Deadliest hurricane risk is not wind, but water

"The single biggest killer in hurricanes is storm surge," said Jamie Rhome, a specialist in storm surges at the National Hurricane Center in Miami. He added that all coastal cities along the Gulf and East Coast States United is at risk of storm.

"Most deaths occur in the United States tropical cyclones from drowning," said the deputy director of the Hurricane Center, Ed Rappaport. "The storm surge accounted for about half of the losses since 1970.Almost all of those that occurred in Hurricane Katrina (2005), which was the latest example of an event rare but catastrophic hurricane surge that kills hundreds or even thousands. "

Flooding in heavy rains second in causing loss of life in hurricanes. "These floods occur much more frequently than the events of storm surges, but in general take fewer lives per event," says Rappaport.

The heart of hurricane season fast approaching: Most hurricanes tend to form in August and September, and federal scientists are predicting an above average season, with as many as 10 hurricanes expected.

This means that 30 million Americans who live along the Gulf and Southeast coasts are vulnerable to storm surges, says Jeff Lazo, the societal impacts of the program director at the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) in Boulder, Colorado

NCAR designed, implemented and paid for the survey for a project funded by a grant from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, interviewing over 1,200 people in 155 coastal counties in eight states from Texas to North Carolina last November. The selected counties had some degree of storm surge risk of hurricanes as strong as Category 5.

"A significant number of people are unaware of their own vulnerability in the event of a major hurricane," said Lazo about the survey results.

A "major" hurricane is one that is Category 3, 4 or 5 on the Saffir-Simpson scale with wind speeds exceeding 110 mph.

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