Reducing the effects of tropical storms

• Tropical storms cannot be prevented, but they can be monitored, and their tracks predicted
• Developments in technology, including satellite tracking and radar, provide data for computer programs to analyse, and therefore predict, the track of the storm and its likely impacts
• Local authorities and emergency services issue warnings and evacuate people if necessary. In the North Atlantic there are 2 levels of warning:

  • Hurricane watch - advice issued across a wide area
  • Hurrican warning - advice targeted on a specific area and expecting immediate action (e.g. evacuation)
• Protection:

  Methods of protection usually involve participation in design - everything from reinforced walls, roofs and window shutters, to storm drains and sea walls
• Protection:

  Cyclone shelters in Bangladesh are used as community centres, schools or medical centres most of the time
• Planning

  It is unrealistic to stop tens of millions of people living in coastal areas at risk from tropical storms, but they can be made safer. Planning mostly means education and media campaigns raising individual and community awareness in order that people understand the dangers, and are able to respond