Beyond the lives lost and the homes and businesses destroyed, Floyd s flood waters killed 100,000 hogs in North Carolina, and washed out many of the huge lagoons where hog wastes were kept. Waters overflowed municipal wastewater systems, chemical storage areas, and farms. Nitrogen, phosphorus, bacteria, viruses, pesticides, heavy metals, ammonia, and fuel oil all poisoned the waters. Last year s hurricanes also left ugly scars on the east coast. Dunes, the first line of defense against the mighty power of the ocean, were washed away, destroying roads and making homes, businesses, and lives along the fragile, but popular coastline, especially vulnerable.
Hurricanes are worth covering because they hit people where they live.
Background and Context Hurricane is the name given to the tropical cyclones with winds above 74 mph that hit the U.S. Gulf and Atlantic Coasts. Such storms draw their energy from the warm surface layer of tropical seas. As air warmed and moistened by the sea rises, it whirls into a vortex often hundreds of miles across. Perhaps only a third of the hurricanes that form will actually strike land. Hurricane winds can be violently destructive.