Strictly speaking, they are the same thing, only going by different name in different regions of the world.
Typhoons may be stronger than hurricanes not just because of more warm water but also because the West Pacific Basin is larger geographically than the Atlantic basin, so a typhoon may pass over a bigger area conducive to tropical cyclone growth, allowing it to grow stronger than a Atlantic hurricane.
Last edited by Watercooler; 31-07-2013 at 08:50 AM.
True, but if you live in Florida or the Gulf Coast, and a Cat 5 hurricane is bearing down on you that is serious business. Entire cities evacuate.
In Hong Kong we joke about getting a day out of the office. Typhoons in Hong Kong are not the same threat as Hurricanes in the gulf.
Trust me, no one jokes about hurricanes or wishes for their arrival....
You DO realise that the only reason this is a problem is because the USA is NOT PREPARED for them? Those same huge waves happen here you know (I know, I live on the water ffs). It's just that we have typhoon shelters for boats, huge concrete and other structures protecting the coast, concreted slopes and buildings built to withstand typhoons. There is a man-made lake the size of many football pitches under Central built to channel away the water. Thus evacuation is not required because HK is PREPARED, while the USA seems surprised whenever a hurricane comes along!
If you had walked through Tai O after the T9 a couple of years ago, you wouldn't make such daft comments.
Where can HK'ers evacuate too? The mainland? I think they will fare worse thank here.
Also most houses in HK are solid brick and concrete, not wood frames and structures with loose tiles and sheet iron roofs.
Australia has the same issue. When a cyclone comes in it wipes out houses and devastates local farming communities.
You do realize that you're incorrect here. As another American who has been through hurricanes - THEY ARE WORSE!
Just consider the wind speed of the storms -
In HK, a T8 storm has wind speeds of 63-117 km/h and a T10 storm has wind speeds in excess of 118 km/hr (a T10 the first storm level that raises to the level of a "typhoon"). A typhoon has wind speeds of 118-149 km/h, a severe typhoon has wind speeds of 150-184 km/h and a super typhoon has wind speeds of 185 km/h.
In the US, a category 1 (the "mildest" category) hurricane has wind speeds of 119-153 km/h (similar to a T10) and a category 4 has wind speeds of 209-251 km/h. The storms that cause so much damage in the US have much higher wind speeds than the T8s in HK and many of the T10s. The storms that do damage in the US are worse than almost all storms that hit HK. HK would be absolutely devistated by a category 4 hurricane (a super typhoon here).