Hurricanes: Comparing Some Tough Ones

Sandy vs. Katrina, and Irene: Monster Hurricanes by the Numbers posted Oct. 29, 2012. 

Hurricane Sandy Satellite view on October 29th, 2012.

This article is comparing Hurricane Katrina, Hurricane Irene, and Hurricane Sandy. It compares: the category, the state where they made landfall, top wind speed, diameter (extent of high winds), atmospheric pressure (the lower the better), storm surge, maximum rainfall, maximum snowfall, deaths, and property damage. 

       Hurricane Katrina was a Category 5 hurricane, while both Irene and Sandy were cat 1 hurricanes. As you most likely know, Katrina made landfall in Louisiana, while Irene made landfall in North Carolina. Sandy officially made landfall in New Jersey, but has impacted land in New Jersey, New York, Connecticut, and Pennsylvania. The top wind speeds vary, from 125 (Katrina) to 90 (Sandy) to 85 (Irene). That comparison shows that Katrina had the top wind speeds by 35 mph. Sandy has the largest diameter, 940 miles, while Irene had a diameter 520 miles. Surprisingly enough, Katrina had the smallest diameter, an even 400 miles. 

       When you talk about the atmospheric pressure, you should realize that the lower the pressure reading, the worse the storm. Katrina had the lowest reading, at 920 millibars (mb). Irene was at 951 mb. Sandy was at 940 mb, the lowest for a late-season storm. Sandy’s storm surge, 13 ft., was only 1 ft. under Katrina’s though Katrina’s funneled from 14 ft. to the 28 ft. before hitting New Orleans. Irene was just over half of Katrina’s original storm surge at 8 ft. The maximum rainfall and the maximum snowfall vary exceedingly when you compare both for each individual storm, and when you compare them to each other. Katrina and Irene both had no snowfall, while Sandy has dumped 24+ inches on the northeast coast, most of that in West Virginia, Ohio, and even eastern Indiana. Even though Sandy did have the smallest amount of rainfall, only 12 inches, Sandy had the most snow. Katrina and Irene both dumped 15 inches on the US. 

       As most know, Katrina took many lives, officially 1,833 lives. Sandy and Irene were close, with Irene taking 56 and Sandy taking 85. When you talk about the property damage, you can tell how bad the storm was, even if it was a category 1 or 2. Katrina caused $81 billion in damage, while Irene and Sandy were both at roughly $20 billion. Sandy could still have higher property damage, as Sandy is still a live storm.

I was interested in this article as my sister used to live on the East Coast, and we have friends who live on the East Coast.

I can relate this article to something we are learning in school. In Mr. Mathias’ World History class, we are covering the upcoming presidential election, and the article covers Hurricane Sandy. Hurricane Sandy could affect the upcoming election with all of the rain, snow, and high winds.

Environments would be the correct AOI for this article as it is talking about different hurricanes, and how they impacted the US. Community and Service could also be considered an appropriate AOI, as there has to be some service on many levels: local, community, and national. 

Sleepwalking: How Dangerous Can It Be?

Original Article

Sleepwalker

                Sleepwalking. I’ve done it, and I know many others who have as well. I did know that it could be dangerous if you stubbed your toe, or fell down the stairs, but I didn’t know you could kill people while sleepwalking, did you? This happened over 25 years ago, but the story shocked me, and I could assume that it will also shock you. A man named Kenneth James Parks was asleep at about 2 am Sunday morning in May of 1987. He would later find himself at the local police station a few hours later where he admitted to murder. He was a deep sleeper and as a child he wet the bed and sleepwalked. Sleepwalking can be dangerous if it is continued into the adult stages of life. He went, unknowingly, to his wife’s parents' house and choked his father-in-law, and stabbed his mother-in-law. He drove the 23 kilometers and even obeyed traffic lights, but was found to be sleepwalking, or would it be sleepdriving, at his 1988 court trial.

                This article interested me as I used to sleepwalk, and know many people who do. I was curious as to how sleepwalking could be dangerous, as I did not know that you could kill people while sleepwalking. I still find myself sleepwalking on those rare occasions that come about once a year. I was hoping that sleepwalking was just a stage of childhood, but I now know that you can sleepwalk, sleep-drive and sleep-kill as an adult.

                Sleepwalking and this particular article could be placed under the AOI (Areas of Interaction) of “Health and Social Education”. One of the more obvious reasons for this would be because it talks about health problems, and what you can do to prevent them. 

1st post

Just wanted to make sure this worked since everyone seems to be having trouble. I'm about to start working on my monthly writing thing.