The Hurricane Network of the Southeast
With the striking impact of three intense hurricanes clashing with the southern and southeastern-most parts of North America, national media focus has, unsurprisingly, shifted parts of its resources and efforts into reporting on hurricanes Harvey, Irma and Jose. With Harvey reaching peak intensity before making landfall in Texas, and Hurricanes Irma and Jose devastating parts of Florida and the Caribbean respectively, it is sensible that there has been an increase in the amounts of data analysis going into hurricanes, tropical storms and the likes as of recent.
An article recently written in the New York Times details the true severity of Hurricane Irma specifically, where the article is quoted as saying in its title “Hurricane Irma Is One of the Strongest Storms In History,” citing its Wind speed in miles per hour and its Accumulated cyclone energy to be some of the highest of all hurricanes in the past 50 years. This places Irma in a rather frightening and small list of Atlantic hurricanes that have not only reached landfall, but have done so at a level of category three or higher, where Irma joins only Hurricanes Katrina, Andrew and sadly Harvey, which again, hit landfall in Texas just a week before Irma did.
In using several detailed, and might I add aesthetically-pleasing graphs to showcase this data, authors Regor Aisch, Adam Pearce and Karen Yourish presented an intriguing and strong showing of the sheer damage that hurricanes cause to the southern Atlantic United States. This prompted further research on my part into the financial burdens and damages caused by hurricanes, as viewing the graphs in the New York Times article correlates to the focus of Markets and Strategic Interaction on Networks. The section of the textbook that discusses Markets and Strategic Interaction on Network refers to a map that shows trade routes in medieval Europe, and the economic benefit to certain cities, based off their optimal location in terms of the trade work and the trade network. One specific part of the caption stuck out to me, where the caption reads “the economic outcome for different cities can depend significantly on where they are located in the underlying transportation network.” This, I find, can be compared to the economic outcome for different cities in the United States based on their location, specifically where being in the southeastern United States and in the “hurricane danger zone” would serve as a tremendous economic and financial burden.
One recent USA Today article states that “hitting downtown Miami and its ever-growing collection of sparkling skyscrapers could exact a hefty price: $300 billion, according to one insurance underwriter,” where Hurricane Irma alone could likely be the cause of over $300 billion in damages to the south Florida economy. This is a burden that a city in the Midwest, such as Detroit or Indianapolis, would never even begin to have to worry about. “Having a powerful position, however, depends not just on having many connections providing different options, but also on more subtle features — such as the power of the other individuals to which one is connected.” A Midwestern city like Detroit, or like Indianapolis carries a powerful location in the sense that it will likely never have to worry of the immediate physical effects of a hurricane on their communities, and therefore places them in an advantageous position because their economy can theoretically flourish moreso in the absence of natural disaster than a city like Miami would be able to. Additionally, cities with more advantageous geographical location will be in closer proximity to other (theoretically) flourishing cities, where trade and economic interaction would only further serve to increase the geographical advantages these cities possess. Provided these tropical cities in Florida like Miami, Fort Lauderdale and Tampa are appealing as objectively beautiful spots in nice areas that use their location to boost their economy through touristy and nature-based attractions, it is worth noting that the pros/cons to their location is certainly not that simple and potentially that their location may not be all that it is cut out to be.
New York Times source: https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2017/09/09/us/hurricane-irma-records.html
USA Today source: https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2017/08/22/hurricane-cost-florida/560846001/