Hurricane: "A tropical cyclone with winds of 74 miles per hour or greater that is usually accompanied by rain, thunder, and lightning, and that sometimes moves into temperature latitudes.”
Hurricanes are one of the most destructive natural disasters to occur on our beautiful yet terrifying planet. In 2017, when Hurricane Harvey hit the Houston metro area, it caused an astounding $125 billion in damage. This destruction inflicted by hurricanes includes injuries, loss of life and property, and environmental damage. There are numerous ways in which design and technology can adapt to help provide relief to this horrendous event. Some examples are modified homes, bubbling underwater pipes (you’ll understand what I mean later on!) and cloud-based technology.
Buildings are one of the most common structures to be damaged within a hurricane due to their shape. Typically, their rectangular/box frame encourages a pressure build-up which can eventually get too much. Utilising aerodynamics to disperse forces and divert pressure build-up is something architects progressively include in their designs, especially in areas prone to yearly hurricanes. Displayed below is a fancy graphic showing how these homes are designed.
Despite these buildings being able to reduce the chances of your home being swept away in a storm, they do come with a larger price tag than usual. The majority of the costs are down to the impact-resistant windows and doors. It is also estimated that home bills could increase by 15% once they have measures have been installed. These are just a few reasons why the demand hasn’t quite caught up with the technology innovation. I find it difficult to understand why governments would not offer these homes at a discounted rate to people who live in danger zones, this approach would surely reduce the cost for both people and governments in the long run.
We all know what effects climate change has on our planet but one consequence I was unaware of was the severity of hurricanes increases when the ocean is warmer. It’s estimated that a rise in ocean temperature by just 1 degree Celsius can cause wind speeds in a hurricane to increase by 20 miles per hour! What if there was a way to cool down oceans, ultimately, reducing the severity of the hurricane. One Norwegian start-up, OceanTherm, is adopting an interesting approach to this problem. During hurricane season, ships would deploy pipes with holes in them under the water where it’s much colder. When a storm is away to pass through a region where these pipes are deployed air will be pumped into them pushing cold water bubbles to the surface and reducing the temperature, preventing the storm from picking up any more speed. Shown below is a video of the startups first field test.
I think this technology is a good idea but the fact it needs to be deployed by a ship makes the response time quite slow. One option that could be explored is having permanent underwater pipes along the coast of the worst affected areas. This would eliminate the need for a ship to go out and deploy it when they think a hurricane is coming. It could also make use of sensors and advanced weather forecasting systems so it only gets switched on when there is a chance it will move onto land.
In the wake of COVID-19 medical specialist's advised us to socially distance from one another to prevent the spread of the disease, this fact doesn't change when a hurricane is taking place. Emergency response teams are beginning to look into adopting cloud-based technology that allows supervisors and many non-essential employees to work remotely. There will always be a need for some personnel to be deployed to the disaster region but in times like these, we mustn't forget about other problems in the world. I think this is a valid use of the technology but am unsure how effective it is compared to others previously mentioned. Disaster zones present communication issues which means this cloud-based system would most likely need to be set up quickly and with ease otherwise, valuable time could be wasted. It can also be difficult to grasp the magnitude at stake when seeing it through a screen. Can somebody working remotely, understand the severity of a situation like someone on-site?
To conclude, we have looked at various ways in which design and technology can be used to improve readiness and relief to hurricane strikes. I think changing the way we design buildings is the most effective way to reduce the damages incurred in a storm. This solution is the most disruptive, in the way it is a noticeable change to people's lives. The other two forms of technology can be used without the general public ever really noticing them. This being said, to make a big difference I believe we need to make big changes otherwise history will repeat itself over and over.
