Since their inception, Homo sapiens have always wanted to know more. Curiosity is something we are born with, but sometimes it leads us to do things that might seem crazy to some. When it comes to meteorological phenomena like hurricanes or tornadoes, there are those who would do the impossible to get as close as we could.
The experts storm chaser they do it safely, and that's the only way it should be done. Why? Why the human body, plain and simple, cannot do anything against the force of nature. A sample of this is this experiment that the meteorologist Jim Cantore did, recorded on video and uploaded on the YouTube channel of The Weather Channel.
Hurricane Winds vs. Jim Cantore
I was browsing through the Hurricane Maria videos that had been uploaded to YouTube when I came across this one. My first thought was, "Jim Cantore doing some wonderful crazy stuff again? This is promising." Yeah, yeah. again. I don't know if you will remember article that we published in 2015, with a video starring a Cantore who was incredibly surprised and happy because he had been able to see with his own eyes how lightning fell in a snowy landscape, something that is very unusual. As well, now you enter a wind tunnel where you will have to fight against the simulated force of a Category 5 hurricane.
https://youtu.be/pmJ8tXTcCfE
As you can see, it goes from less to more. To get an idea of what you may be feeling, you have to know what the categories of hurricanes are and what their strength is:
- 1 Category: the wind speed is between 119 and 153km / h. It causes flooding along the coasts, and some damage to ports.
- 2 Category: the wind speed is between 154 and 177km / h. It causes damage to roofs, doors and windows, as well as in coastal areas.
- 3 Category: the wind speed is between 178 and 209km / h. It causes structural damage in small buildings, especially in coastal areas, and destroys mobile homes.
- 4 Category: the wind speed is between 210 and 249km / h. It causes widespread damage to protective structures, the roofs of small buildings collapse, and beaches and terraces erode.
- 5 Category: the wind speed is more than 250km / h. It destroys the roofs of buildings, heavy rains cause flooding that can reach the lower floors of buildings in coastal areas, and evacuation of residential areas may be necessary.
How do hurricane-force winds impact the human body?
Those of category 1 are already more than enough so that the skin of the cheeks already moves and makes you lose your balance. If you get hit directly in the face, breathing difficulties are usually quite significant. Imagine if they are category 5 winds ... With that force, they could make us fly without any problem.
And Cantore exposed himself to them, and there he is. Satisfied with having achieved a record. To better understand these impacts, you can read about the characteristics of Hurricane Maria and details about the impact of hurricane winds on the human body.
IMPORTANT:Even if you have the opportunity, you should NEVER get close to a cyclone. In the event of a hurricane or tornado, you should take shelter in safe places and always be aware of the weather forecast. For more information on how these phenomena occur, it is interesting to delve into the explosive cyclogenesis and about what can happen with these climatic events.