Ethics Of The Chicago Heat Wave

This case summarizes events preceding the Hurricane Katrina, which was one of the worst natural catastrophes in the modern history of the USA. It raises questions about the lack of reasonable prevention and preparation actions due to flimsy structure and management of the responsible organizations and persons, invalidity and inconsistence of their actions and incapability of making the decisions in a timely manner. As a result of the unstructured and incoherent activities, we could observe several ineffective and costly attempts to mitigate floods and hurricanes. In the beginning the local officials, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and “White Houses past and present always seem penny-wise and pound-foolish” because of the chain of the wrong

And lastly, in chapter 5 "The Spectacular City," Klinenberg speaks about media's involvement during that time. He investigates and interviews journalists, editors, and news companies, discussing the angles at which the disaster was portrayed and why this may be. More importantly, this chapter focuses on the cultural "reframing" of the actually news and information of the heat wave. He says that Chicago used its public relations tools to deny there was a disaster and then to claim it was a natural and unpreventable one. They defended the government's role while masking the social roots of the high mortality rates during the heat wave.

The Great Chicago Fire of 1871 was one of the largest disasters in American history. Practically overnight the great city of Chicago was destroyed. Before the fire there was a large drought causing everything to be dry and flammable, then a fire broke out in the O’Leary’s barn and spread throughout the city. Many attempts were made to put out the fire but there were too many errors and problems in the beginning. After the fire many people were left homeless and had to help build their city again (Murphy, 39)

As the World Bank and the United Nations (2010) point out, “Climate-related hazards (“extreme events”) have resulted in an average of $59 billion a year in global damages” (p.174). Climate chance forces emergency planers to not only address current increased risk, but it also requires significant long-term plaining as the problem increases in magnitude. As an example, places like Florida will not only need to contend with a longer and stronger hurricane season, but increased sea levels as well. In the short term, the effects of climate change can have secondary effects. Things like droughts create secondary problems like social and economic disruptions (World Bank & United Nations, 2010, p. 182). This is the case in California where droughts are causing economic problems in the states agricultural sector and an increase in forest fires.

In this paper I will discuss what forms of oppression there are in Chicago. Next, what cause or drive oppression. Third, how oppression affects clients. Fourth, how the United States’ cultural structure encourages or discourages privilege and /or disadvantage. Fifth, why privilege or discrimination continues. Last, what are effective strategies that oppressed groups can use to take back power?

Since its inception, FEMA has dealt with quite many disasters. In all these disasters, at least, people’s lives and property have been saved. Public opinion on the performance of FEMA is quite divergent. However, there is a feeling that FEMA has several weaknesses that if corrected will help the agency achieve its objectives and even exceed public expectations about its performance. In particular, FEMA’s responses to 9/11 attacks and

Katrina was a crisis primarily because of its scale and the mixture of challenges that it posed, not least the failure of the levees in New Orleans. Because of the novelty of a crisis, predetermined emergency plans and response behavior that may function quite well in dealing with routine emergencies are frequently grossly inadequate or even counterproductive. That proved true in New Orleans, for example, in terms of evacuation planning, law enforcement, rescue activities, sheltering, and provisions for the elderly and infirm.

For example, in February much of the United States had recorded frigid temperatures and North Dakota hit an all-time extreme record low of minus sixty degrees (Hutchinson, 35) . In contrast to the high temperatures, in the summer of 1936 strong upper-atmosphere high pressure systems locked over North America which caused very high temperatures. All but two states experienced protracted temperatures in excess of 100 degrees. Seventy-five percent of those states experienced temperatures that exceeded 110. The high for Kansas in 1936 was in Alton which reached 121 degrees in July. Conditions were so severe that federal officials warned that America’s agricultural belt was in real danger of being transformed into a desert. The heat wave cost $1 billion in crop and livestock losses. On July 15th of 1936, the Chicago Tribune estimated that 1,000 people a day were dying and continued at that pace for several days.

Over the years of Hurricane Katrina, FEMA faced many criticisms. Not only FEMA, but “every level of government was roundly criticized”( Howellq ). Back in 9/11, They acted fast and accordingly to the disaster. During hurricane Katrina, they were slow and had false promises that the locals of New Orleans believed ( Maestri, “The Storm”, PBS ). Many people asked FEMA for resources and help, but that turned down because they did not “ask the right way” ( Hale “The Storm”, PBS). During an interview with one of FEMA’s secretaries, “Michael Brown”, had claimed that FEMA could not help Louisiana because they didn’t tell them what they

Hurricane Katrina was a catastrophic natural disaster in American history. The aftermath had substantial negative impact on New Orleans and it could have been avoided if proper disaster management practices were put in place. Therefore, it is important to determine the factors that caused the hurricane to be catastrophic. One factor that was responsible for the disaster was failure of the three levels of the government working cohesively (Thiede & Brown, 2013). The incoherent interaction between the three levels of government will be assessed. Another factor that will be examined is social and psychological refusal of Hurricane Katrina

The Federal Emergency Management Agency, or FEMA, is responsible for coordinating the government’s role in preparation, prevention, response and recovery from domestic disaster, whether they be natural or man-made. FEMA.gov lists 1849 total disasters declared since 1953, with an average of 32 each year (13). This particular agency has generated a lot of praise and but just as much criticism. Over the course of FEMA’s history, there are many lessons to be learned and FEMA is always looking for ways to be more effective. This paper will examine the history of FEMA, evaluate its performance over the years and pinpoint lessons to be learned and actions to be taken.

Over the years the droughts in North America have become worse. In 2012 80% of America was affected by very dry months and this is only by mid July. Climate change also has an effect on our health as humans. In 2012, at least 74 Americans were killed from extreme heat. This is nothing compared to 2011. During 2011 there were at least 206 people died from extreme heat.

On 1995 heat swept over the land of Chicago unexpectedly. Chicago had no idea what was coming their way. The heat had caused terrible and unhealthy effects. Water was needed during the heat wave. The heat wave had terrible temperatures within the heart of the heat.

The burden of emergency management has grown great deal in the last few decades. We have seen an increase in natural disasters, a new threat of terrorism on our front door and an increase in manmade disasters. All of these have tested emergency management in a number of cities and towns across the nation. It is not always disasters that present problems for emergency managers. We have to look beyond our traditional view of emergency management of helping us during times of disasters and view what issues they consider may affect their emergency response. Issues that emergency management see that are moving into the critical area are issues of urbanization and hazard exposure, the rising costs of disaster recovery, and low priority of emergency management.

4. In July of 2006 heat waves contributed to the deaths of at least 225 people in North America.