Weather Disasters Trivia

1. The name "Sandy" was used as a name of an Atlantic hurricane for the first and only time in what year?

From Quiz Notable Hurricanes

Answer: 2012

The name Sandy was given to an Atlantic hurricane that affected much of the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast regions of the United States in October-early November 2012. The storm ultimately killed around 233 people and inflicted nearly $70 billion in damages (2012 USD). Hurricane Sandy was notable not only for its devastating damage, but also for its unusually large size; it was classified as one of the largest hurricane in terms of diameter - the tropical force winds spanned nearly 900 miles.

From Quiz It's an Ill Wind

Answer: Hurricane Harvey

Hurricane Harvey struck Texas in 2017 and left much of the city of Houston flooded. Hundreds of thousands of homes were destroyed. Harvey was the wettest hurricane on record when it made landfall with some place receiving over 60 inches of rain. One of the main problems with Harvey was that the storm was slow moving and practically rested over Texas and the nearby states. Harvey tied Hurricane Katrina's total damage cost. Katrina made landfall in Louisiana in 2005 and flooded the city of New Orleans and also damaged the state of Mississippi. In Katrina, over 1,800 people were killed.

From Quiz A Dark Black Day for the US Gulf Coast

Answer: August 29, 2005

The storm made its final landfall near the Mississippi, Louisiana border about 10 AM local time on 29 August 2005. The people on the Gulf Coast are glad it came ashore during daylight. The loss of life would have been much higher if the storm had struck during the night; there were many people washed out of their houses clinging to the pieces left.

From Quiz Twelve Months a Year

Answer: space shuttle explosion

In late 1985, NASA designed a new program called the Teacher in Space Program in an effort to get children interested in space travel. Out of 11,000 people, Christa McAuliffe, a high school teacher from Concorde, New Hampshire, was chosen to take part in the program. Her mission would be to conduct lessons from space aboard the shuttle Challenger. After many delays, Challenger finally lifted off on 28th January 1986. Seventy-three seconds later, in front of a horrified crowd which included the crews' families, Challenger suddenly exploded. All on board died. The cause of the disaster was a faulty seal on the right Solid Rocket Booster.

From Quiz Woosh!

Answer: Queensland

Queensland received heavy rainfall in 2010 due to the effect of the La Nina atmospheric phenomenon. This was further aggravated by the Category 1 Cyclone Tasha crossing the state's coast on 24th December 2010. Thousands of residents had to be evacuated, especially those living along the Fitzroy and Burnett rivers. While the death toll was relatively low at 38, the damage to the economy of the state and the impact on those who were evacuated but lost their houses led to this event being classified as one of the major disasters in Australian history.

From Quiz Storm of the Century

Answer: Heavy rain over the Channel and south coast only

By Wednesday 14th October, the weather patterns were interpreted to show that heavy rain would be the bigger problem. On the Thursday afternoon, the whole of the UK had only light winds, so it looked as if the forecasters had got it right.

From Quiz Tsunami: A Wave of Destruction

Answer: Indonesia

The country of Indonesia lost at least 130,000 lives in the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami. It caused an additional loss of life of at least 100,000 in an additional dozen countries. This earthquake of at least 9.1 magnitude lasted for over 8 minutes, making it the third largest recorded by science and the longest lasting quake ever measured. The ensuing tsunami caused damage as far away as Somalia on the continent of Africa. There were at least four tsunami waves that hit Indonesia at this occurrence and death rates are believed to have been much higher than is often documented.

From Quiz Any Way the Wind Blows

Answer: New Orleans

Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans on 29 August 2005 and caused billions of dollars in damage and great loss of life.

From Quiz Billion Dollar Weather Disasters

Answer: Hugo

The caused a 20-foot storm surge and severe wind damage after hitting Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

From Quiz Hurricane Ike

Answer: 145 mph

In the early morning hours of September 4, 2008, Hurricane Ike's wind speeds peaked at over 145 miles per hour, just barely a Category 4 on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Scale.

From Quiz Hell and High Water--the Flood of '97

Answer: Record snowfall throughout the region.

Grand Forks had 98.6 inches of snow during the winter of '96-'97, and Fargo, 80 miles to the south, had 117, both record snowfalls. People dug tunnels from their driveways to their front doors through snow that had drifted up to the lower edge of their roofs. It was colder than usual as well, without any midwinter thaws to melt some of the snow that lay everywhere. There were eight recorded blizzards during that winter.

From Quiz Hurricane History #2

Answer: Louisiana

Last Island ("Isle Derniere") was a resort located on a barrier island in south-central Louisiana. This hurricane, estimated to be a Category 4 at landfall, destroyed the entire resort and ripped the island in half. Two hundred or more deaths were attributed to the storm.

From Quiz Hurricane History #1

Answer: Dora

Had this same storm struck the same area in more recent years, the estimated ensuing damages would have approached $2 billion.

From Quiz The 1974 Super Tornado Outbreak

Answer: 148

Tornado expert Dr. Ted Fujita (for whom the Fujita scale was named) figured that 90 percent of the twisters lasted about 40 minutes, while the longest-lasting (the Monticello tornado) stayed on or near the ground for just over two hours, nearly crossing the entire state of Indiana.

From Quiz American Hurricanes

Answer: Rita

Rita held a pressure of 895mb, breaking the previous record of 902mb set by Katrina not even a month earlier. Camille held the record before that of 905mb. Gilbert had once held a 888mb pressure but weakened over the Yucatan.

From Quiz Atlantic Hurricanes

Answer: South Carolina

Hurricane Hugo was the strongest and costliest hurricane to strike South Carolina in history. Hugo caused extensive damage in downtown Charleston, with the worst of it in its northern suburbs in September 1989. 35 deaths were reported in the U.S.A., and Hugo was the costliest hurricane in U.S. history from 1989 to 1992 (Andrew). It maintained category 1 status while hitting inland Charlotte, NC!

From Quiz Flood!

Answer: 37 inches

The strong tropical storm dropped 37 inches on the city of Houston causing heavy flooding.

From Quiz Hurricane Katrina

Answer: August 25, 2005

When Hurricane Katrina made landfall and the eyewall then passed over south Mississippi on August 29 destroying it, it was a category 3 with maximum winds sustained at 120 mph (195 km).

From Quiz 2005 Hurricane Season (USA)

Answer: June 8

The official start of the hurricane season is June 1, though in many years the U.S. has not seen a tropical storm until July. Meteorologists knew this was a sign that 2005 would be a monstrous hurricane season.

From Quiz The World Cried - The Tsunami of 2004

Answer: December 26th

The quake was around 7am local time on 26th December (0000 UT or GMT). The waves hit the various places affected between one and eight hours later.

From Quiz Gone With The Wind (A Hurricane Quiz)

Answer: Carol

Carol hit on August 30th 1954.

From Quiz It's an Ill Wind

Answer: Puerto Rico

Much of the Caribbean was ravaged by Hurricane Maria with Puerto Rico sustaining the biggest hit and the strongest winds. Ninety percent of Puerto Rico was left without power and the island's energy infrastructure had to be almost entirely rebuilt. The official death toll in Puerto Rico was 64 deaths but the actual total number of casualties could be as high as several thousand as the aftermath caused diseases to spread. The lack of power was also an issue. In addition, Hurricane Maria struck soon after Hurricane Irma devastated the Caribbean and the recovery efforts from that storm were not completed by the time Maria came.

From Quiz A Dark Black Day for the US Gulf Coast

Answer: 3

The first landfall was near Hallandale Beach and Aventura Florida on the morning of 25 August 2005 as a Category 1 storm. She lost hurricane status crossing Florida, but regained it within a hour after reaching the Gulf of Mexico. Then after four days she came ashore for the second time as a weak Category 4 or strong Category 3 at about 7 am 29 August 2005, near Buras-Triumph, Louisiana. This is a river town near the Mississippi River mouth. It went offshore again after crossing the river delta, returned to the Gulf of Mexico and made the third and final landfall about four hours later near the Louisiana-Mississippi border as a strong Category 3 hurricane.

From Quiz Twelve Months a Year

Answer: air crash

Carrying mostly Taiwanese families returning home from overseas holidays, China Airlines Airbus A300 stalled and crashed as it approached Chiang Kai Shek Airport near Taipei. There were no survivors.

From Quiz Woosh!

Answer: Bay of Bengal

The Bhola Cyclone began forming over the Bay of Bengal in early November, 1970 and hit the low lying Ganges delta on 8th November, 1970. Causing widespread destruction in West Bengal, India and what was then East Pakistan (now Bangladesh), the casualty figures recorded were in excess of 400,000. The perceived slow response from Pakistan's national government towards rescue and aid efforts further fueled unrest in the country leading it to achieve independence the following year.

From Quiz Storm of the Century

Answer: Swirling winds

In the Northern Hemisphere, the winds swirl anti-clockwise. The lower the pressure, the higher the speeds.

From Quiz Where the Sun Don't Shine

Answer: World War II

"The Great March West" also known as "The March" occurred between January and April 1945 towards the end of World War II. Once the Soviet Army started to advance close to Germany, the Germans took 80,000 POWS and forced them to march across Poland, Czechoslovakia and Germany. Mortality rates were very high, due to horrendous weather conditions, lack of warm clothing, and the poor physical condition of many of the soldiers. The men were broken up into groups of 200 and so there were multiple marches going on at the same time. As many as 8,000 men died on this march, although the exact count will never be known for sure.

From Quiz Tsunami: A Wave of Destruction

Answer: Lisbon

This earthquake, with the ensuing tsunami, devastated the capital city of Lisbon. Death estimates for the city run as high as 1,000,000 people. After a 5 minute earthquake the people of the city ran to the wharfs and piers to watch massive masses of water recede into the ocean stranding ships and their cargo all along the shoreline. Less than an hour later a huge tsunami came crashing in destroying large parts of the city. Other cities along the coastline were also severely damaged from the tsunami. This natural disaster brought an end to Portugal's aspirations to become a world power through colonization. It also gave rise to the birth of seismology and earthquake engineering.

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Last Updated Apr 13 2024 5:50 AM

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