The impact of famous hurricane events such as the 1900 Galveston hurricane, Camille, Andrew, and Katrina have been well-documented. However, many other hurricanes have contributed to scientific breakthroughs, forecast tools, social policies, and legal precedents. This presentation, based on Fitzpatrick (2005), will chronologically discuss certain lesser-known scientific and/or hurricane events which directly/indirectly impacted society.

Some examples which will be discussed include: 1) how an eclipse gave Benjamin Franklin clues on hurricane motion; 2) how the failure of the Army Signal Corps to predict hurricanes resulted in the formation of the U.S. Weather Bureau; 3) how centralizing hurricane forecasts in Washington D.C. partially resulted in the 1900 Galveston and 1926 Miami hurricane fatalities, and ultimately gave birth to the National Hurricane Center; 4) how reconnaissance aircraft flights resulted from a "dare"; 5) how military censorship of hurricane forecasts resulted in Galveston's 1943 "Surprise" hurricane; 6) how a 1954 Viking rocket's first color pictures showed an unknown tropical depression, spawning the concept of weather satellites; 7) how sovereign immunity was upheld when hundreds filed a lawsuit against the federal government for a perceived poor forecast of Hurricane Audrey, which killed 390 people; and 8) how a devastating New Orleans hurricane altered the beginning of the War of 1812.

Reference

Fitzpatrick, P.J., 2005: Hurricanes: A Reference Handbook. ABC-CLIO, 412 pp.