Hurricane Eye

[yogi]

We all know that the eye (dead center) of a hurricane is calm. Did you know that on some occasions birds get caught in the eye of a hurricane and ride it out?



http://mashable.com/2016/09/04/hurrican ... HLAupWcSqN

[Icey]

Wow, that's incredible, and I didn't actually know that the eye of a hurricane's calm. I always thought that they were like the epicentres of earthquakes, where the activity's at its most intense.

[pilvikki]

so... how do they stay there when the centre moves along?

[Icey]

I looked it up, and it seems that the birds fly along with the storm, but if they get trapped, they might have to stay in the eye until it blows itself out. That means that birds may have to travel a long way without rest or food, so I assume that some die and their bodies eventually fall?

[pilvikki]

that can't be healthy...

[tomsk]

Imagine footage of being in the eye?

[Icey]

It must be like being enclosed within impenetrable walls of wind all around you, and the birds have no choice but to be swept along by it, or die. It seems that the birds know when a hurricane's approaching, and they purposely fly into the stream which'll take them into the eye, where, even though some might perish, it's safer than being battered by the force of the wind.

[yogi]

A long time ago I saw film of an aircraft that flew into the eye of a hurricane just to photograph what goes on. It's truly an amazing experience. Yes, you are surrounded by a wall of rain and high winds. I don't recall much about how the plane managed to get in and out, but I know birds would find escaping nearly impossible. I thought birds could sit on the surface of the water, and thus wait out the storm. But apparently some can't get away doing that and must keep airborne. Some of those die from exhaustion, indeed.

[tomsk]

we don't get them over here or only little ones..

[Icey]

I bet the filming from an aircraft going into the eye of a hurricane WAS amazing Yogi, and wow - look at this that I found ....

http://www.air-worldwide.com/Blog/Flyin ... Hurricane/

You're right Tomsk. We don't get hurricanes in the UK, as such, but we DO get battered by the tail-end of them as they cross the Atlantic. We also get small twisters, particularly across open farmland. Some of them do a bit of structural damage to buildings, but nowhere near like the ones they get in America.