[dropcap]H[/dropcap]urricanes can cause horrible things to happen to both people and the area that it surfaces.  According to an article made by Fortune, Hurricane Harvey’s damages could potentially cost a staggering $180 billion dollars just in repairs.  This hurricane was one of the most powerful hurricanes to hit Texas in over 50 years.  Another article from Time, states that the death toll from this hurricane is now up to 70 and can still be rising.  Moreover, this article, from the weather channel, states, “As a tropical storm, Harvey dropped 40-52 inches of rainfall in southeast Texas and southwest Louisiana.” These results from hurricanes can be tragic,

However, hurricanes can also do good.

Often people look at hurricanes as being a powerful thing to fear, but hurricanes can also greatly impact nature in a positive way.  These are some ways in which hurricanes help the environment.

Brings Rainfall to Areas In Drought

Credit: skeeze (CC0)

Now, this does seem extreme, but for places in a major drought, a hurricane can do a lot of good to help the area it hits. Hurricanes are very efficient in rainfall production, so it is obvious that if a hurricane did land near an area with drought, it would greatly replenish the dry and arid area.

For example, in 2012 Florida was in a severe drought.  According to Jonathan Belles in an article he wrote, tropical storm Debby completely “erased” the drought that was going on at the time.  This tropical storm saved an area that was very desperate for rain and it did it very well.  Another example of this happening was in 2015 when hurricane Patricia hit states bordering the Gulf of Mexico.  This tropical storm “rapidly weakened” and caused minor damage, but it did bring mass amounts of rainfall.  There were some areas such as in Texas and Louisiana that were in extreme drought at the time, but after hurricane Patricia arrived, the drought situation vanished.  These droughts were built up over months of little rainfall.  This can show us how helpful a hurricane can be in this situation.

Provides a Role in the Global Heat Balance

When a hurricane occurs, its wind speeds can reach up to 150 mph, so it will move quite a bit of the air with it. Because this air is moving with the hurricane, temperatures between the equator and the poles become more balanced.  Without this balance, it would be hotter in the equator and colder at the poles. As stated in an article by Julia Whitty, hurricanes form in a more tropical climate near the equator so it will pick up hot air.  It brings this to the poles and distributes the warm air in the cooler climate.

According to another article by Jonathan Belles, “Hurricanes, due to their size and interactions with the upper levels of the atmosphere, are very efficient movers of equatorial heat.” As he says, the size of the hurricane makes it so it delivers much more air to the poles.  He also says that at the equator, insolation occurs. This means that the area receives more solar energy. Because of this, temperatures range greatly from the equator to the polls so, hurricanes help balance this out.  Finally, as reported by hurricanescience.org, hurricanes can be up to a couple hundred miles wide.  The sheer size of this considerably helps the hurricane move this air.  Without this, temperatures would be much different around the globe.

Disperses Red Tide

Credit: Alejandro Diaz (Public Domain)

According to an article from the NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration), red tide is the process of when a simple plant known as algae rapidly grows, scattering harmful toxins.  It threatens people, fish, shellfish, marine mammals, and birds.  As stated in a post by Abby Goodnough, you could see the coughing, sneezing, and sniffing of the people at the beach confirming that there is red tide. Florida alone had reports of 163 sea turtles, 63 manatees, 25 dolphins, and thousands of fish.  Thankfully, hurricanes disperse the algae that causes red tide saving thousands of marine animals.  According to Jonathan Belles, another way that hurricanes help these situations is that when hurricanes mix up all of this water, they also oxygenate it which essentially revitalizes the area.

Help Fragile Barrier Islands

After a hurricane passes over a barrier island, it often looks as though the island was destroyed, but this is simply not true.  According to an article by Jonathan Belles, Hurricanes can pick up a large amount of sand, sediment, and nutrients.  The hurricane then passes over a barrier island and deposits the material.  In an article by Duke Staff, Orrin H. Pilkey, a professor at Duke says, “Barrier islands need hurricanes for their survival, especially at times of rising sea levels such as now. It’s during hurricanes that islands get higher and wider.”  He also claims, “From a purely natural standpoint hurricanes are a blessing for islands, even though they’re a curse for people who live there.”  If it wasn’t for hurricanes, these barrier islands would slowly sink into the ocean, forgotten forever.

Increase Construction Jobs

The remnants that a hurricane leaves behind are tragic.  Houses, roads, and buildings can be completely destroyed. Repairs to these things are in great need when a hurricane comes.  According to an article by David Yanofsky, after Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans, construction jobs were desperately needed.  Theses jobs grew in total about 7,800. An even greater example of an increase in jobs is when Hurricane Sandy hit the New York City metro area.  After this hurricane hit, there were a staggering 26,500 new construction jobs.

Construction supplies also become much more wanted after a hurricane.

According to an article by Edwin Lopez, he talks about how hurricane Harvey impacted the demand of supply: “Buyers searched for steel building suppliers 1,700% more often than pre-Harvey and sought out plywood and drywall 400% more often after the storm.” He also shows us that there are other supplies that go up, such as communication systems.  They go up an astounding 10,000% and trucking services go up 4,600%.

Now I understand that hurricanes can do a lot of damage to different areas of the world as well. Hurricanes can kill thousands of people. According to an article written by Lydia Ramsey, hurricane Katrina killed around 1,200 people. The effects a hurricane can have on an area can be devastating but can also be positive.

Hurricanes have such a large impact in the world we live in today.  The negativity they get is most definitely deserved, but hurricanes need a fair shot.  They do so much good for our environment and our economy.  All I ask of you is to take a second look at what these hurricanes can do.

(Featured Image- Wikipedia.org)