Discuss the Social and Economic Impact of Natural Disasters on the Caribbean.

There are many people who, after they have endured the trauma of a hurricane, refuse to return to their old houses, or even the area in general. People have different experiences with these traumatic disasters and all deal with them differently. If there is one thing for certain, it’s that they all deal with some sort of loss. Hurricanes are a gigantic setback financially. According to AcuWeather, after Hurricane Katrina in 2005, the average cost of damages jumped from $1.8 billion to $9 billion. Hurricane Katrina’s damages cost $145 billion and therefore increased the average cost of damages of a hurricane (www.acuweather.com).

Hurricane Katrina was a devastating disaster that has affected many people in New Orleans as well as the surrounding areas. It had a stunning “death toll of 1300 people and damage over $100 billion ”( Davlasheridze 94 ). The communication were taken down hours after Katrina because of the unexpected fast winds and floods that broke down “3 million phone lines and 1,000 cellular towers in Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama.”( Joch ). Because of the millions of phone lines that were battered, contacting the government for help was difficult hours after hurricane Katrina. Not only that, the people of New Orleans underestimated the power of Hurricane Katrina causing many to be “ stranded with no food or water” ( Narrator, “The Storm”,PBS ).

Race and class identity of various groups of people render a great deal of influence on the experience one faces after a natural disaster. Unfortunately, oppression comes along with the quality of life for poor and middle classes. Thus, the experiences of higher and lower social classes are vastly different in terms of physical and psychological effects on the people. Higher social classes have the ability to restore any damages caused from a natural disaster in a timely manner, such as Hurricane Matthew. On the contrary, those people of the lower economic and social classes affected by the hurricane in Haiti, Bahamas, and Jamaica this past weekend will take a number of months or even years to rebuild their prior lifestyles. On pg. 4 in the

Junot Diaz once said “Disasters don’t just happen. They are always made possible by a series of often-invisible societal choices that implicate more than just those being drowned or buried in rubble” (Junot Diaz, 1). This quote introduces the idea of what is referred to as a social disaster. A social disaster can be a natural disaster such as earthquakes, tsunamis, or hurricanes etc. that are associated with some environmental, cultural, or political problem (Hovenac, 1). These societal problems can be a result of the natural disaster but more often issues that have always been there that are uncovered by the event of the natural disaster. When we look back at natural disasters that have occurred in United States, we notice that societal issues also arise with these events. A known example of this is when Hurricane Katrina hit the United States in 2005. As a result of the storm, researchers claimed that the socioeconomic status of those affected by the storm played a vital role in the damages that they face. This natural disaster brought attention to the pressing issue of the socioeconomic imbalance in our country and how it affects those in a natural disaster.

The onset of Hurricane Katrina proved to be the very element that separated the economically challenged residents of New Orleans from financially stable residents. The residents who resided in the suburbs were able to evacuate early because of accessibility to more resources. Inner city residents were forced to wait on the arrival of Katrina. This ideology of the residents and the authorities led to a reactive approach being employed in efforts to save inner city residents. Although the efforts did save some residents, the emotional blow had already been received and soon would be reopen with the acceptance of less than adequate rescue accommodations. According to Jacqueline Rhoads, Faye Mitchell, and Susan Rick (2006)

The world is made up of mostly water, human beings are made up of mostly water also; water is everywhere. Water helps us sustain life most of the time, unless it’s a tropical storm coming up from the Atlantic Ocean killing thousands. Specifically August 24th, 2005; a very strong storm known as Hurricane Katrina was heading northwest towards the mainland of the United States. Such a storm could lead to catastrophe and there will be no happy ending for anyone. When any type of natural disaster strikes, how does America respond and help those who are in need. The idea of Hurricane Katrina interested me because my favorite college football team are known as the “Miami Hurricanes”. It felt right to research hurricanes and how it affects many people near waters. I hope to learn why hurricanes form the way they do and what makes them dangerous. Many people were affected from Hurricane Katrina, so what were most people doing in the year 2005 before mayhem struck.

This year countries from around the world have been severely impacted by deadly natural disasters. For example, Hurricanes Harvey, Irma, and Maria created destruction and devastation to the Caribbean, Florida, and Texas. In south Asia, torrential rain and floods have affected millions. Mudslides and flooding have wrought

It is well known that hurricanes are extremely dangerous and cause a significant amount of damage and devastation among many cities and countries. Researchers have studied and found that hurricanes could be classified and categorized into five different areas ranging from least severe to most extreme. Category one being the least severe and Category five would be known to destroy a whole city. Hurricanes are categorized on how much damage one can cause and how strong they are. There have been many hurricanes around the world that were known to cause a significant amount of damage but not one hurricane was compared to what the people from New Orleans, Louisiana experienced when Hurricane Katrina hit on Monday August 29, 2005. Katrina was known to be the hurricane that devastated the country, and the biggest hurricane recorded in the history of the world. The city of New Orleans was confronted with social, ethical, and economic implications after the tragic occurrence of Hurricane Katrina.

Natural disasters such as a tsunami, wildfire, hurricane, and an earthquake can destroy a home in a matter of minutes and even seconds. Everything they have paid and worked for is completely ruined or gone. Most people recover, but the ones that were already necessitous suffer because they now have to start from scratch when they already did not have an abundance of resources, to begin with. When a natural disaster has done damage to a huge percentage of people; it is hard to get the help they need because several people are in desperate need of assistance. Although some people may have support from their families, there's many that have nowhere to turn to. Also, Not being able to rebuild your home due to no insurance or not finding a way to relocate elsewhere can leave you with no choice but to stay anywhere they feel safe or find

"Four years after Katrina, a mix of progress and inertia." USA Today, 28 Aug. 2009, p. 06A. Global Issues in Context, ezp.gvltec.edu:2048/login?url=http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A206816088/GIC?u=gvltec_main&xid=a646acc3. Accessed 1 Nov. 2017.Summary: In this article it puts into perspective the risk of living near the coast. That is the reason insurance near the coast is so expensive. This is because in the event of a hurricane you could lose your house. The insurance companies will be more in the hole than the house owners because of their low premiums with a large return. The article also addresses how much more prepared we are now for a massive hurricane. One of the ways is we are upgrading our flood control systems, to prevent

Hurricanes not only have an impact on communities, but the whole economy too. Anytime there is a natural disaster like a hurricane, there is damage to property. Buildings are wiped away. People's jobs and homes are lost. It costs millions of dollars just to rebuild the buildings and homes that get destroyed.

Hurricanes have many good and many bad effects. Some people die, become homeless, lose food, lose water, lose clothes, lose electricity, and many other helpful. The environment is effected to. Many animals die, so that lowers their population. Farmland is destroyed as well as plants. Most of

Natural disasters are anything from floods, earthquakes, volcanoes, hurricanes, tornadoes, wildfires, or anything else nature could develop that causes massive amounts of damage, or cause a large losses of life. Such events are not anything caused because of human beings, but only by the actions of atmospheric conditions, or due to the changes of continental drifts that these disasters occur. Technology has come a long way since the early days before the industrial revolution where predictions can be made and warnings can be issued. This helps reduce the amount of possible loss of lives that would occur in 21st century. However, that is not what happened during Hurricane Katrina, a category 5 Hurricane.

Kathleen Tierney’s article explains the ways in which social research on natural disasters came to be and how it is currently at the threshold of much needed evolution. Beginning during the Cold War, research on natural disasters began to take place. The US government and military leaders were concerned on how the public would react during times of social crisis, particularly during the event of a nuclear strike. Government and military officials were concerned about possible panic and the breakdown of society. They wondered if citizens would rise to the occasion and help in recovery efforts, or if they would become unstable and destructive in their response to sociological breakdowns. While much research had already been done during World War II, it was believed that more research was necessary to establish a clearer idea of how citizens would react in the face of social upheaval. To provide these answers, officials believed that they could evaluate the aftermath of natural disasters. Funders of such potential research believed that “…natural and technological disasters provided useful laboratories for studying social behavior under conditions of large-scale physical destruction and social disruption” (Tierney, 2007, p. 504).

According to World Health Organization, disaster is “a disaster is an occurrence disrupting the normal conditions of existence and causing a level of suffering that exceeds the capacity of adjustment of the affected community”.1 Meanwhile, National Security Council of Malaysia in the in NSC Directive No. 20 had defined disaster as, “…an incident that occurs in a sudden manner, complex in nature, resulting in the loss of lives, damages to property or the environment as well as affecting the daily activities of