock, you may choose to leave your boat at the [...]

More than 300,000 oil-covered seabirds die each year off the Atlantic Coast of Canada where more than 10,000 ships travel every year between North America and Europe. While only a small fraction of these vessels spill or deliberately dump oil, the environmental toll is enormous. Canada’s I-STOP Project (Integrated Satellite Tracking of Polluters) is now [...]

Advanced satellite technology has saved more than 18,000 lives over the past 25 years in search and rescue operations worldwide.After nearly 25 years in service, SARSAT, or Search and Rescue Satellite-Aided Tracking, is still saving lives-over 1,000 every year worldwide. SARSAT was developed by Canada, France, the U.S., and Russia in 1979. It is the [...]

Have you ever wondered who or what determines how a hurricane is classified?  When you hear the term Saffir-Simpson Scale bandied around, do you ever question just who Saffir and Simpson are? Here are some interesting facts about the scale, and how their weighing in on hurricanes has affected the way we see these storms [...]

It is important to take all possible considerations for safety when preparing yourself for hurricane season. Levees have been used to attempt to protect people and/or property from hurricane disaster. However, they often do not work.
A levee is a dam that runs along the bank of a river or canal. This helps confine the flow [...]

Storm surges come in many shapes, sizes, and strengths. Whether a storm is classified as tropical storm, or as a hurricane, each storm surge has its own kind of destructiveness, and even if some are historically worse than others, they each have their own price to pay. Generally speaking, a storm surge is defined as [...]

Hurricanes are considered to be the most devastating events to ever occur.  They are born over water and driven by solar energy stored in the ocean.  Hurricanes, also called tropical cyclones, can travel for weeks across the ocean, blasting islands and coastlines with fierce winds, swollen seas, and torrential rains.  Hurricanes can also remake land [...]