Thunderstorms- Rachel Day 3

Hey Meghan,
It's been three days since our horrific thunderstorm and I finally have enough information to tell you what happened. Our thunderstorm was considered severe and lasted for almost an hour and a half, which is thirty minutes longer than the average storm. Winds reached extreme speeds at over 75 mph, and we had hail for a short period of time. Our area had both a flash flood and tornado warnings, but luckily none of those things happened. I was listening to the NWS radio alerts earlier and I heard all the impact on our environment, economy, and human life.

Our environment was affected by lightning because it burnt and killed trees and it started a wildfire in our forest. The hail that we received luckily did not kill any wildlife, but in some storms it actually does. Lucky for us, the flash flood and tornado never came, but they can also affect the environment. Flash floods can destroy man-made objects and move boulders. They can also create fast torrents for small creeks. Tornadoes can wreck havoc on weak structures.

The storm affected our economy greatly. The lightning that struck killed some livestock and caused damage to homes, barns, and other farm buildings life silos and stables. Fences have been damaged and so has machines. Also, telephone and electricity was affected that left people unable to do regular things at work. All of these things cost money to repair. Our economy is losing money because people are not working. Crops and property that have been damaged by hail cost more than a billion dollars to fix. Did you know that going by insurance costs tropical cyclones, earthquakes, floods, and brush fires each do not cause more damage than thunderstorms?

Humans were impacted by the thunderstorm also. Lightning did not kill anyone in this storm, but in other thunderstorms lightning can kill and injure people. Homes were damaged in this storm and hail damaged cars and windows also. Tornadoes per year average with about 62 people killed and 1,500 people injured. Do you know what is the greatest death cause in a thunderstorm? Flash floods-they kill more than 140 people every year!

As you can see, this thunderstorm took a toll on us down in Florida and we will be rebuilding for a little bit. Thankfully no humans died because of this storm. For more information on impacts of a thunderstorm click here. I believe that I stayed safe because I was well prepared, so the next time a thunderstorm is brewing around you, I hope you will remember all that I taught you and be prepared. I told you in my first blog that you would become a thunderstorm expert after you were done reading my blogs. So the question is, are you a thunderstorm expert now?