Hydro-meteorological hazards are process or phenomena of atmosphere, hydrological or oceanographic nature that may cause loss of life, injury or other health impact, property damages, loss of livelihood and services, social and economic disruptions, or even environmental damages.
Natural Atmospheric Hazards
Thunderstorm
A thunderstorm, also known as an electrical storm, lightning storm, or thunder shower, is a storm characterized by the presence of lightning and its acoustic effect on the Earth’s atmosphere, known as thunder. Thunderstorms occur in a type of cloud known as a cumulonimbus.
Signs:
•towering cumulonimbus clouds
•darkening skies
•flashes of lightning and gusty wind
•sound of thunder static on your
communication equipment
•static on your communication equipment
Precautionary Measures:
When thunder roars, go indoors! Move from outdoors into a building or car. Pay attention to alerts and warnings. Unplug appliances. Do not use landline phones.
El Niño and La Niña
El Niño events are associated with a warming of the central and eastern tropical Pacific while La Niña events are the reverse, with a sustained cooling of these same areas.
It occur when the Pacific Ocean and the atmosphere above it change from their normal state for several seasons.
During drought it is important to save water. Now, here are some ways in conserving water;
and Preparedness Measures for La Niña from DepEd:
Tornado
A tornado is a rapidly rotating column of air that is in contact with both the surface of the Earth and a cumulonimbus cloud or, in rare cases, the base of a cumulus cloud. The windstorm is often referred to as a twister, whirlwind or cyclone, although the word cyclone is used in meteorology to name a weather system with a low-pressure area in the center around which winds blow counterclockwise in the Northern Hemisphere and clockwise in the Southern.
Preparedness Measures:
Cyclone
Cyclone called typhoon or hurricane, an intense circular storm that originates over warm tropical oceans and is characterized by low atmospheric pressure, high winds, and heavy rain. A tropical cyclone generates winds that exceed 119 km (74 miles) per hour. In extreme cases winds may exceed 240 km (150 miles) per hour, and gusts may surpass 320 km (200 miles) per hour. A typhoon is a mature tropical cyclone that develops between 180° and 100°E in the Northern Hemisphere. A hurricane is a storm that occurs in the Atlantic Ocean or northeastern Pacific Ocean, a typhoon occurs in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, and a tropical cyclone occurs in the south Pacific or Indian Ocean.
The Eye
A characteristics feature of tropical cyclones is the eye, a central region of clear skies, warm temperatures, and low atmospheric pressure. Typically, atmospheric pressure at the surface of Earth is about 1,000 millibars. At the centre of a tropical cyclone, however, it is typically around 960 millibars, and in a very intense “super typhoon” of the western Pacific it may be as low as 880 millibars.
Precautionary Measures:
Hail Storm
Hail is a form of solid precipitation. It is distinct from ice pellets (American English “sleet”), though the two are often confused. It consists of balls or irregular lumps of ice, each of which is called a hailstone. Ice pellets fall generally in cold weather while hail growth is greatly inhibited during cold surface temperatures.
Hail Damage 101 Safety Tips:
Blizzard
A blizzard is a severe snowstorm characterized by strong sustained winds of at least 35 mph (56 km/h) and lasting for a prolonged period of time—typically three hours or more. A ground blizzard is a weather condition where snow is not falling but loose snow on the ground is lifted and blown by strong winds. Blizzards can have an immense size, which can usually be larger than a few states in the United States.
Heavy Snowfall
Heavy snow fall is a large amount of snow. It is an occurrence of a lot of snow falling.
Winter Preparedness Checklist:
Natural Hydrological Hazards
Flood
A flood is an overflow of water on land which is usually dry. Sometimes a water resource (river, lake or pond) gets flushed with too much water. Unusually heavy rain sometimes causes floods. When there is too much water, it may overflow beyond its normal limits.
Flood Safety Rules:
Flash Flood
A flash flood is a rapid flooding of geomorphic low-lying areas: washes, rivers, dry lakes and basins. It may be caused by heavy rain associate with hurricane, tropical storm, or melt water from ice or snow flowing over ice sheets or snow fields.
Flash Flood Safety Rules:
Storm Surge
A storm surge, storm flood or storm tide is a coastal flood or tsunami-like phenomenon of rising water commonly associated with low pressure weather systems (such as tropical cyclones and strong extratropical cyclones), the severity of which is affected by the shallowness and orientation of the water body relative to storm path, as well as the timing of tides.
Precautionary Measures:
Avalanche
An avalanche (also called a snow slide) is a cohesive slab of snow lying upon a weaker layer of snow in the snowpack that fractures and slides down a steep slope when triggered. Avalanches are typically triggered in a starting zone from a mechanical failure in the snowpack (slab avalanche) when the forces of the snow exceed its strength but sometimes only with gradual widening (loose snow avalanche). After initiation, avalanches usually accelerate rapidly and grow in mass and volume as they entrain more snow. If the avalanche moves fast enough, some of the snow may mix with the air forming a powder snow avalanche, which is a type of gravity current.
Conclusion
Natural Hazards causes economics loss and human suffering but those precautionary measures and safety tips may help you to avoid from any harm when encountering unpredictable hazards that may occur in our lives any time.
References:
- Disaster Readiness and Risk Reduction Textbook for Senior High School
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thunderstorm
- http://www.bom.gov.au/climate/enso/history/ln-2010-12/ENSO-what.shtml
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tornado
- https://www.pgyc.org/what-is-a-typhoon.php
- https://www.britannica.com/contributor/Joseph-A-Zehnder/4520
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hail
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blizzard
- https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/heavy%20snowfall
- https://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flood
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flash_flood
- Will, Lawrence E. (1978). Okeechobee Hurricane; Killer Storms in the Everglades. Belle Glade, Florida: Glades Historical Society. p. 204.
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Avalanche
- Credits to all the owners of the used GIF, pictures and some of the informations in this blog
Disaster Readiness and Risk Reduction 