Tropical storms form where the sea temperature is above a temperature of 26.celicus and a depth of 60 metres. In addition to this, there must be an air humidity of 75% meaning there must be at least 75% water vapour between 5 -20 degree north/south of the equator. These specific temperatures and humidity percentage can be created by low pressure, which migrates seasonally due to the position of the sun. When these specific conditions are met, the unstable air converges and is force upwards where it cools and condenses quickly to form large cumulonimbus clouds which are associated with thunderstorms. Condensation reactions release latent heat, consequently increasing the energy resulting in more powerful wind speeds, thus resulting in pushing the storm up to 10km above sea level. At the top of the hurricane, the cooling air spreads outwards, creating a thick canopy of clouds. Furthermore, due to the low pressure at sea level created by the position of the sun, it draws in denser colder air from above the storm and surrounding areas. Finally, high pressure sinking air in the middle creates an eye and the Coriolis Effect creates a spinning effect and the winds travelling towards the void get deflected off course either to left or right, depending on the hemisphere, thus resulting in the spinning of the winds.
Tropical storms pose as dangerous threats in different area of the world. For example, many LEDC’s such as Guatemala and barbarous are prone to hurricanes. Furthermore, these damaging storms can cause devastating impacts of MEDC’s such as the USA. However in some areas of the world, they are more prone to tropical storms. Some examples are the Caribbean Sea and the Gulf of Mexico. These areas are surrounded by the Atlantic, and generally have warmer waters compared to the Atlantic, therefore making hurricane formation a lot easier, thereby increasing the risk of hurricanes to countries lying on the coast of these regions. Hurricanes are usually frequent in between these areas and are more commonly known as the hurricane belt.
For example there is a high risk of hurricanes occurring in cities such as Florida and New Orleans. This is because they lie on a coastal region of the Gulf of Mexico; as the Gulf lies inside hurricane belt the risk of the impacts are increased to the cities such as Florida and New Orleans. For example, the 2004 Hurricane Katrina hugely affected New Orleans due to its geographical location. The hurricane damaged a vast amount of infrastructure such as electricity lines, and in addition to this oil factories were hugely damaged, forcing oil prices to rise, therefore potentially decreasing capacity to cope. In addition to this, 1 million people were made homeless, this was a huge impact thereby making vulnerability high, consequently increasing the damage done by a hazard. However, Florida and New Orleans are MEDC’s, in which the USA has an average of $50000 GDP per capita, which decreases their vulnerability as they should have enough resources for the increases risk of hazards, therefore also increasing the capacity to cope. However, the hurricane of 2004 destroyed a mass of resources such as food and water, which increases vulnerability because the citizens do not the response resources they need, therefore decreasing the capacity to cope. In addition to this, there were a relatively large amount of poor people in New Orleans, this increases their vulnerability as they cannot afford to live in a safe area(well built house), or even afford decent nutrition, consequtly decreasing their capacity to cope. On the other hand, the government sent $50billion worth of aid for resources such as food, which had a result of increasing the overall capacity to cope, and decreasing the vulnerability of the population. Furthermore, the USA has a high risk of economic loss from the effects of hurricanes. This due to the USA being an MEDC, therefore it has to money and resources to have good quality infrastructure and resources in an increased risk of a hazard occurring, therefore the risk of high economic loss is increases, in addition to this the risk of high population loss in high as well as there is a high population in high risk areas such as Florida.
In addition to this, Mexico lies on a coastal region, near the Caribbean Sea, therefore increasing the risk of a potential hazards occurring. However, Mexico is not only an MEDC, but Mexico City is considered to be a megacity which results in greater impacts occurring. For example, Mexico is an LEDC therefore it may not have the money to protect its people, therefore with the lack of resources such as shelter/medicine/food for the increased risk of a hurricane, its people will have a high rate of vulnerability, therefore significantly decreasing the populations capacity to cope. In addition to this, Mexico City is a megacity, in which the vast amount of its population live under the poverty line, which increases the vulnerability as the population, cannot afford essentials such as decent shelter and most struggle for food on a normal day, thus decreasing the capacity to cope. However, the risk of a high economic loss is not as great when comparing to the USA, as the infrastructure such as roads and housing are of extremely low quality, some roads consist of thin sand, and houses are poorly built not designed to withstand the high risk of natural hazard, therefore the risk of a high economic loss is reduced. Furthermore I believe that the risk of population loss is higher in an LEDC such as Mexico. This is because in MEDCs such as Florida/New Orleans which also have a high risk of potential hazards, they have shelter/ evacuation strategies such as the super dome which forms protective shelter, therefore not only decreasing the risk of high population loss, but increasing overall capacity to cope as people have safe designated areas to evacuate to. However, in Mexico it does not have these designated areas as it does not have the finance or geographical region to evacuate its mass population, therefore this leads to an increased risk of severe population loss; consequently resulting in an increased vulnerability as the people of Mexico will have nowhere to go and feel extremely tense, thus resulting in a decrease in the capacity to cope.
The Philippines is considered to be a disaster hotspot due to its geographical location, putting it in a region inside the belt of tropical storms. The Philippines is on low lying coastal regions inside the belt of tropical storms, thereby making the risk of a hurricane more likely, consequently this instantly increases the vulnerability of the people. In addition to this, most of the work is farming; in which crops grow on unstable low lying land, therefore increasing the risk of them being destroyed by a hurricane. Consequently resulting in an increased vulnerability as the Philippians people will have little to no resources, therefore significantly decreasing their capacity to cope. In addition to this, some of the region lives under the poverty line, meaning they cannot afford food/water/housing, resulting in an increased vulnerability, and a decreased rate of capacity to cope. Furthermore, the Philippines are an LEDC, therefore resulting in a poor economy and poor social developments. Therefore its vulnerability is increased as it will have to significantly rely on aid from other countries, in which on its own the capacity to cope would be little to none.