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I,..() temperature produced by the strike; and a sudden power surge that can damage electrical and electronic equipment. Millions of dollars of direct and indirect damages result from lightning I strikes on electric utility substations and distribution lines. While property damage is the major hazard associated with lightning, it should be noted that lightning strikes kill more people each year than either tornadoes or hunicanes. Hail ranges in size from vanishing small particles to grapefruit size dimensions. Hailstones may be spherical, conical or irregular in shape. The size and shape is governed by the violence of the storm cell; the lifting and falling of the freezing moisture pellet within the storm cell increases the size of the hailstone until it is ejected from the cloud. The hazard from hail is primarily in term of damage to crops and property. Hail tends to fall in swaths, which may be from 20 to 115 miles long and 5 to 30 miles wide. A hail swath is not a continuous path of hail but generally consists of a series of hail strikes, which are produced by individual thunderstorm cells traversing the same general area. Hail strikes are typically about half a mile wide and five (5) miles long. 2.13 Hurricaneffropical Storm Hazard Identification: A "tropical cyclone" genetic term for a cyclone, low-pressure system over a tropical or sub- tropical waters. Tropical cyclones with maximum sustained winds of less than 39 mph are called tropical depressions. A tropical storm is a cyclone with maximum sustained winds I greater than 39 mph and less than 74 mph, and hunicanes are intense tropical weather systems with maximum sustained winds of 74 mph or higher. A hunicane is a category of tropical cyclone characterized by thunderstorms and defined surface wind circulation. Hunicanes develop over warm waters and are caused by the atmospheric instability created by the collision of warm air with cooler air. Hunicane winds blow in a large spiral around a calm center called the eye, which can be 20-30 miles wide. When a hurricane nears land, it may bring torrential rains, high winds, storm surges, coastal flooding, inland flooding, and sometimes, tornadoes. A single hunicane can last for more than two weeks over water and can extend outward 400 miles. The hurricane season for the Gulf of Mexico is June 1 to November 30. On average, five hunicanes strike the United States every year. In a two year period, an average of three significant (category 3 or higher on the Saffir-Simpsom scale) hunicanes will strike the United States. Duration depends on the forward motion of the storm and the availability of a warm water source for energy. Some hunicanes are characterized primarily by water-a rainy or wet hurricane-while others are primarily characterized by wind - a windy or dry hurricane. Wet hunicanes can flood both coastal and inland areas, even as the storm dissipates in wind strength, while windy hunicanes primarily affect coastal areas with high winds and storm surge. Because hunicanes are large, moving storm systems, they can affect entire states or entire coastlines. Not only will coastal development be affected, but also areas far inland can suffer I Hays counl~', Texas Miligalion Plan 83