Geography Reference
In-Depth Information
Figure 4.4
Ten-year running means of cyclone frequency for selected 5°×5° squares in the Caribbean,
1871-1995, and the entire West Indies grid region.
Note:
For locations of squares see Figure 4.3.
an increased frequency of very strong ENSO
events, as Spencer (1994) reported six cyclones
in just five months during the 1982-3 ENSO
in a part of French Polynesia that had not been
affected by cyclones since 1906. Whether the
very high frequency of cyclones in 1995 (Walsh
1998) and in 1998 in the North Atlantic heralds
a global warming upturn remains an open
question.
and river flooding). The impacts of a cyclone vary
with cyclone characteristics (its intensity, size and
path in relation to the area affected), the landscape
it encounters (topography, vegetation and land use,
quality of building stock, etc.), the effectiveness of
hurricane warnings, the economic and social
character of the population, and not least the
previous hurricane experience of the population
and landscape. In lowland areas, the main threat to
life is the storm surge, but in mountainous
landscapes, most danger stems from landslides and
river floods, as was the case with Hurricane
George in the Dominican Republic and
Hurricane Mitch in Nicaragua and Honduras in
1998. A fundamental geographical principle of
cyclone damage (both physical and human) is that
Analysing cyclone impacts and ways of
mitigating their effects
Cyclone damage is brought about by wind, waves,
storm surge (and associated coastal inundation)
and heavy rain (which can also lead to landslides
