Hurricane Impacts

Tropical cyclones are typically rated by how strong the fastest sustained windspeeds are in the eyewall of the cyclone. However, this is typically not the most impactful part of a hurricane. The most deadly and costliest impacts from a tropical cyclone are typically inland flooding caused by heavy rainfall and coastal flooding caused by storm surge. Storm surge occurs when the winds from a tropical cyclone push water up onto the coast while the tropical cyclone is close to land. Tropical cyclones do not have to make landfall in order to cause storm surge along the coast.

Often, hurricanes can result in tornadoes in the outer rainbands. These tornadoes are possible because of the large amount of spin in the atmosphere caused by the tropical cyclone itself. Tropical cyclone tornadoes are typically very brief, and are therefore difficult to forecast, but they can cause wind gusts over 100 miles per hour well away from the eyewall of a storm.