HURRICANE PATRICIA: CAUSES, AFFECTED COUNTRIES AND CONSEQUENCES - CULTURE VOCABULARY - 2024

The Hurricane Patricia was the second most intense cyclone that has been generated in the Western Hemisphere and the strongest in terms of barometric pressure recorded in the world.

It occurred in 2015, and the rapid intensification of the winds made it one of the meteorological phenomena of greatest risk for the countries where its effects were felt, among which Mexico and the United States stand out. The speed of intensification of its winds was a record registered by the National Hurricane Center of the United States.

MODIS image captured by NASA's Terra satellite

Despite the intensity of Hurricane Patricia and the force with which it made landfall in Mexico, the natural phenomenon claimed few lives; however, it required the investment of millions of dollars to facilitate search, rescue and recovery efforts. It is estimated that the damage caused by the hurricane reached 325 million dollars.

Meteorological causes

Training

In mid-October 2015, the news was released that a cyclonic circulation could be consolidating in the atmosphere over the Pacific Ocean. The meteorological phenomenon continued its movement slowly the following days and then merged with other natural events.

Three days after the situation was reported, the atmospheric system consolidated as a natural event that included showers with electrical storms over the sea, at a considerable distance from Central America.

Shortly after, the system interacted with a wind gap coming from the Mexican city Tehuantepec, which delayed the development of the meteorological phenomenon in a tropical depression.

A subtropical ridge, considered a high pressure space located in the northern and southern hemisphere, allowed the consolidation of the meteorological disturbance on October 20 and became a tropical depression in southern Mexico.

Weather conditions made it possible for the tropical depression to intensify rapidly. A few hours later, on October 21, it became a tropical storm and was named Patricia.

The hurricane

Patricia lost strength late in the afternoon of October 21. The causes are still unknown; However, the tropical storm regained strength hours later, so by the end of the day it already had dense cloudiness in its central part.

The next day, October 22, the natural event reached the necessary force to be considered a hurricane. The process gave way to a stage in which the hurricane intensified rapidly, so by the end of the day Patricia's eye was formed.

Patricia reached category four on the Saffir-Simpson hurricane scale, with a maximum of five, at 6:00 pm that day.

The rapid evolution of the hurricane was such that on October 23 it reached category five, due to the formation of a ring with a cloudiness of around -90 degrees Celsius, which extended for 19 kilometers in diameter, conforming to the eye of the natural event.

Record

The rapidity at which the speed of the winds increased in a period of just 24 hours, meant the fastest intensification of a hurricane. These data were recorded by the National Hurricane Center of the United States, in the western hemisphere.

On October 23, 2015, the hurricane's maximum sustained winds increased to 195 kilometers per hour in one day.

The meteorological phenomenon reached its maximum point at approximately 12:00 pm on October 23, when the speed of its winds was registered at 345 kilometers per hour and its barometric pressure stood at 872 millibars (mbar).

The numbers made the natural event the most intense hurricane ever to hit the Eastern Pacific Ocean.

The data was collected by hurricane hunters, as the aircrews that fly in tropical cyclones over the North Atlantic Ocean and the Northwest Pacific Ocean are known, to gather meteorological information.

Weakening

Within hours of recording the speed of Patricia's winds, there was little change in the intensity of the natural event.

However, that same night the meteorological phenomenon, which until now had not made landfall, began to weaken until it reached Jalisco - Mexico, at approximately 11:15 pm.

Several theories are handled about the intensity of Patricia's winds when touching the Mexican lands. Some point out that the hurricane dropped to category 4 when it reached Mexico: a specialized station measured a pressure of 934.2 mbar.

On the other hand, the theory that the hurricane made landfall when it was still category 5 was also handled, due to the fact that data recorded sustained winds of 270 kilometers per hour and a pressure of 920 mbar.

The cyclone experienced a major weakening on October 24 when it passed through the Sierra Madre Occidental mountain range system. The eye of the hurricane began to disappear and Patricia advanced more quickly in the country.

At 12:00 pm, the hurricane degraded to a tropical depression and the storm dissipated shortly thereafter, leaving torrential rains in several US states.

Countries affected

Mexico

Despite various speculations about the true intensity of Patricia's winds when it made landfall in Mexico, it is known that the hurricane was extremely strong when it reached the country on October 23.

The main states affected by the natural effects were Michoacán, Colima, Jalisco and Nayarit; places where the authorities decided to set up refuge areas for the affected people.

In total, some 1,782 temporary shelters were set up to help some 258,000 people. An emergency committee, the Mexican Army, the Mexican Navy, the National Security Commission of that country and the Red Cross were part of the organizations that were alert to the situation.

Tourists were evicted from high-risk areas and business activities were suspended.

The eye of the hurricane avoided the most populated areas of the country, which reduced the risk in the state. It is estimated that at least six people died in Mexico because of Patricia, all in the state of Jalisco.

U.S

Americans lived the consequences of the presence of Hurricane Patricia mainly in the state of Texas. Despite rumors that flooding caused by the natural event could cause extensive loss of human life, no deaths were recorded at the site.

However, significant flooding did occur in the area, causing several cars and hundreds of homes to be affected. The situation made it necessary to carry out numerous rescues in the water. Damages caused in Texas are estimated to be around $ 50 million.

Guatemala

In addition to Mexico and the United States, Guatemala was also among the countries affected by Hurricane Patricia.

At least one person died and 2,100 were evacuated in the country. Hundreds of homes and thousands of hectares of crops were destroyed. Data put the money allocated to rescue and restoration work at $ 5.4 million.

Nicaragua

There is little information corresponding to the consequences caused by Hurricane Patricia in the countries of Central America; However, data collected indicates that one person died in Nicaragua after four miners were buried by a landslide.

The three remaining workers were rescued alive after the event, which occurred in the municipality of Bonanza.

El Salvador, Costa Rica and Honduras

The effects of Patricia in El Salvador caused the death of about four people, in addition to floods that damaged dozens of homes in the State.

On the other hand, the floods registered in Honduras and Costa Rica caused the evacuation of more than 200 people in Honduras and the damage of 10 houses in Costa Rica.

Consequences

Recovery

The characteristics of Hurricane Patricia quickly turned it into a meteorological phenomenon that implied a significant risk for the countries where it was expected to reach.

This situation led to the mobilization of more than 5,000 marines from the Mexican Naval Infantry Force to contribute with search and rescue efforts.

On the other hand, volunteers from the Red Cross also made an analysis of what was necessary after the impact of the hurricane in Mexico. They made a distribution of humanitarian aid.

150 million pesos were allocated for the agricultural areas that were affected by Patricia; while 250 million pesos were destined for Jalisco, of which 34 million were directed to the affected people.

There was also a significant investment to help with the economic recovery. On October 28, 15 municipalities in Jalisco were declared disaster areas, while other areas were evacuated by the storm.

Removal from the list

The intensity of the hurricane meant that, the following year, in April 2016, the World Meteorological Organization removed Patricia's name from the list of names assigned to hurricanes; It was replaced by Pamela to be used in the next hurricane season in the Pacific, estimated for 2021.

References

1. How Patricia, the strongest hurricane on record, killed so few people - Portal The Washington Post, (2015). Taken from washingtonpost.com
2. Hurricane Patricia, English Wikipedia Portal, (nd). Taken from wikipedia.org
3. Meteorological history of hurricane Patricia, English Wikipedia Portal, (nd). Taken from wikipedia.org
4. Hurricane Patricia hits Mexico, Portal BBC, (2015). Taken from bbc.co.uk
5. Three years ago, hurricane Patricia became the record strongest hurricane in the Western Hemisphere with 215 MPH winds, Portal The Weather Channel, (nd). Taken from weather.com
6. Huracán Patricia, Spanish Wikipedia Portal, (nd). Taken from wikipedia.org