Hurricane David

The After Affect

How They Are Now

In July 1980 Dame Eugenia Charles was elected prime minister, the first woman in the Caribbean to hold the office. Within a year of her inauguration she survived two unsuccessful coups and in October 1983, as chairperson of the Organization of East Caribbean States, endorsed the US invasion of Grenada. Dominica’s more recent political history has also been turbulent. After the sudden death of popular prime minister Roosevelt Douglas (‘Rosie’) in 2000, after only eight months in office, his successor – the radical Pierre Charles – also died on the job, four years later. In 2004 the then 31-year-old Roosevelt Skerrit stepped into the breach. A popular choice with young people, Skerrit comes from a Rastafarian farming family in the north of the island and is still leading the country today. The Dominican and Chinese governments formalized relations in 2004 and the sparkling new Windsor Park sports (mostly cricket) stadium in Roseau is a gift from the Chinese that cost an estimated US$17 million. Skerrit broke off long-standing relations with Taiwan that same year, and said on the record that China will give Dominica US$122 million in aid. In August 2007 Hurricane Dean beat up Dominica and the nearby islands – damage wasn’t too heavy compared to Hurricane David, but there were at least two deaths.

In January 2008 Dominica joined the Bolivarian Alternative for the Americas, or ALBA – a regional trade group that includes Venezuela, Cuba, Bolivia and Nicaragua, designed to counterbalance American trade power. Plans for a Venezuelan oil refinery on Dominica are up on the air at the time of writing; after the refinery was announced, the tourism industry protested the plan, saying that it would ruin the island’s image.

Bibliography

• http://www.lonelyplanet.com/dominica/history
• http://www.cakafete.com/dm/davidphotos.html
• http://www.weatherexplained.com/Vol-1/Hurricanes.html
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cape_Verde-type_hurricane
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hurricane_David
• http://teachertech.rice.edu/Participants/louviere/hurricanes/effects.html

The Emotion

The History

What Happened

The Science

Damage

The interim Government was barely two months old when one of the three most destructive hurricanes ever know to hit Dominica, lashed its shores, stripped trees from its mountains and tore the fragile homes of its people apart. Only twice previously had such severe hurricanes struck the island In the 1806 hurricane 131 people died mainly as a result of the Roseau river shifting its course and flooding the capital, and in the 'Great Hurricane" 10 September 1834, widely acknowledged as the worst of all, over 200 live were lost. At first expected to hit Barbados, the hurricane, code-named David, shot across the southern section of Dominica on 29 August. There was little local radio warning and no operational systems for disaster preparedness. With swirling 150 mile-an-hour winds, David pounded Dominica for six hours from about 9.00 am. Thirty-seven people were killed and an estimated 5,000 injured, some requiring amputation of limbs. Three-quarters of the 75,000 population were left homeless with many others temporarily so, sleeping under rough cover in the open or huddled into the homes of more fortunate friends for weeks and months after the storm.

The Dominican economy was almost totally destroyed resulting in disastrous social and economic after effects. Coconuts in the south were almost completely blown down but there was minor damage in the north except for the Concorde Valley, the alignment of which had funnelled winds from the south. The citrus trees appeared to have survived the hurricane best, owing to their small stature and robust nature. Roads along the coast were everely eroded and a major sea defence programme commenced. Roads and bridges were blocked and swept away. There was no electric power or piped water. The only contact with the outside world was Fred White's battery operated ham radio until other links were restored. The Commander of the Royal Navy frigate HMS Fife, which arrived through mountainous waves to give relief next day, likened the scene to a bombed-out battlefield. Volunteers from the Fife began basic repairs to the hospital, worked on cleaning streets and restoring the radio and essential services. Its helicopter pilots working under dangerous conditions ferried the dead and wounded from isolated areas.

The effects of hurricanes

• STORM SURGE - is the fast uprising of sea level that happens when a hurricane approaches the coast. Two factors that cause storm surge are: Strong winds that push the water toward the coast and Suction created by the storm's low pressure.

Casualties

The theory behind hurricanes

• Rip tides - are strong sea currents.

• TORNADOES - are often produced by hurricanes.

5,000 injured

• HIGH WINDS - is another effect of hurricanes. The wind speed and potential damage of a hurricane is expressed as categories according to he Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Scale.

75,000 population were left homeless

• HEAVY RAINFALL - is produced by hurricanes. The amount of rainfall usually varies between 6 and 12 inches.

Thirty-seven people were killed

Cape Verde-type hurricanes typically develop from tropical waves which form in the African savanna during the wet season, then move into the African steppes. The disturbances move off the western coast of Africa and become tropical storms or tropical cyclones within 1,000 kilometers (620 mi) of the Cape Verde Islands, usually between July to September. However, Cape Verde hurricanes have formed as early as June or as late as October. An average of two form per hurricane season.

pledges of assistance were at over US$37 million and that there was the probability of more in the long term.

Hurricane categories

Hurricane David

the science, devastation, and future