Hurricane Marco and Tropical Storm Laura have torn through the Caribbean and Gulf of Mexico, forcing thousands of residents to evacuate. Laura has led to the deaths of eight people in the Dominican Republic and Haiti.
Image: picture-alliance/AP Photo/D. N. Chery
Advertisement
The US Gulf Coast was bracing itself on Monday for back-to-back hurricanes expected to bring fierce winds and heavy rainfall to the area.
Hurricane Marco, which was upgraded from a tropical storm to a Category 1 hurricane on Sunday, is forecast to hit Louisiana and parts of Mississippi on Monday morning with maximum sustained wind speeds of 120 kilometers per hour (75 miles per hour).
Tropical Storm Laura, meanwhile, is expected to become a Category 2 hurricane before it makes landfall in the US later in the week.
Tropical Storm Laura has left a trail of devastation in Port-au-Prince, HaitiImage: Reuters/A. M. Casares
Laura has already caused death and destruction in the Dominican Republic and Haiti, killing at least eight people while leaving behind a trail of devastation.
It appeared the storms would avoid being simultaneous hurricanes, something that researchers say has never happened in the Gulf of Mexico at least since records began in 1900.
How do tropical storms form?
01:27
This browser does not support the video element.
Life-threatening storm surges and hurricane-force winds
The National Hurricane Center warned of life-threatening storm surges and hurricane-force winds along the US Gulf Coast.
The threat of ferocious rain and winds has already forced mandatory evacuations for parts of the Louisiana coast, with residents in New Orleans told to take cover for the next few days.
"You have until nightfall this evening to finish your preparations for Hurricane Marco and Tropical Storm Laura," Louisiana Governor John Bel Edwards tweeted. "Wherever you are when it gets dark tonight is where you should plan to ride out these storms for at least 72 hours."
Haiti and the Dominican Republic hit hard
Haitian civil protection officials said they had received reports that a 10-year-old girl was killed when a tree fell on a home in the southern coastal town of Anse-a-Pitres.
Haiti's prime minister said at least four other people had died during the storm, while in the Dominican Republic relatives told reporters that a mother and her young son had perished after a wall collapsed on them.
Hundreds of thousands were without power in the Dominican Republic as, along with Haiti, it experienced heavy flooding.
Cyclones, typhoons, hurricanes - the power of devastation
Cyclones, typhoons and hurricanes pack a devastating punch: wherever they go, they leave a trail of destruction. But how do these powerful tropical storms arise?
Image: AFP/D. Sarkar
Social distancing impossible during Cyclone Amphan
Residents along Bangladesh's coast are being moved to safety as one of the strongest cyclones in years strikes the region. Millions of people had to be evacuated from low-lying regions along the Bay of Bengal on May 19. But plans are complicated by the coronavirus precautions. Maintaining social distancing is nearly impossible.
Image: AFP/District Administration of Bhola
Typhoon season amid the COVID-19 pandemic
On May 14, Typhoon Vongfong slammed the Philippines with strong winds and heavy rains, destroying the city of San Policarpo in the eastern province of Samar. At least five people died and more than 91,000 people were forced to leave their homes. Typhoons are not unusual in the Philippines at this time of year. But the COVID-19 outbreak lockdown measures are exacerbating the situation.
Image: AFP/A. Beronio
Three names - one phenomenon
Hurricane, typhoon, and cyclone are actually three names for the same phenomenon. Along the North American coast they are called hurricanes, in East and Southeast Asia they are called typhoons, and near India and Australia they are called cyclones. But despite the different names, they develop in the same way.
Image: Reuters
A cyclone is created
Tropical storms develop over oceans when the water temperature is at least 26 degrees Celsius (79 degrees Fahrenheit). As the warm water evaporates and condenses, the air around it heats up and drags cooler air upwards, creating powerful winds.
The eye of the storm
The Earth's rotation causes the air stream to move around the eye of the storm, which can be up to 50 kilometers wide. This area is nearly completely free of clouds and wind.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa
A storm hits land
When a tropical storm hits a coastline, it becomes weaker due to the lack of warm water. In Australia, "Marcia" was soon downgraded to a category one storm, while "Lam" weakened after striking near Brisbane. Masses of water from the sea often cause the worst damage - as seen here in China after Typhoon Nanmadol in August 2011.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa
Chaos ensues
Hurricane Sandy was one of the strongest hurricanes ever recorded over the Atlantic Ocean. It caused waves of up to 4 meters high, fires, power outages and broken dykes. Sandy arrived with winds at speeds of more than 145 kilometers per hour. Cuba, New York and New Jersey were particularly affected.
Image: Reuters
Destructive vortex
Tornadoes however, are non-tropical whirlwinds that can occur anywhere a storm is brewing. Local temperature differences force warm air upwards and cold air down, and a column of warm air rotates upwards at an increasing velocity. Tornadoes are usually only a maximum of 1 kilometer in diameter.
Fastest storms
As the warm air rises, it forms a funnel, the main characteristic of a tornado. Inside the funnel, the speed of the air can be tremendous - up to 500 kilometers per hour. Tornadoes are the fastest whirlwind type of weather phenomenon.
Image: Fotolia/Daniel Loretto
Trail of destruction
A tornado can leave a trail of destruction several kilometers long. In the US Midwest, tornadoes occur several hundred times a year, as dry, cold air from the north hits damp, warm air from the Gulf of Mexico. It's different in other countries - in Germany, for example, tornadoes occasionally occur along the coast.
