East Coast Blizzard Analysis

On January 12, 1888, the weather in the west was mild, compared to previous weeks. Little did the people know that a massive cold front was in route and would be catastrophic to the people, their livestock, and the economy in the dekota and nebraska praries. The cold front would cause one of the worst blizzards for the region, killing close to 500 people. The factors that made the death toll so high involve the mild weather before the storm, the lack of technology for warning systems, and bad timing.

Cooling shelters include not only providing access to public cooling spaces, but also encouraging the utilization of such resources by the homeless. Some cooling spaces include churches, restaurants, shopping malls, and public libraries. Access to air-conditioning can greatly decrease heat related illnesses and deaths in the vulnerable populations (Eisenman, 2016). This is critical because there is an association between increase in temperature and cardiovascular mortality (Eisenman, 2016).  This published study showed a negative relationship between heat related mortality and access to cooling shelters.

One of the simplest pieces of knowledge we acquire in elementary school (for future growth and development) are the three basic needs a living organism requires for living: food, water, and shelter. However, not everyone has access to all of these essentials. Homeless people are faced with awful conditions and suffer more due to poor weather conditions, diseases, and lack of safety. There hasn’t been much progress on this issue, and if this continues, the number of homeless people will only increase. In a few states the topic is being named as a “statewide emergency”, but unfortunately this problem is national. Instead of focusing on state programs, local programs and non-profit organizations to fix the housing issue, we must all contribute to ending this epidemic. The National Alliance to End Homelessness (NAEH) released an article stating, “In January 2015, 564,708 people were homeless on a given night in the United States” (Snapshot of Homelessness). We must develop a solution to end long term homelessness immediately. The best way of solving this issue is to provide stable long-term housing, which is a term used to describe the home’s environment and financial status.

In 1888 on a Thursday afternoon 235 people were killed by a blizzard on their way home from school. Taking place in the Northwest Plains region of the United States the blizzard came without a warning temperature went down 100 degrees in a 24 hour. On a Thursday afternoon, a day before the storm it was unusually warm from Montana east to the Dakotas and south to Texas. Then suddenly within a couple hours the Arctic air that came from Canada went South. In North Dakota temperatures went forty degrees below zero. High winds and heavy snow came with the storm which caused terrible conditions. In rural areas adults working on farms and children coming home from school were the ones who were mostly affected by the blizzard. A schoolteacher in Pawnee

According to the forecasters only about 12 inches of actual snow fell. Their assumptions on the rest of the snow is it blew from Lake Erie to the sounding locations. Snow was recorded in areas up to 100 inches deep (usatoday.com). This varied some from location to location but all the surrounding areas were hit hard. Most areas only see this amount over weeks or months. Most of the snow accumulated in several hours up to a few days. Never had snow crews seen this much in such a short period of time. Due to the large amount of snow it left many motorists stranded. A large portion of the death tolls from this storm came from people stranded in their vehicle. Once there vehicles were stuck there only means of heat was from the vehicle running. In some cases the vehicles ran out of gas and in some they broke

The paper discusses Mayor's Schell's zero homeless family pledge. Mayor Schell was determined to eliminate the homelessness in Seattle when he became the mayor in 1998, to achieve his mission he and his team came up with some strategies and restructuring which are discussed in the paper.

There are 50 million people who live in poverty in the U.S, today. There are more than 30 million children growing up in bad conditions. Due to lack of money some people are unable to afford food and shelter which result in homelessness. On a night in January 2014, 578,424 people were experiencing homelessness. These people were sleeping outside or in an emergency shelter because they couldn’t afford to pay for a place to stay and had no family that would let them stay over. Included in the 578,424 homeless people were war veterans, people with mental health issues, people whose families have thrown them out, and more. During the winter, many homeless people freeze to death because they don’t have the appropriate clothing for the low temperature. Today there are about 795 million people out of the 7.3 billion people in the world, suffering from chronic malnourishment. Over a thousand people go through their day without eating including men, women, and children. These people are too poor to afford food for themselves or their families; although there are food stamps and other services to provide to help these families, some don’t want to accept this help because they believe it is their job to provide for their

Thesis: The Children’s Blizzard of January 12, 1888 was the worst blizzard to experience from the Dakotas to south Texas of all the damage from the winds and the snow, the amount of people that died,and the buildings destroyed. So many children died so that's why the name of the blizzard the Children’s Blizzard.

Cities increasingly grapple with homelessness, while facing budget cuts to various services, but the failure to tackle homelessness creates more problems. While there are homeless people who are on drugs, some are there because housing is expensive and they have no reliable sources of income. Homelessness may result in the city spending more on welfare in a never ending cycle without finding a solution to homelessness. There are various factors associated with the risk of homelessness, including individual factors like those fleeing domestic abuse, and even those who can longer earn a living because of health conditions and disabilities. The problem of homelessness is further compounded when the homeless suffer mental health issues and alcohol or drug dependence (Benston, 2015). Homelessness is a problem that affects even the youth, and stakeholders ought to work together to tackle the problem, as city officials, and residents are the audience who should be concerned with the problem at the local level.

Homelessness in Seattle has proven to be a tremendous issue. Fighting for years, Seattle has not been able to make any significant improvements when it comes to homelessness. Although eliminating homelessness may seem to have a simple solution, more housing, the causes of homelessness determine how difficult eliminating it will be. Seattle’s homelessness stems from many complex issues that can be traced back many years. One of the most significant causes of homelessness in Seattle is cuts in funding towards low-income housing combined with raised rent prices in both previously affordable housing and housing geared towards the affluent.

DC’s Mayor Muriel Bowser is very committed to “ending long-term homelessness in the District of Columbia”. The mayor and her team believe that the administration’s plan for homelessness is ambitious but achievable. The plan aims at cultivating partnerships with non-profit providers, advocates, persons experiencing homelessness, business partners, and the philanthropic community to develop ways and methods to manage and resolve homelessness in the nation’s capital. Another key actor that is involved in resolving DC’s homelessness is the District of Columbia Interagency Council on Homelessness (DCICH). The DCICH is a group of cabinet level leaders, providers of homeless services, advocates, homeless and formerly homeless leaders that come together to inform and guide the District’s strategies and policies for meeting the needs of individuals and families who are homeless or at imminent risk of becoming homeless. The DCICH main mission is to “to end long-term homelessness in the District of Columbia by 2020”.

According to the research done by the geographer Jill Coleman at Ball State University, the amount of blizzards each year has doubled in the past two decades. On the weekend of January 23rd, another historic blizzard hit the East Coast. In this article, it is stated that from the year 1960-94, the average amount of blizzards per was nine. From 1995 to now, the average is 19 per year. Overall since 1960, there have been around 700 blizzards, and that is a lot considering all of the criteria a blizzard must have to actually be qualified as a blizzard. Coleman said that the increase in blizzards could be caused by sunspot cycles because they tend to increase when there is low sunspot activity. The number of sunspots was low through the mid

Ans: There was a snowstorm on Saturday, January 2nd, which was very serious and caused over 10 inches of snowfall. Northwest Airlines had been too late to halt the departure of their planes from other cities to Detroit, on of its largest hub. They made the decision to let 30 planes land in Detroit on Sunday, neglecting those 14 inches of snow and the severe weather condition. Luckily, all the planes were landed successfully without any major accidents or disasters. However, the planes had to sit on the tarmac for over 8 hours before they could deplane their passengers. All the food, water and drinks were used up

Homelessness is a person or a family that don’t have a place to use as a house or shelter. US government provides emergency/winter shelters for homeless people living in the United States. Winter shelters are really useful for homeless people, but there is one problem about this service. States have the control of opening and closing these shelters. Before the beginning of winter, every state chooses a temperature to open winter shelters, and they open shelters when the weather is lower than the chosen temperature. For example New York City decided to open its winter shelters when the weather is colder than 32 F previous winter. Every state has a different temperature to open its shelters. Lethal hypothermia can be caused when the

The combination of prolonged unemployment, some of the century’s worst storms, and shrinking public sector budgets has created a greater need to help the poor. During the winter, the best thing to give someone in need is a winter coat. Not all of the people who need a coat are homeless. Some just don’t have enough money after paying for food and paying the bills while others may have recently been laid off. Despite every different situation, the solution can be addressed the same, with a warm winter coat. In 2009, 31% of United States children lived in families where no parent had full-time, year-round employment. One in five children live in households whose earnings fall below the poverty level in the United States. An estimated 671,850 Americans experience homelessness on any given night. Approximately 34% of homeless are under the age of twenty-four. Health experts report that even a 2-degree drop in body temperature results in a reduced heart rate, loss of coordination, and confusion. Adults cannot work effectively and children find it difficult to learn. A warm coat fixes the problem for most.