Whats the difference between a tropical depression and a tropical storm?
THROUGHOUT history, the USA has been blighted by tropical weather disasters that have had devastating effects. This includes tropical depressions and tropical storms which are considered some of the most common and dangerous. A tropical depression is categorised as one of the four stages of a tropical cyclone. It forms when a thunderstorm grows higher and larger causing the air at the top to become unstable. As the heat energy is released from the cooling water vapor, the air at the top of the clouds becomes warmer, making the air pressure higher and causing winds to move outward away from the high pressure area. Winds in the storm cloud then created start to spin faster and faster, whipping around in a circular motion. When the winds reach between 25 and 38 mph, the storm is considered a tropical depression. When the wind speeds increases to reach between 39 and 73m mph, the tropical depression becomes a tropical storm. Typically, the winds blow faster and start resemble a hurricane with a circular shape. Most damage from tropical storms comes from heavy rainfall which can destroy buildings and cause severe flooding. Landslides can also occur, blocking roads and railways and causing evacuation problems for the emergency services. In the most extreme cases this can lead to a shortage of food and clean water. The US has been subject to a number of storms and depressions in modern times with the worst of those materialising into hurricanes. From 2000 to the present, at least 28 tropical or subtropical cyclones affected the U.S. state of Louisiana alone. According to David Roth of the HPC, a tropical cyclone makes landfall along the coastline about two times every three years, and a hurricane makes landfall once every 2.8 years. The most active month for tropical cyclone activity in the state is September, with ten total storms. Fury as dog meat festival begins in China with 5,000 to be eaten in 10 days  Some of the major storms and hurricanes since 2000 include:  Tropical Storm Allison (2001)  Hurricane Isabel (2003)  Hurricane Charlie (2004)  Hurricane Jeanne (2004)  Hurricane Dennis (2005)  Hurricane Katrina (2005)  Hurricane Rita (2005)  Hurricane Ike (2008)  Hurricane Sandy (2012)  Hurricane Maria (2017)  Hurricane Dorian (2019)  Hurricane Zeta (2020)  Tropical Storm Eta (2020)  Tropical storms Amanda and Cristobal (2020)  Tropical Storm Claudette (2021)  Of this list, Hurrciane Katrina of 2005 caused the most fatalities and damage with 1,833 total deaths and over $100 billion in total damages. Recent tropical storms such as Amanda and Cristobal (2020) have caused $956,000 of property damage in Florida alone.