Hurricanes for kids

Hurricanes for kids learning in KS2 at Primary School. Homework help with what hurricanes are and how they are formed. Read about the impact of hurricanes on the environment.

What is a hurricane?

A hurricane is a big storm that out at sea and moves inland. It has strong winds, heavy rain, and can cause floods and big waves.

What causes a hurricane?

Hurricanes form when warm air from the ocean rises and mixes with cooler air. This starts spinning and grows bigger as it takes in more warm air. The spinning causes strong winds. When these winds get up to 74 mph then it becomes a hurricane.

What is the difference between a hurricane, typhoon and a cyclone?

There is no difference between them, they are all the same thing. Depending on what part of the world you live in it’s called something different.

Hurricanes - North Atlantic, central North Pacific and eastern North Pacific
Cyclones - South Pacific and Indian Ocean
Typhoons - Northwest Pacific

How fast and strong are hurricane winds?

The winds in a hurricane are extremely strong and can cause catastrophic damage. They can blow at speeds of over 74 miles per hour (120 kilometres per hour), and the strongest hurricanes can have winds over 150 miles per hour (240 kilometres per hour).

Hurricane winds are measured to show how strong it is. Category 1 is the weakest hurricane and a Category 5 hurricane is the strongest.

Hurricanes can be hundreds of miles wide, covering entire cities or states. They’re so big that astronauts can see them from space.

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What have been the most destructive hurricanes?

Here are some of the most destructive hurricanes in history based on damage, strength, and the impact they had on people and places.

Hurricane Katrina- 2005

Location: U.S. Gulf Coast (especially Louisiana, Mississippi)
Top wind speed: 175 mph, Category 5
Damage: $160 billion
Impact: One of the deadliest hurricanes in U.S. history, Katrina caused massive flooding in New Orleans when levees broke, leaving much of the city underwater. It led to over 1,800 deaths and displaced thousands of people.

Hurricane Harvey - September 2017

Location: Texas (especially Houston)
Top wind speed: 130 mph, Category 4
Damage: $125 billion
Impact: Harvey dropped an incredible amount of rain, leading to record flooding in Houston and surrounding areas. It caused widespread damage, left tens of thousands of homes destroyed and left 107 people dead.

Hurricane Maria - September 2017

Location: Puerto Rico, Dominica, U.S. Virgin Islands
Top wind speed: 175 mph, Category 5
Damage: $91.6 billion
Impact: Maria devastated Puerto Rico, causing widespread power outages, destroying homes, and leaving the island without power for months. It resulted in 3,059 deaths and a long-lasting humanitarian crisis.

Hurricane Irma - September 2017

Location: Caribbean, Florida
Top wind speed: 180 mph, Category 5
Damage: $77 billion
Impact: One of the strongest Atlantic hurricanes ever recorded, Irma caused massive destruction across the Caribbean islands and parts of Florida. Its powerful winds and storm surges damaged buildings and left many without power. There were 134 deaths.

Hurricane Sandy - October 2012

Location: U.S. East Coast (especially New York and New Jersey)
Top wind speed: 115 mph, Category 3
Damage: $65 billion
Impact: Known as "Superstorm Sandy," it caused severe flooding, especially in New York City, and damaged thousands of homes and businesses. Sandy's storm surge caused power outages and left millions of people without electricity. It was the largest Atlantic hurricane on record spanning 1,150 miles (1,850 km) wide. There were 254 deaths.

Hurricane Mitch - November 1998

Location: Central America (especially Honduras and Nicaragua)
Top wind speed: 180 mph, Category 5
Damage: $6 billion
Impact: Mitch caused deadly mudslides and flooding, killing 11,374 people, mostly in Honduras and Nicaragua. It was one of the most lethal hurricanes on record in the Western Hemisphere.

The Great Galveston Hurricane- September 1900

Location: Galveston, Texas
Top wind speed: 145 mph, Category 4
Damage: $30 million (at the time; billions today)
Impact: This is the deadliest hurricane in U.S. history, killing between 6,000 and 12,000 people. It destroyed much of the city of Galveston, which was completely flooded by the storm surge.

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