The Hurricane Hunters

(After E. Myers)

All along the Atlantic and Pacific coasts, from August till November, meteorologists watch for hurricanes, which are very dangerous storms. The wind in a hurricane blows round and round in a spiral. In the centre of a hurricane there is a small area known as “eye” where there is good weather. Usually hurricanes are given girl’s names like Carla, Betsy and Camille. A hurricane is really a very strong tropical cyclone. The girl’s name is used for radio communication. Easy-to-remember names help operators not to make mistakes during radio talks about the movements of a hurricane.

The men who risk their lives each year by flying into the eye of a hurricane to get information about it are known as “Hurricane Hunters.” They are a part of the Air Weather Service, a world organization, made up over 200 weather stations.

Flying their special planes, the Hurricane Hunters collect important information of a storm’s intensity, its eye position, its movement, and the area it covers. This information then goes to land, where it is quickly sent to weather bureaus to tell them that a dangerous hurricane is coming and when it will reach a given place.

When a storm is found, it comes under the careful watch of the Hurricane Hunters to see if it is growing stronger. When a wind reaches a force of more than sixty kilometres per hour, meteorologists call it a tropical storm, or cyclone reaches a wind force of over one hundred kilometres, it becomes a hurricane. If a great hurricane causes serious damage, its name is not used any more. In choosing the names, all letters of the alphabet are used but not Q, U, X, Y, and Z. Some of the names for hurricanes given in the past years were Alice, Brenda, Christine, Delia, Kate, Loretta and Wilda.

Other hurricanes have caused much damage in parts of the United States. A good example was Hurricane Camille in 1969. One of the worst hurricanes in American history, Camille caused over 250 deaths and did great damage. Its terrible force was first reported by Hurricane Hunters. They flew into the eye of Camille and got important information, perhaps saving countless lives.