Hurricane Teddy - East Coast of Canada

• Hurricane Teddy happened on September 12-24 2020
• The hurricane spanned approximately 1906 km at its peak size
• Wind speeds of up to 120 km per hour when it came into contact with the land, decreasing from 165 km per hour when it was in the ocean.
• Its highest intensity was 120 kt during the middle of its life
• The most precipitation caused by hurricane was in nova Scotia recording a maximum of 132 mm, other places such as New Brunswick, PEI, and Newfoundland got in between 25-75 mm of precipitation. (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and National Hurricane Center, 2020)

• 20 million dollars in damages, most of the damages were due to minor flooding.
• 18,000 customers were without power
• Debris and sand were left on the road due to flooding
• 220 homes lost electricity
• Impacts were less than what was expected to happen (ibid)

• Hurricane teddy got slower as it made its way through the land, starting off at wind speeds of 120 km per hour slowing to 75 km per hour at the end of its journey
• As the hurricane neared the end of its life, it increased from its starting size of around 500 km in diameter to approximately 1600 km in diameter
• Hurricane Teddy traveled at average speed of 15 kilometers per hour

Flood walls can be the solution to much damage caused by hurricanes to the environment and the human population. The highest precipitation in Hurricane Teddy was 118 mm, and the chart below shows the flood wall height in feet(118 mm = 0.05 feet). Flood walls can be smaller than this but just by looking at the probability there is a extremely small chance of it breaking, and this flood wall would be able to hold against other hurricanes of more magnitude.

The government of Nova Scotia has made plans to get rid of nonrenewable energy, and to increase renewable energy. The government has decreased nonrenewable energy sources by 25% and aims to reduce them by 55% by 2030. It has also met its goals for total energy usage to come from renewables, by 25% in 2015 and 40% in 2020. Some of these energy types that are being used are wind, tidal, biomass, and hydro. With decreased amounts of greenhouse gases, and a less changing climate, hurricanes will become less intense, decreasing damages and losses of lives. 

Preserving wetlands makes it possible to prevent flooding and reduce strain on flood walls. One square kilometer of wetland can store approximately 1.1 billion liters of water. (United States Environmental Protection Agency, 2016) As well as adapting to Hurricanes, the added growth of trees and wildlife would be a way to mitigate climate change, as well as Hurricane severity. Preserving and protecting wetlands is an efficient, environmentally and economically friendly option to mitigate hurricane effects.