Example research essay topic: Tropical Storm Million Dollars - 1,351 words

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Many hurricanes have come and gone, but Hurricane Mitch was the worst hurricane to hit Honduras since the Great Hurricane of 1780. This hurricane devastated not only Honduras but some parts of Central America as well. A lot of the states on the Gulf Coast felt the remnants of Mitch but luckily Mitch was not the Category 5 that hit Honduras. Mitch? s beginning didn? t seem to show its strength and fury until it arrived in the Caribbean.

Everything began on October 8, 1998 when a little tropical wave off the coast of South Africa began to stir up (Storms of 1998 1). This tropical wave then arrived in the Caribbean Sea on the 18 of October and just 3 days later, shower and thunderstorm activity made its presence (Storms of 1998 1). The next day this tropical wave evolved into Tropical Storm Mitch 45 kilometres southeast of south of San Andreas Island (Storms of 1998 1). Then, the inevitable occurred. Just 470 kilometres southwest of Kingston, Jamaica, and the weak Tropical Storm Mitch began to unleash its fury and became Hurricane Mitch (Storms of 1998 1). The magnitude of Mitch became known in a 24 -hour period when Mitch?

s central pressure dropped an astonishing 52 millibars to 924 millibars (Storms of 1998 1). By October 26, its central pressure was at 905 millibars (Storms of 1998 1). Mitch? s central pressure was the 4 th lowest pressure ever measured in an Atlantic hurricane (Storms of 1998 1). The same day Mitch reached its peak with vicious winds of 180 miles per hour (155 knots) that put it on the Suffer-Simpson scale as a Category 5 (Storms of 1998 1). Then, Mitch made its deadly move on October 27.

At a Category 5, Mitch hit the island of Guanaja, Honduras (Storms of 1998 1). Mitch? s full fury devastated the little island with its powerful winds. After passing the island of Guanaja, Mitch was on a course straight for Honduras.

Mitch was still a Category 5 and now it was only 60 miles north of Trujilo, a city on the north coast of Honduras (Graumann and et al 2). Graumann states that according to a wave model, on October 27 when Mitch was right off the coast of Honduras, the waves were as high as 44 feet (2)! With these waves coming towards Honduras, the powerful winds, and the storm surge, Mitch would surely hit Honduras with a force like a lawn mower going over an anthill. Most of the coast was swept away with Mitch? s might. The waves knocked out anything that got in its path, which were things like houses, huts and buildings.

Some of the most prized buildings in Honduras were its attractions and beautiful beaches, in which severe damage was inflicted on the tourist resorts (Graumann and et al 2). After hitting the coast with full force, Mitch made its way straight to the mountainous interior of Honduras. Even though it began to loose a little bit of speed due to being over land, its power would be far from over. This lost speed would only mean Mitch would stay over Honduras longer and now the stage was set for a disaster of unimaginable proportions. Since Honduras is located right in the middle of 2 bodies of water, the Pacific Ocean and Caribbean Sea, would serve as a feeder for Mitch? s rain.

Now, massive amounts of rain fell all over Honduras, but the most in the mountainous region. The rate t which rain fell was about 75 inches during the whole 3 -day hurricane (Graumann and et al 2). To make this more clearly, the amount of rain only in Honduras can be compared to that of an 8 -month period in Halifax, NS (Storms of 1998 1). The amount of rain that fell led many disasters. All of the rain was too much for the mountains and the soil began to give way. Unimaginable mudslides swept villages and their inhabitants as well.

Some so bad that the villages were buried completely under the ground. The huts where the poor people live on the mountainsides also went with it too. The floods were as devastating as the mudslides. They cleared out all of the houses closest to the coast and then some. The floods not only took away buildings, but a lot of Honduras?

s crops. It was said that they washed away 50 % of Honduras? s crops (Storms of 1998 1). The entire country? s structure was brutally damaged by Mitch. Many villages, country bridges, and secondary roads were washed away and even airports were under water (Graumann and et al 2).

Around 1 / 3 of the buildings in the capital, Tegucigalpa, were damaged heavily. The common commodities such as electricity, fuel, and running water were not available in many rural areas due to floods and mudslides (Graumann and et al 2). Graumann stated that the President of Honduras, Carlos Flores Facusse, said that Hurricane Mitch destroyed 50 years of progress for Honduras (2). It was estimated that due to all of the severe damage, it would take about 15 - 20 years to rebuild (Graumann and et al 2). One of main reasons why Hurricane Mitch is noted as the worst hurricane is because of the worst possible thing, the human toll.

It is estimated that the death toll is around 9, 500 and around the same number of people missing and about 20 % of Honduras? s population were now homeless (Storms of 1998 1). Due to all of the bad conditions people were living in, hunger and near starvation spread to many villages like wild fire (Graumann and et al 2). Epidemics such as Malaria, Dengue, and Cholera appeared in some places while other things like fever and respiratory problems popped up (Graumann and et al 2) When Mitch left, trying to rescue people and supply areas blocked off by floods was difficult. People were still clinging to rooftops in flooded areas. Helicopters were the answer in aiding the people, but there were only handfuls available.

While helicopters did the best they could, many people on foot tried as well. Some places were too difficult to reach because of mudslides. The mud in which lay in front of the rescuers was quite deep and thick, so they had to wait a couple of days in order for the mud to dry to be rescued. The rest of the world for about a week didn? t realize what Mitch did over a 3 -day period in Honduras. Gratefully, when the people all over the world saw what state Mitch left Honduras in, they began donating money.

The United States, on November 5, 1998, gave 70 million dollars and five days later gave another 10 million dollars (Graumann and et al 2). Spain would give Honduras 105 million dollars over a three-year period and Sweden would give between 100 - 200 million dollars (Graumann and et al 2)! Other European countries and Canada also gave around 7 - 8 million dollars in assistance (Graumann and et al 2). Even Mexico aided Honduras by providing an airlift for the much-needed supplies that the humanitarian organizations donated.

Hurricane Mitch left a 3 rd world country in ruins and set it back many years of progress. ? Not since the Great Hurricane of 1780, which killed approximately 22, 000 people in the eastern Caribbean, was there a more deadly hurricane? (USGS Hurricane Mitch Program 1). It wiped out the coast and cleared out the interior. The damage was up to $ 5 billion dollars alone in Honduras. Luckily, the world aided Honduras to recover, but this vicious, three-day storm, will never be forgotten. Works Cited Author not available. ?

Storms of 1998? . 1998. 18 March 2002 < web Author not available. ? USGS Hurricane Mitch Program? . 2002. 26 March 2002 < http: //mithcnts/. cr. usgs.

gov / index . the> . Graumann, Axel, et al. ? Mitch: The Deadliest Atlantic Hurricane Since 1970? . 1999. 18 March 2002. < web

Research essay sample on Tropical Storm Million Dollars