HOMEWORK ASSIGNMENT #2                                     Do hurricanes establish patterns?

Due by 6 pm on Tuesday, September 29

 

(1) Two tables are provided below which contain data from the National Hurricane Center (2007); one table shows the costliest hurricanes and the other shows the deadliest. Your assignment is to manipulate the data in some way to determine whether or not a pattern exists.  You should choose ONLY ONE of these data sets to use.  Note that “manipulate the data” does not mean simply plotting what is given.  You need to reorganize the data or group it and then produce a new table or graph of some kind that attempts to determine whether the pattern you thought might exist does. You may not need to use all of the data given in the original table, but you should use most of it.  Your new table or graph may be hand-made if you are uncomfortable with spreadsheets.  Be sure to label things.

 

(2) The second part of the assignment is to write this all up.  In your own words, please describe how and why you manipulated the data.  Describe what the graph or table illustrates and whether your preliminary hypothesis was correct.  Was there a strong pattern?   If so, describe it and why it might have occurred.  If not, why not?  How would this help the general US population or US policy makers?  This part of the assignment should be word-processed, double spaced and done in 12-pt. font. 

 

The homework will be graded with the rubric provided on the class web site.

 

COSTLIEST HURRICANES, normalized to 2006 dollars

HURRICANE

YEAR

Category

Damage (Millions)*

KATRINA (LA/MS/FL)

2005

3

$84,645

ANDREW (SE FL/SE LA)

1992

5

48,058

WILMA (SW/SE FL)

2005

3

21,527

CHARLEY (SW FL)

2004

4

16,322

IVAN (NW FL/AL)

2004

3

15,451

HUGO (SC)

1989

4

13,480

AGNES (FL/NE U.S.)

1972

1

12,424

BETSY (SE FL/SE LA)

1965

3

11,883

RITA (LA/TX/FL)

2005

3

11,808

CAMILLE (MS/SE LA/VA)

1969

5

9,781

FRANCES (SE FL)

2004

2

9,684

DIANE (NE U.S.)

1955

1

7,700

JEANNE (SE FL)

2004

3

7,508

FREDERIC (AL/MS)

1979

3

6,922

New England   

1938

3

6,571

ALLISON (N TX)

2001

 TS

6,414

FLOYD (Mid Atlc & NE U.S.)

1999

2

6,342

NE U.S.

1944

3

5,927

FRAN (NC)

1996

3

4,979

ALICIA (N TX) 

1983

3

4,825

OPAL (NW FL/AL)

1995

3

4,758

CAROL (NE U.S.)

1954

3

4,345

ISABEL (NC/VA)

2003

2

3,985

JUAN (LA)

1985

1

3,417

DONNA (FL/Eastern U.S.)

1960

4

3,345

CELIA (S TX)

1970

3

3,038

BOB (NC, NE U.S)

1991

2

2,853

ELENA (MS/AL/NW FL)

1985

3

2,848

CARLA (N & Central TX)

1961

4

2,604

DENNIS (NW FL)

2005

3

2,330

 

DEADLIEST HURRICANES

HURRICANE

YEAR

CATEGORY

DEATHS

TX (Galveston)

1900

4

8000

FL (SE/Lake Okeechobee)

1928

4

2500

KATRINA(SE LA/MS)

2005

3

1500

LA (Cheniere Caminanda)          

1893

4

1100-1400

SC/GA (Sea Islands)  

1893

3

1000-2000

GA/SC        

1881

2

700

AUDREY (SW LA/N TX)

1957

4

416

FL (Keys)

1935

5

408

LA (Last Island)

1856

4

400

FL (Miami)/MS/AL/Pensacola

1926

4

372

LA (Grand Isle)

1909

3

350

FL (Keys)/S TX

1919

4

287

LA (New Orleans)

1915

4

275

TX (Galveston)

1915

4

275

New England

1938

3

256

CAMILLE (MS/SE LA/VA)

1969

5

256

DIANE (NE U.S.)

1955

1

184

GA, SC, NC

1898

4

179

TX

1875

3

176

SE FL

1906

3

164

TX (Indianola)

1886

4

150

MS/AL/Pensacola

1906

2

134

FL, GA, SC

1896

3

130

AGNES (FL/NE U.S.)

1972

1

122

HAZEL (SC/NC)

1954

4

95

BETSY (SE FL/SE LA)

1965

3

75

Northeast U.S.

1944

3

64

CAROL (NE U.S.)

1954

3

60

FLOYD (Mid Atlantic & NE U.S.)

1999

2

56

NC

1883

2

53

SE FL/SE LA/MS

1947

4

51

NC, SC

1899

3

50

GA/SC/NC

1940

2

50

DONNA (FL/Eastern U.S.)

1960

4

50