quiz 5
Between 1960 and 2009, floods in the United States produced an average of __________ in damage per year.
$6.76 billion
Statistically, the 100-year flood has a __________ percent chance of occurring any year.
1
Along many low-lying sections of the U.S. Atlantic and Gulf Coasts, a 1 ft rise in sea level may equate to as much as __________ ft of inland movement of the beach.
1,000
__________ family members were killed by a flash flood in 2017 in Arizona due to heavy rains 8 miles upstream.
10
Between 1960 and 2009, floods in the United States resulted in an average of __________ deaths per year.
135
North Atlantic hurricanes all have an eye diameter of __________.
16-70 km
In major hurricanes with wind speeds greater than __________per hour, a narrow or contracting eyewall may be replaced.
180 km
Sea level rose 1 foot in the 20th century. It is expected to rise again by __________ in the 21st century.
2.0 or more feet
In 1926, there were __________ if levees averaging 6 m (20 ft) along the Mississippi River.
2900 km
Between 2010-2016, the United States averaged about __________ deaths per year from people driving vehicles into water associated with flooded roadways.
49
In the United States about 2.5% of the land is floodplain and home to about __________ percent of the population.
6.5
What is the probability that a 100-year flood will occur at least once in 100 years?
63 percent
Between 2010-2016, flash floods and river floods combined in the United States averaged about __________ deaths per year.
95
The total energy released by all the tropical cyclones in one season is captured by the __________.
Accumulated Cyclone Energy (ACE) index
As they approach North America, hurricanes commonly move north on clockwise-curving paths due to the __________.
Coriolis effect
__________ are the floors of streams during a flood.
Floodplains
The deadliest hurricane in U.S. history struck __________ in 1900 killing 8,000 people.
Galveston, Texas,
Hurricane __________ (2017) surpassed Hurricane Katrina as the costliest hurricane in U.S. history.
Harvey
The __________ is reputed to have killed more people than any other natural feature.
Huang (Yellow) River in China
Hurricane __________ crossed Florida (2017) and expanded more energy than the total energy unleashed in 2013 or 2014 or 2015.
Irma
Which of the following statements about Hurricane Hugo is true?
It was a powerful 1989 hurricane that killed 11 people and caused over $14 billion in damages.
Which of the following locations has the highest return period for hurricanes?
New England
On a given stream, small floods happen __________.
On a given stream, small floods happen __________.
Which of the following locations has the lowest return period for hurricanes?
Outer Banks, North Carolina
Based on the historic record, __________ is month in which a deadly hurricane is most likely to make landfall in the United States.
September
Consider a typical flood plotted on a hydrograph, which of following statements is true regarding the rising and falling limb?
The rising limb is steeper than the falling limb.
Requirements for a hurricane to develop include all but which of the following?
The storm must be at least 200 km from the equator.
Which of the following best describes the evacuation dilemma?
There are often more people living in coastal cites than can be safely evacuated in less than 72 hours, potentially trapping them in traffic jams when the storm hits.
Since 1979 hurricanes and tropical storms have been given both male and female names. How are these storms named if there are more than 21 named storms in a given year?
They are named after letters in the Greek Alphabet, starting with alpha.
The most famous of the ice-dam failure floods is preserved in the "channeled scablands" topography in __________.
Washington State
Rivers start to overflow their banks in the ________ flood stage.
action
Inside the eye of a well-developed hurricane __________.
air sinks and adiabatically warms
Hurricanes are called major hurricanes if __________.
are classified as category 3 or above on the Saffir-Simpson Scale
Between 2010-2016, the United States averaged about __________ deaths per year from people driving vehicles into water associated with flooded roadways.
atmospheric rivers
During floods a stream may leave its current channel and take a new lower-elevation course and form a new channel in a process known as __________.
avulsion
In a 10-year period from 2006-20015, the United States was ________ for hurricanes.
below average
Hurricanes rotate in a __________ around a central core in the Northern Hemisphere.
counterclockwise direction
Upstream and downstream floods differ in that upstream floods __________.
cover a smaller area
The discharge of a stream (Q) is calculated by multiplying a stream's __________.
cross-sectional area (A) by its velocity (V)
At the top of a hurricane, upper-level air is __________ outside of the eye wall.
diverging
A hurricane moving over ocean water at 21°C (~70°F) would strengthen.
false
A longitudinal cross section of a stream will show a lower gradient near the stream source and a higher gradient near the stream mouth.
false
A meandering stream lengthens its flow path, lowering the stream's gradient, and thus increasing the speed of its water flow.
false
A specific set of criteria must be met during a flood before the President of the United States can make a Presidential Disaster Declaration under the Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act.
false
A typhoon is more like a tornado than a hurricane.
false
An effective mitigation strategy against flooding is to construct many sewers, gutters, and drainage channels to remove precipitation from city streets and get it to streams as quickly as possible.
false
Andrew was the most destructive hurricane in U.S. history in terms of both monetary losses and human lives.
false
As a hurricane moves farther north, it weakens because the Coriolis effect decreases with distance from the equator.
false
Flood duration is not related to size of the drainage basin in which the flood is occurring.
false
Flood frequency can be accurately predicted with only a few years of stream discharge measurements.
false
Hurricane centers are colder than their surroundings.
false
Hurricanes often form right on the equator, because the ocean water is warmest there.
false
Hurricanes that move onto land with high temperatures strengthen rapidly.
false
Statistically speaking, the larger the floods, the shorter are the recurrence times between them.
false
The Fujita Scale describes the magnitude of hurricanes.
false
The development of a hurricane begins with an Arctic disturbance which is a low-pressure zone that draws in a poorly organized cluster of thunderstorms with weak surface winds.
false
The number of people killed by hurricanes in the United States increased in the latter part of the 20 th century.
false
The probability that a 100-year flood will occur at least once in 100 years is 1%.
false
The probability that a 100-year flood will occur at least once in 100 years is 100%.
false
When a flood crest passes downstream, stream level falls more rapidly than it rose.
false
Most flood-related deaths in the United States are caused by __________.
flash floods from local thunderstorms
The 2005 Atlantic hurricane season broke many all-time records, including all but which of the following?
greatest number of deaths in one season
During the great flood of July 1993 in the Upper Mississippi River Basin, the southeastern United States experienced persistent __________.
high atmospheric pressure and a drought
The Saffir-Simpson Scale is used to measure the intensity of __________.
hurricanes
If a flood has a recurrence interval of ten years, it means that __________.
in any given year a similar flood has a 1/10 chance of occurring
If a stream has a meandering section, that section is most likely to be __________.
in its downstream section, near its mouth
The strongest winds in a hurricane are _________.
in the eye wall
With respect to channelization, straightening the channel __________.
increases the gradient of the stream bottom, making the water flow faster
Which of the following was the biggest issue associated with Hurricane Harvey?
inland flooding
Base level __________.
is the level below which a stream cannot erode
The Saffir-Simpson Scale is numbered 1 to 5 with __________ wind speeds.
larger numbers indicating lower pressure and higher
Houses, commercial buildings, and towns are moved out of flood prone areas through a process called __________.
managed retreat
Streams return to equilibrium by triggering__________.
negative-feedback mechanisms
The Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation (AMO) is a reasonably distinct pattern of alternating times __________.
of colder versus warm water in the North Atlantic Ocean
The danger of (Northern Hemisphere) storm surge is most extreme __________ of a hurricane, due to the forward motion of the storm motion and the direction of rotating winds.
on the front-right side
United States Geological Survey stream-gauging stations measure all but which of the following?
oxygen isotope ratios
If a stream experiences more energetic water flow, the stream __________.
responds by increasing the sinuosity of its channel pattern through meandering
As a hurricane forms, the air __________.
rises, cools, and releases latent heat, further heating up the hurricane's core
Most deaths in tropical cyclones (hurricanes, typhoons, etc.) are the result of __________.
sea surges
The 1993 flood in the central United States was caused by __________.
several storms building up excess moisture over several months over much of the Upper Mississippi River Drainage Basin
Hydrographs from urban settings __________ rural settings.
show higher rates of runoff and show floods are of shorter duration than in
The air in the eye of a hurricane __________, leaving the core clear and cloud-free.
sinks, warms, and absorbs moisture
If you are on the "right-hand side" of the tropical cyclone in the Northern Hemisphere you experience the __________.
speed of the storm body plus the wind speed
The deadliest natural disaster in U.S. history was __________which killed more than 8,000 people.
the Galveston, Texas, hurricane of 1900
A hurricane is defined as a large area of sustained winds greater than 119 km/hr this is the wind speed at which __________.
the center of the storm develops a calm area known as the eye
The "channeled scablands" of the state of Washington were caused by __________.
the failure of an ice dam during glacial melting
In the late spring and summer of 1993, the Upper Mississippi River Basin experienced record high floods. However, the floodwater mass did not significantly affect the Lower Mississippi River Basin because __________.
the input from the Ohio River flow was low
Which of the following conditions led to the 1993 flood in the midcontinental United States?
the jet stream locked in place over North-Central Plains for an unusually long time
The recurrence interval is equal to (N + 1)/M where N is the number of years of flood records and M is _______________________.
the numerical rank of each year's maximum flood discharge
The main influences on tropical cyclone paths include all but which of the following?
the presence or absence of large cargo ships in their paths
A hydrograph is a plot of __________.
the volume of water or stream-surface height versus time
If a stream is choked with sediment and has insufficient water to carry it away __________.
the water will pick its way through as a braided stream
A braided stream has __________.
too much sediment to carry
Rank the following in order of increasing strength.
tropical disturbance, tropical depression, tropical storm, and hurricane
About 50% of flash flood deaths are __________.
vehicle-related
A hurricane acts as a heat engine, transferring heat from the __________.
warm, moist air above tropical seas into the core of the hurricane
As a hurricane forms, converging surface winds meet at the central core, which acts like a chimney sending __________.
warm, moist air flowing rapidly upward
As of early 2016, Hurricane Katrina (2005) is the most costly and third most deadly natural disaster in the United States since 1900. Scientists thought a hurricane strike causing a disaster like this one in New Orleans __________.
would happen if preparation for the coming disaster did not occur
