2.3 Flooding Background
Floods are the most common natural disaster as well as the leading cause of natural disaster fatalities worldwide. (Doocy S., Daniels A., Murray S., & Kirsch TD., 2013). Schanze et al., 2006, also indicate that flooding is one of the most threatening natural hazards in the world. Musa and Usman, (2013) assert that, flooding has the largest damage potential and affects a larger number of people when compared to other natural disasters. According to Munich, 2015, due to flood disaster, there have been a proportionate increase in economic losses, loss of human lives and livelihoods, environmental damages and destruction to social infrastructure during the last forty years. The annual average of floods, 127 in the previous
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For example, collapse of buildings and bridges, destruction of farmlands, loss of human life are all primary effects of floods. It is the immediate effect of flooding and such damages mostly requires without delays resources to help the affected victims.
Secondary Effects of Flooding
Nelson, A., Stephen states clearly that, secondary effects occur only because a primary effect has caused them. These are generally the disruption in service delivery such as contamination of water supply (especially if sewerage treatment plants are flooded), disruption of electricity supply and transportation systems. Disruption of transportation systems occur when bridges are broken and parts of roads are washed away.
Tertiary Effects
Tertiary effects include the long term effect of the primary event. For example, the loss of habitat due to flood is a tertiary effect. Permanent changes in the position of a river channel caused by flood, new channels of rivers may develop, debris and sediment deposited by flooding may destroy farmland. Jobs may be lost due to the disruption of services and destruction of infrastructure but on the other hand, jobs may also be created in the construction sector during reconstruction. Other examples include an increase in insurance rate which may occur, corruption which may come about because of the misuse of relief
A major flood on any river is both a long-term and a short-term event, particularly any river basin where human influence has exerted "control" over the ri...
Floods can be a very dangerous natural disaster because a flood has the power to move cars, buildings, and cause massive damage to life and property. Even the small floods that are only 30 centimetres or so can do massive damage to houses and if the
Tsunamis caused by the Earthquake leads to flooding along the coastal environment. This damages any homes. Flooding caused new lakes or sag ponds on the land. Increasing groundwater flow from springs and displacing stream channel. ("Flood Consequences")
Canada is a great place to live. Winnipeg… is good enough. Winnipeg is known for its diverse population, festive multiculturalism, beautiful architecture, vast prairie land and The Jets. One thing Winnipeg is definitely not known for, being a geological hazards hot spot. These hazards are geological events that take place, which have an impact on civilization. Canada is impacted by a wide scope of events ranging from earthquakes to fires. However, Winnipeg is lucky to be conveniently located away from any seismic activity, any threat of coastal dangers, any mountain risks and lastly it is absent of even the slightest volcano. Therefore, what Winnipeg lacks in attraction it makes up for in safety. In spite of its perceived security this major Canadian city is unfortunately prone to some very serious dangers. It is home to very cold, lengthy winters, dreadful storms that lead to wet springs. Scientifically speaking “geohazards are any geological or hydrological process that poses a threat to people and/or their property” (Bilderback, 2013). Thus, the geological hazards that will be discussed in this paper are flooding, landslides, and severe weather including tornadoes and storms.
The category 3 storm changed the lives of the residence who lived there forever. The storm in combination with the fault of the man-made flood protection walls (levee’s) resulted in the death of at least 1,300 people (1). With nearly half the victims over the age of 74, deaths were caused by; drowning, injury/ trauma and heart conditions (2). Hurricane Katrina was one of the most costliest storms to land on American soil, costing around US$135 billion in damages (3). Although the number of deaths caused by Hurricane Katrina are not as high as other natural disasters, Katrina displaced a massive amount of people from their homes, around 85% of the population were displaced directly after the storm hit (6). Being one of the most devastating natural disasters to hit the United States, Hurricane Katrina impacted not only the residence of New Orleans by also many of the surrounding
New Orleans by far felt the biggest effect of Hurricane Katrina. Many people were rescued but had nowhere to go and the government was not prepared for the disaster. There was no plan for recovery. Communication failures were one of the major problems which included power failures and broken telephone lines. Homes were destroyed and many were left stuck on the roof of their broken homes. Most of the city’s major roads and buildings suffered extensive damage. Countless people were left unemployed and homeless. Above all, the worst effect caused by Hurricane Katrina was the final death toll of 1,836 people with 705 still reported
Memphis Tennessee floodings are awful events, but some have left their mark in history, and have impacted society making many people search for solutions. Historical flooding events have dated back beyond 1927, but Memphis’s first calamitous flood was in 1927, then in 2011, but between those dates there have been street floods that happen without interacting with the river. Many important aspects of everyday life are lost during floods such as lives, homes, and money. People have been searching for solutions to prevent floods, and ideas that are executed well could easily become an ideal panacea. Memphis is where I have been raised and experienced several floods, which gives me a much stronger feeling about the history, impacts, and techniques to stop floods.
New Orleans flooding risks originated from its location characteristics in proximity of Mississippi River. Since its foundation up to 1927, New Orleans water and flooding threats originated from Mississippi River but human activities had contained this by 1930s. Regrettably, this led to additional water problems. Accordingly, the critical changes to the New Orleans environment originating from the human development worsened the water problems in area caused by the floods. In particular, the growth in ...
When it floods sediments can affect the land by losing nutrients in the soil and it can also affect the clarity of
The Calgary Flood of 2013 forced over 100 000 people out of their homes, caused the death of three people, and caused six billion dollars in damage. Numerous buildings had no electricity, roads were shut down, and residents were asked to limit their use of water. The Alberta Government states that it will take many years to repair all the damage and have everything to return back to its normal state (CBC News, 2013). Most of the recommendations that were made after the flood in 2005 were never acted on, leaving Calgary ill prepared for the 2013 flood (Paperny, 2013). Emergency management is a framework that emcompasses procedures to effectively deal with natural and human disasters (Stanhope, Lancaster, Jessup-Falcioni, & Viverais-Dresler, 2011). The initiatives in the framework illustrate the four stages of disaster management in Canada: prevention and mitigation, preparedness, response, and recovery. Natural disasters, namely the 2013 Calgary Flood, impact the community as a whole, and incline nurses to apply expertise skills while utilizing all resources available to initiate the disaster management framework of prevention and mitigation, preparation, response, and recovery (Stanhope et al., 2011).
In August of 2005, Hurricane Katrina slammed into the Gulf Coast, leaving its signature of destruction form Louisiana all the way to Florida. The hardest hit area and the greatest catastrophe was in the city of New Orleans, Louisiana. For many years the people of New Orleans had feared that one day a hurricane would drown their city with its storm surge. Katrina brought that nightmare storm surge and flooded the city. Yet the New Orleans levees system and flood control was the major cause of flooding, due to the inadequate repair and maintenance failure, incompletion of the levee system, and engineering designs based on outdated scientific data.
However, the storms, floods, fire and drought that are already playing havoc with agriculture are likely to have a significant negative impact, along with the longer term flooding of coastal areas.
Flooding has always been part of the natural environment of Thailand. Since historical times populations that live within the urban and rural floodplains have learned of ways to adapt and survive (Balancing 2). With the economic development of many areas within the floodplain regions over the later part of the last century many areas have become further susceptible to seasonal rains and flooding.
Hundreds of people die each year from the effects of mudslides. Health hazards are one of the main effects of mudslides. Rapid moving water and wreckage lead to trauma for the sufferers. Clogged drainages can also cause spread of diseases. Broken electrical, water, gas, and sewage lines can result in injury or illness.
Natural Disasters can occur anywhere at anytime. Some are more predictable than others, but they all bring hardship to everyone’s life. Examples of natural disasters are Earthquakes (Haiti 2010), Tornadoes, Tsunami, Hurricanes, Wild Fires, Winter Storms, Heat waves, Mudslides and Floods. Regardless of what kind of disaster occurs, bottom line, everyone needs to be prepared mentally and physically to deal with the aftermath. Education is the first step to prepare you to deal with any major disaster. Three of the major disasters that can potentially disrupt normal day to day operations in our lives, are Hurricanes, Tsunamis and Tornadoes.