page_title: Tropical cyclone
section_title: Impact
hierarchical_section_title: Tropical cyclone / Impact
context_page_description: A tropical cyclone is a circular air movement that starts over the warm ocean waters in the warm part of Earth near the Equator. Most tropical cyclones create fast winds and great rains. While some tropical cyclones stay out in the sea, others pass over land. They can be dangerous because of flooding and because the winds pick up objects, including things as big as small boats. Tropical cyclones can throw these things at high speeds.
  Tropical cyclones, hurricanes or typhoons form when convection causes warm, moist air above the ocean to rise. They begin as a group of storms when the water gets as hot as 80 °F or hotter. The Coriolis effect made by the Earth's rotation causes the winds to rotate. Warm air rises quickly. Tropical cyclones usually move westward in the tropics, and can later move north or south into the temperate zone. The "eye of the storm" is the center. It has little rain or wind. The eyewall has the heaviest rain and the fastest winds. It is surrounded by rainbands which also have fast winds.
  Tropical cyclones are powered by warm, humid ocean air. When they go onto land, they weaken. They die when they spend a long time over land or cool ocean water.
context_section_description: In the past these storms sank many ships. Better weather forecasting in the 20th century helped most ships avoid them. When tropical cyclones reach land, they may break things. Sometimes they kill people and destroy cities. In the last 200 years, about 1.5 million people have been killed by tropical cyclones.
  Wind can cause up to 83% of the total damages of a storm. Broken wreckage from destroyed objects can become deadly flying pieces.  Flooding can also occur when a lot of rain falls and/or when storm surges push water onto the land.
  There is a possibility of "indirect" deaths after a tropical cyclone passes. For example, New Orleans, Louisiana suffered from poor health conditions after Hurricane Katrina hit in 2005.
caption: Gulfport, Mississippi: damaged city struck by Hurricane Katrina, 2005.
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