DAMAGE FROM HURRICANES AND TYPHOONS
Hurricanes and typhoons can cause millions or even billions of dollars in damage. Buildings slide down hillsides; valleys flood; villages disappear under landslides and mud slides; roads and bridges are washed away; crops become waterlogged, or are blown over or uprooted, or covered in mud. Destruction levels can be particularly high when a storm stalls and strong, driving rains persist for hours or even days, or when the storm slams into mountains, producing particularly large amounts of rain. Some typhoons are so powerful they blow plankton and small sea creatures into the sky, where they float around on clouds.
Usually much more damage and death is caused by rains than winds. People die from being hit by flying debris or falling trees or crushed in collapsed building but are more likely to die from drowning in flooded rivers or from suffocating under rain-induced mud slides and landslides. Most victims from really deadly storms die from storm surges — masses of ocean water that are pushed forward by the winds — that can penetrate several miles inland. The surges are particularly deadly if they occur at high tide.
Hurricanes and typhoons often do the most damage on low coral islands which are sometimes inundated with waves that can reach a height of 30 meters at sea and storm surges that sweep water across the entire island, annihilating every tree and hut in their path. Modern buildings and houses with cinder block walls and metal roofs are usually strong enough to withstand the winds of strong typhoons but thatched-roof huts and shanties are easily blown over or crushed by falling trees. Palm trees also blow over pretty easily because they don't have a deep root system.
Long term damage and hardships from typhoons are caused by sickness and starvation as water supplies become contaminated; cholera and dysentery; poisonous snakes flooded out of their dens; damaged crops and stored food; and the disruption or destruction of transportation routes used to bring in relief supplies. Over the longer term fields and agricultural land may be is destroyed and rivers may be rerouted. Where factories are washed away and infrastructure is damaged, people may begin migrating out. In poor countries there is inevitably not enough money to fix everything.
The danger from typhoons increases with time as coastal areas become more developed and urban areas sink as result of the drawing of underground water. Global warming is predicted to raise sea levels, making the situation even more dire.
There are examples of typhoons and hurricanes striking certain areas and dramatically altering the coastline. Barrier island are particularly vulnerable, there are cases of such island that were formed thousands if years ago that have been whittled down to islets and remnants in 150 years by storms, subsiding land and rising sea levels.
Disastrous Storms
World's Worst Recorded 20th Century Cyclones, Hurricanes, Typhoons and Other Storms (number of dead): 1) Bangladesh, Nov. 13, 1970 (300,000); 2) Bangladesh, Apr. 30, 1991 (139,000); 3) H. Bengal, India, Oct. 15-16, 1942 (40,000); 4) Bangladesh, June 1-2, 1965 (30,000); 5) Bangladesh, May 28-29, 1963 (22,000); 6) Bangladesh, May 11-12, (17,000); 7) Hong Kong, Sept. 18, 1906 (10,000); 8) Bangladesh, Dec. 15, 1965 (10,000); 9) Bangladesh, May 25, 1985 (10,000); 10) Caribbean, Hurricane Flora, Oct 4-8, 1963 (6,000); hurricane in Galveston, TX, Aug-Sept, 1900 (6,000).
Hurricanes account for nine of the 10 costliest U.S. natural disasters since 1989, with Hurricane Katrina at the top of the list with $125 billion in damage and 1,833 deaths, according to the U.S. Federal Emergency Management Agency and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
Coastal Changes Caused by Hurricanes and Typhoons
Describing changes to the northern Gulf coast caused by hurricanes there, Cain Burdeau of Associated Press wrote: “Everywhere scientists look, they see disrupted patterns in and along the Gulf of Mexico. Coral reefs, flocks of sea birds, crab- and shrimp-filled meadows and dune-crowned beaches were wrapped up in -- and altered by -- the force of hurricanes Katrina, Rita, and Dennis. ''Nothing's been like this," said Abby Sallenger, a US Geological Survey oceanographer, during a recent flight over the northern Gulf Coast to study shoreline changes. [Source: Cain Burdeau, Associated Press, February 5, 2006]
For him, the changes are mind-boggling: Some barrier islands are nearly gone; on others, beaches are scattered like bags of dropped flour. Hurricanes have been kneading the Gulf Coast like putty for eons, carving out inlets and bays, creating beaches and altering plant and animal life -- but up to now, the natural world has largely been able to rebound. Trees, marine life ,and shoreline features tourists and anglers enjoyed in recent years were largely the same types as those 17th century buccaneers and explorers encountered.
But scientists say the future could be different. Nature might not be able to rebound so quickly. The reason: the human factor. ''Natural systems are resilient and bounce back," said Susan Cutter, a geographer with the University of South Carolina. ''The problem is when we try to control nature, rather than letting her do what she does." The seas are rising, the planet is getting hotter ,and commercial and residential development is snowballing. Add those factors to a predicted increase in nasty hurricanes and what results is a recipe for potentially serious natural degradation, some say.
Surveys of the washed out Chandeleur Islands, an arc of barrier islands off the coast of Louisiana, found nesting grounds for brown pelicans, royal terns, sandwich terns, and black skimmers gone.''Hopefully the birds will be resilient enough to move to other areas," said Tom Hess, a biologist with the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries. ''We will have to see." Salt water spread by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita killed marsh grasses across the Louisiana coast, leaving little left to eat for Louisiana's most hunted bird -- the duck. ''Most of the marsh where that salt water sat for a long time looks dead. It looks like it is does extremely late in the winter and you've had several extreme frosts," said Robert Helm, a state waterfowl biologist. ''Where we found birds, they seemed to be concentrated in the habitat that was not impacted by the storm."
A lot of things are happening under the water, too. With their towering waves, hurricanes move huge volumes of mud and sediment on the ocean bottom, burying clam and oyster beds and seagrass meadows where crabs, shrimps and fish hide and feed. Can the sea plants spring back? ''It depends on the light penetration, how deep they are buried, and factors like that," said John Dindo, a marine scientist and assistant director of the Dauphin Island Sea Lab in Alabama.
Farther out, where the continental shelf drops off, the wild seas kicked up by the hurricanes damaged the Gulf's coral reefs.After Rita's 30-plus-foot waves, surveys of the coral at the Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary 100 miles off the coast of Louisiana and Texas showed damage to about 5 percent of the reef. Brain and star coral was toppled and smashed into other coral heads. About 3 feet of sand was dispersed on sand flats in the reef where trigger fish and queen conch burrow and nest.
Improving Coastal Defenses Against Hurricanes and Typhoons
Deborah Zabarenko of Reuters wrote: “Global warming is expected to cause more severe hurricanes, and that means U.S. communities will need new tactics to minimize storm damage, emergency preparedness have experts said. These tactics range from restoring wetlands -- which may actually slow down approaching storms -- to making homes and other structures better able to withstand hurricanes to organizing finances so more can be spent on prevention, the panel of experts said. [Source: Deborah Zabarenko, Reuters, August 27, 2007]
Wetlands, which used to be drained as a matter of course in the United States, provide flood control by absorbing excess water during storms, filter pollutants before they enter streams, lakes and oceans and protect coastal areas from erosion, according to a 2006 Government Accountability Office report.
Impact of Hurricanes on Wildlife
Darryl Fears wrote in the Washington Post, “Biologists who study birds couldn’t believe what they were seeing at their research lab in Williamsburg. Two pigeon-size shorebirds they tracked with tiny satellite transmitters were doing something no one had ever recorded. They were flying through 115-mph winds of a massive hurricane.” “We were holding our breath,” Fletcher Smith, a research biologist at the Center for Conservation Biology, told the Post about the birds as they approached Hurricane Irene. “We really didn’t have a good idea of what birds are able to navigate through.” [Source: Darryl Fears, Washington Post October 2, 2011]
At the Cape Romain National Wildlife Refuge on a barrier island north of Charleston, S.C., 200 sea-turtle nests with large clutches of eggs were wiped out. Swaths of the island were washed away, which might hamper turtles from nesting next year, said Sarah Dawsey, manager of the refuge. Hurricanes pose a significant threat to endangered species whose populations have been reduced by humans, biologists said. When asked how animals in the region fared in the one-two punch of storms, they said they didn’t have much data to draw from. They based their answers on observations from past storms.
Bears move to high ground and hunker down, said one biologist. Deer plop next to fallen trees and hug them close, said another. Squirrels, opossums and raccoons slip into holes in tree stumps and logs to wait it out. Small birds squat in thick bushes. Smith said the center also put satellite transmitters on bald eagles and discovered that they, too, have a preferred method of riding out deadly storms. “They’ll just sit on a tree branch and hold on for dear life,” he said. “Most birds ride out storms that way. When they grip something, it’s easier to stay gripped than it is to let go.”
Those tactics don’t always help. More than 20 percent of bald-eagle nests along the James River were destroyed, and an additional 23 percent were damaged, according to the Center for Conservation Biology of Virginia Commonwealth University and the College of William and Mary.
“Although nine out of 10 animals can weather storms through precaution, some don’t make it,” said Judy Wink, executive director of the Chesapeake Bay Environmental Center, a wildlife refuge in Grasonville, Md. Some animals, like some people, wait too long to safely flee, Wink said. “Birds . . . if they’re late in seeking cover, they get blown into windows and porches,” she said. “Osprey babies get blown out of nests. We’ve had ospreys that were blown into power lines.”
Animals can benefit, however, when hurricanes rearrange land, biologists said. Fallen trees provide new homes. Floods create new habitats that provide sanctuary and food for turtles and frogs. Cleared fields allow for new growth, a good thing if the plants aren’t invasive and destructive, said John Kostyack, vice president of wildlife conservation for the National Wildlife Federation. “The important thing is animals do sense a storm ahead of time; they have forewarning,” Wink said. “Those who sense a change in weather and act fast have a better chance of survival.”
The flight of the whimbrels — oatmeal-colored birds with long, curved beaks — was a major breakthrough, at least with regard to birds. The center tracked four whimbrels it tagged in 2009 and 2010 to study their extraordinary flights from Virginia to breeding grounds as far away as Alaska. The birds were in the middle of migrations that started in Canada when Irene formed in the Caribbean. Migrating birds are widely believed to tire and perish when they encounter hurricanes in open waters. But as biologists followed the satellite signals, they realized that a whimbrel they named Chinquapin powered through the storm, crossing it near the Bahamas on Aug. 25. A second whimbrel they named Goshen flew through an outer band of Irene that same day, about 100 miles behind Chinquapin.
Impact of Hurricanes and Typhoons on Marine Life
When hurricanes hit, marine life is affected in different ways depending on whether animals can move or must stay put. Mobile species—sharks, dolphins, fish—usually sense storms coming through falling pressure, temperature shifts, or increased wave action. Many head for deeper, calmer water. Studies show blacktip sharks and gray triggerfish leave before landfall and return days later. But animals that fail to escape can be stranded in freshwater ponds or killed by pressure changes, sediment, or debris. [Source: Jenny McGrath,Business Insider, September 4, 2023]
Stationary life—seagrass, oysters, corals—can be buried or uprooted. Storm surges and waves rip up seagrass beds and smother oyster reefs. Corals may benefit briefly from cooler water, but strong waves can break them apart.
The aftermath is often deadlier than the storm itself. Hurricanes leave behind freshwater surges, sewage, chemicals, sediment, and debris. These lower salinity levels and increase bacteria, harming species like alligators, dolphins, and fish. Storm-fed nutrient runoff can trigger algal blooms, blocking sunlight to seagrass and starving manatees—as happened after Hurricane Ian.
Hurricanes are natural disturbances, but climate change is making them more intense, giving ecosystems less time to recover and increasing risks for marine life.
Image Sources: Typhoon News weblog
Text Sources: New York Times, Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, Daily Yomiuri, Times of London, Japan National Tourist Organization (JNTO), National Geographic, The New Yorker, Time, Newsweek, Reuters, AP, Lonely Planet Guides, Compton’s Encyclopedia and various books and other publications.
Last updated November 2025