What is it like?

What happens during a hurricane?

Well, a hurricane is a natural force with potential for a LOT of destruction.

Hurricanes are extremely strong winds that rip apart and throw around things, often accompanied by strong downpours, they can flood areas with extreme downpour caused by the storms, or the huge amounts of water thrown onto land by the winds, or just by breaking down dams.

Hurricanes rip down structures, flood areas, and generally destroy things instead of walking around it, like a well-mannered person would.

Explaining what happens after a hurricane is not easy to show with words, so I’ve gathered a few pictures of the aftermath of Irene.

There are the areas where there’s "small" flooding…

Via: http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/2011/08/hurricane_irene.html

By David Shankbone (Own work) [CC-BY-3.0 (www.creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

Via: http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/2011/08/hurricane_irene.html

And then there are the areas where houses and bridges are ripped apart.

Via reddit. By ctpost.

Via reddit. By hometownannapolis.

Via boston.com.

Via boston.com.

 

Hurricanes are dangerous.

Effect on the community:

Of course, after the world witnessed the aftermath of hurricanes like Katrina, people are warned of the arrival of a Hurricane. Still, no-one’s really safe.

Hurricane Katrina, for instance, is the third deadliest hurricane in the US, with the death toll somewhere around 1,836. In comparison, the amount of deaths caused by Irene is ”just” somewhere around 52.

This is mostly based on the difference in wind speed, area and preparation, where preparation is the biggest factor.

In cities, hurricanes will result in people getting forced to leave their homes if the hurricane is too close, power outages, some of which could potentially last for more than a month… 

(http://www.reddit.com/r/Irene/comments/jyibq/by_far_the_best_story_of_hurricane_irene/)

Or the hurricane could simply pass right through the city itself, causing massive amounts of damage.

Hurricanes could even lead to poverty, as people lose their homes, their money, and all their personal belongings, because people can’t do anything to stop a hurricane going through their house. This could trap people in a spiral of poverty, not having anything to help them.

After Hurricane Irene, the US suffered large amounts of structural damage.
The “cost” of Irene was huge.

First hand experience:

The popular website Reddit.com had a own small section dedicated to Irene, allowing people to post pictures, stories and videos.
 

Here’s a story, posted two months ago, on August 28.

”This week, I'm supposed to be taking care of some horses at a farm. But I can't. The road that gets to the farm is closed off on both ends due to flooding. The ~10 people at other farms on the road are saying that in their barns, the water is up to the horses stomachs. One barn is under about 7 feet of water, and the horses were evacuated to another barn higher in elevation, where its only about 3 feet deep.

The fire dept lost a truck on the road trying to evacuate people, its still stuck 2 hours later. The 2 horses I'm supposed to be taking care of are being walked down the flooded road, by people with headlamps, to a buffalo farm.

Its still raining, and the water level is still rising.

Our town is only accessable by one road, and several other towns are completely cut off.”

 (http://www.reddit.com/r/Irene/comments/jxjdf/irene_is_causing_a_huge_flood_in_upstate_new_york/)

I’ve also gathered some videos that might help show the graveness of Hurricane Irene.

These three videos mainly focus on the aftermath, be it the flooding, the damage on structures, or both.

 

Basically, experiencing a hurricane is not a good thing, but being in the middle of one is even worse.