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Mitigating the impact of disaster
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Just recently the Philippines were hit with the deadliest Philippine typhoon on record. With climate change causing increasingly chaotic weather patterns, natural disasters are becoming more common across the world. A natural disaster is anything ranging from an earthquake to a tropical storm. Regardless of whether the natural disaster was indirectly caused by mankind, like those caused as a result of global warming, it has a huge impact on society. The impact on society, devastation, and economic damage paint a picture on how these natural disasters changed the lives of many.
For example, in 2010, with one of the worst quake recorded in its country’s history, Haiti experienced a catastrophic earthquake. With a magnitude of 7.0 with 52 aftershocks, measuring 4.5 or greater, about three million people were affected by the quake. With ruins and a death toll hitting over 200,000, the Haitian people faced an array of threats. In Simon Romero’s “Quake Accentuated Chasm that has Defined Haiti”, the revelation of the aftermath is detailed by observation. With the addition to government corruption, the occurrence of disease, unemployment, homelessness, and gang violence had risen in a few months since the quake.
As such, the super typhoon, Haiyang, destroyed about 70 to 80 percent of structures in its path. Hitting the Philippines, this tropical cyclone became one of its deadliest leaving a trail of destruction that made many citizens desperate. With delays in supplying food, water and medical
supplies, fear caused many to take drastic actions. Since the storm, people have broken into homes, malls and garages, stripping the shelves of food, water and other goods.
So much so, Romero noted in his piece the living conditions of t...
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...cognizing that there is much that can be done to reduce the effects can decrease the impact it has on the area.
In Spike Lee’s film it was suggested that the catastrophe in New Orleans was preventable. Being poorly designed by the United States Army Corps of Engineers, there were many failures with the levees. The failures of the government to provide instant aid during the early weeks after the storm were also frowned upon.
Natural disasters constantly affect the world, causing destruction, death, violence and poverty. The response to these events causes many to become desperate inducing crime and hostility. Without preparation, resources would be scarce and aid will be limited. With a huge impact on society the devastation and economic damage; working to find ways of limiting devastation from certain disasters, such as hurricanes, can benefit those affected.
The destruction, injuries and losses were not the only things to worry about after Andrew. Only hours after Hurricane Andrew hit South Florida, looting began. People were taking advantage of others in this moment of crisis, stealing the few possessions that were left. The Clintons, President Bush, at the time, Governor Lawton Chiles were the leaders that came to see the magnitude of this disaster. Seeing the situations in the aftermath of Andrew, troops were sent in to protect and help distribute food, water, clothes and supplies. They also provided medical help. People had guns and were not afraid to use them to save what little they had left. A curfew was established to keep people off the streets and out of trouble.
On August 29th 2005, Hurricane Katrina, a category 3 storm, slammed into the Gulf Coast. In it’s wake, Katrina left a trail of destruction that killed over 1800 people and cost an estimated 108 billion dollars in damages, making it the most destructive natural disaster in US history. Right in the path of the most powerful part of the storm was the city of New Orleans. (Hurricane Katrina)
Hurricane Katrina was one of the most interesting and deadly hurricane to ever hit the United States. This hurricane devastated New Orleans and all of its inhabitants. This hurricane was especially devastating as New Orleans is 13 feet(3.9624 metres) below sea level. The government wasn’t prepared for the damage of New Orleans, and neither were the Levees. The Levee crash was one of the major causes of the flooding in New Orleans. The deaths and damages cost billions. After this storm many people didn’t want to move back to their home, New
Leading up to this storm, many prominent scientists believed that the hurricane would never make landfall, or if it did hit, would not cause any major damage. Due to this foolhardy belief held by the scientists, many civilians did not have any time to evacuate their homes and barely escaped with their loved ones and whatever small valuables or keepsakes they could grab. Regretfully, many families had to leave everything they had behind. Hurricane Andrew also damaged the livelihood of many small shop owners or farms and caused long term problems as well. Due to the large flooding and high wind speeds, much of southern Florida was left in ruin and many years were spent trying to clean the rubble and restore buildings. Hurricane Andrew also destroyed many precious ecosystems on top of all of that.
Hurricane Katrina was one of the most devastating natural disasters to happen in the United States. The storm resulted in more then US$100 billion in damage when the cities flood protection broke and 80% of the city was flooded (1). The protection failure was not the only cause for the massive flooding, the hurricanes clockwise rotation pulled water from north of New Orleans into the city. 330,000 homes were destroyed and 400,000 people from New Orleans were displaced, along with 13,00 killed (1). Although the population quickly recovered, the rate of recovery slowed down as the years went on leading us to believe not everyone
For one, response to help these victims was all around slow. Then when they were finally rescued, most people went to the convention center where food was scarce and they did not have any of the necessities that they needed including decent medical equipment. These people were told that buses would be there to get them, but buses never showed up. It took the Mayor making a very angry phone call to get buses there to get these victims and take them somewhere. Even then, though, everyone was just dispersed. Many people were separated from their families. It was extremely disorganized. Later, after New Orleans had reopened, college student Paris Ervin came to discover another way that the government had been neglectful. Before he had arrived, he had gotten in contact with the search and rescue who had told him that there were no bodies found in his house. This caused him to believe that maybe there was a chance his mother had made it out alive after all. However, when he arrived at his house, he found that all the doors were still locked which meant that no one had gone into his house to search for any bodies. Upon further searching, his mother’s body was found underneath the refrigerator in the kitchen. He was not the only one this happened to either. The people involved in the search and rescue, which included people from FEMA, a federal organization, had a system of markings
There were many things destroyed and many people displaced from their homes and family. Studies show more than 400,000 people in the New Orleans and Mississippi Gulf area were forced to travel away from everything they knew (Katrina Displaced 400,000, Study Says). The emotional damage of the storm is not something easily communicated but the financial toll calculated is somewhere around $96-$125 billion, the insurance losses were looked at at around half that (Hurricane Katrina Damage Facts and Economic Effects). With so many people not where they should be and facing the financial hardships of the storm’s aftermath, the economy suffered. As well as the oil and gas pipelines damaged in the storm and unattainable through the debris. All these costs affected production, sales, and caused the Gross Domestic Product and economic growth to change from 3.8% to 1.3% by the October-December quarter. Total estimated costs to property was es...
Hurricanes are natural occurrences that cannot be prevented, only prepared for. The similarities between Hurricane Hugo and Katrina included their size and equally terrifying wrath. Both hurricanes were Category four, with winds that soared up to 160 miles per hour, and engendered intense flooding in the regions they hit. The adverse conditions of Hugo made it the most destructive hurricane to ever strike the United States north of Florida, and one of the costliest hurricanes with over seven billion dollars in damages. When Hugo landed directly in South Carolina, Charleston and Myrtle Beach sustained significant damage from storm surge; the impact was severe. Katrina’s wrath primarily affected New Orleans, causing massive flooding in the city. This catastrophic event nearly destroyed New Orleans, and is responsible for an estimated 80 billion dollars in damages. What makes these two hurricanes strikingly different, however, is the extent of their aftermath. These differences are portrayed clearly through the lack of preparation the government and its citizens displayed when faced with the horrors of Hurricane Katrina.
Every year many natural disasters happen around the world. In New Orleans, and several other states, a devastating hurricane struck. High speed winds and major flooding caused many people to lose their homes and even their lives. Many people have heard of hurricane Katrina, but not everybody knows what caused it and the affect it had on the United States.
In early 2001, The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) released a report of the three most likely disasters to hit the United States. Among these likely disasters to hit the United States, one of them was a hurricane striking New Orleans, the other two; a terrorist attack on New York City and a major earthquake hitting San Francisco.(course pack) However, very little was done to prepare for the deadly storm that would four years later leave New Orleans in a devastated mess.
One of the most harrowing experiences in my life was Superstorm Sandy. I remember looking out of my window and seeing the sidings of my house hit my car. The eerie noises of the storm kept me up all night. And the prolonged power outage that accompanied the storm took away simple every day necessities such as heat, lighting, and the internet. My house did not face many physical damages. A few sidings on the face of the house were torn off and a few of our trees in the back yard had broken and fallen to the ground. The interior of our house was not affected at all by superstorm Sandy. All of our neighbors had flooded basements which ravaged their belongings. My neighbors were devastated by the damage that water flooding had caused them. They lost many old family photos that were not digital and could never be replaced. A few of my neighbors have finished basements. Their basements consisted of items such as TVs, stereo systems and many other expensive gadgets. All of these expensive items were damaged by the water flooding. Along with these items, the water damage in the basements caused many of my neighbors thousands of dollars in repairs for wet walls and wet carpets that needed to be replaced.
Extreme, sudden-onset weather events - primarily floods and storms - displaced more than 38 million people worldwide in 2010, where the devastating floods in Pakistan accounted for 11 million people. The scale, scope and speed of events posed an enormous challenge for
The United States, as a nation, has been experiencing natural disasters and catastrophes since it was found more than 200 years ago. During the 1980's and 1990's the country has witnessed numerous economically devastating natural disasters, the impacts of which are calculated not only in money, but unfortunately in people’s victims (National Academy of Sciences, 1999). These disasters and their economic and natural impacts have become an inevitable part of the US history: the 1998 huge drought in the central United States, Hurricane Andrew in 1992, and later, the Northridge California earthquake of 1994 appeared to be three most costly and economically disastrous problems of the nation (National Academy of Sciences, 1999). There are also numerous examples of natural disasters, happened in the USA, such as the ice storm in the northeast of United States, ...
...he government of Louisiana soon came up with new criteria on how future structure should be built to withstand more natural disasters like these. Not only knowing basic information, knowing how to prepare, and seeing how Hurricane Katrina was so destructive should help the forty five million citizens that live on hurricane prone coastlines prepare for anything like this in the future.
You wake up in the morning to the sound of rain rattling against your window. You look down on the floor which is ankle deep with water. The howling of wind fills your ears and you realize that there is a hurricane happening. You are panicking as you go around the house looking for your family but none of them are there. After a few minutes the water has reached you’re reached your head. You can barely breathe anymore as you start to choke. Every year many people are severely affected by tropical cyclones. Tropical cyclones have many more recognizable names such as a typhoon or hurricane. Whenever a disaster such as a tropical cyclone occurs it causes devastation to families by killing or injuring family/ friends and destroying homes. One of the most known North American hurricanes is Hurricane Katrina 1836 people and it cost 81 billion dollars in property damage. Although we now have devices to detect when a tropical cyclone is coming towards us we are still trying to increase our vulnerability to these kinds of natural disasters. These kind of natural disasters happen year around all over the world. Although a tropical cyclone can happen anywhere there are many more places where this kind of natural disaster were to happen.