Hell's Gate: Two Media Sources Of Natural Hazard

A natural disaster has the capability to cause large scale damage and destruction to an area. Seismic events have been known to alter landscapes and affect the livelihoods, health and development of communities. No two earthquake events are the same and the level of threat posed by an earthquake can vary due to both the human and physical factors of an area. The 2010 magnitude - 7.0 earthquake that occurred in Haiti is an example of where a natural disaster caused a previously vulnerable area to suffer tremendous loss and debilitating socio-economic impacts, to an already poverty-stricken nation.

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)

It being the leading source of news since the printing press. We put our faith in the media to report accurate facts unbiasedly. Between 1983 and now the media industry has consolidated from 50 individual companies to 6. That means that though the impression given is that there are a multitude of sources to attain information, the messages being communicated are all one in the same. The limitation of media sources cause a ripple effect of limited information, allowing these companies to control the public’s perception on

There is a wide variety of natural disasters that occur including earthquakes, tornadoes, typhoons, hurricanes, and floods. Natural disasters of all kinds

Two major disasters that shocked the world included the sinking of the Titanic and the Chicago Fire which destroyed almost the whole city. The sinking of the Titanic, known as the "unsinkable ship", killed more than one thousand five hundred people making this a mind-blowing event when it tragically sunk. (NY Daily News) Another horrific event was the Chicago Fire. The Fire was so devastating that it killed up to three hundred people, destroyed a little over three square miles of Chicago, and left more than one hundred thousand people homeless. (Wonderopolis) Additionally, the fire "burned an area of four miles long and one mile wide" which in its path "destroyed seventeen thousand five hundred buildings and seventy-three miles of

Newspapers and other forms of news are very vital communication methods in the world today. The goal of news is to sell us their ideas by being biased and talking about how their idea is best. News can give us biased information although, the viewer could do further research on the

There has been a terrific incident in 1889 where Johnstown Pennsylvania had a massive flood which 2,209 people were killed in total and estimated $17 million property was damaged. The main cause of the flood was the dam failure of the Southern Fork Dam on Little Conemaugh River located 14 miles upstream from Johnstown. The event was said the worst dam tragedy in the United States history.

The natural environment is, of course, not “getting its revenge”. Geophysical, meteorological, and hydrologic processes are unfolding as they have for millennia, beginning long before humans occupied the earth and continuing to the present. Given the eons-long perspective of the natural environment, it would be very difficult to identify meaningful changes in event frequency for the short time period in which scientific records are available on geological, meteorological, and hydrological phenomena. Event frequency, from an emergency management perspective, is not really the issue. It is certainly true that, over the years, more people have been affected by natural disasters and losses are becoming progressively greater. The significant feature driving these observations, however, is the extent of human encroachment into hazard prone areas. With increasing population density and changing land use patterns, more people are exposed to natural hazards and consequently our accumulated human and economic losses are increasing. Much of this exposure is a matter of choice. Sometimes people choose hazardous places, building houses on picturesque cliffs, on mountain slopes, in floodplains, near beautiful volcanoes, or along seismic faults. Sometimes people choose hazardous building materials that fail under extreme environmental stresses—for example, unreinforced masonry construction in seismically active areas. Some exposure results from constrained choices; the cheap land or

The first article is a story done by National Public Radio, a non-profit media organization that is

here has been a fire in Chicago Illinois on October 8, 1871. It was the biggest fire and made history. When the buildings on the south side of Chicago caught on fire, we knew that there was no stopping it. It was a very big tragic time for the people that owned businesses and had a family in the city. The people that were lost and the people injured were outrageously high. Hopefully nothing else happens like what happened on October 8, 1871.

This was a very terrifying fire it destroyed many homes and killed many adults and many kids too

Earthquakes, fires, tornados and many more are part of one branch of disaster and are known the most. Poverty, famine and political upheaving are also disasters. These are known as economic disasters and affect society in many ways. We can then define disaster as being any event, natural or economical, that causes impairment of the natural/urban environment. Many regions of the world face these challenges, and Los Angeles is a part of these. The Ecology of Fear, by Mike Davis, claims that the urbanization of Los Angeles has led to fear of the natural environment. As a result, an “apocalyptic” society was made and is not able to interact with its natural environment.

The two media sources I have chosen to use for my disaster is History.com and The Times. My disaster that I have chosen is Hurricane Katrina. Hurricane Katrina hit on August 29th of 2005. Hurricane Katrina hit through Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama. Though, this huge tropical storm was formed over the Bahamas.

For example, in Canada, the number of human deaths has been small in comparison to those that have occurred in developing nations as a result of extreme events of similar magnitude and intensity. Nevertheless, there have been a number of disasters that have caused enormous disruption and/or damage, including the 1998 Ice Storm, the Prairie droughts of the 1930s, 1980, 1987 and 1989, the Red River flood of 1997, the British Columbia forest fires of 2004, the Saguenay flood of 1997, Hurricanes Hazel (1954) and Juan (2004), Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS, 2003) and Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE) (Haque, C.E and Etkin, D 2007).

A natural disaster is an event that causes great damage. Such as floods, hurricanes, or a loss of life. Speaking this there was a Wildfire in Colorado Springs, Colorado. In fact, there was a wild fire that occurred on June 23, 2012. Only four miles Southwest of Colorado Springs. Therefore, there were several locations that needed to be evacuated. Even though there was 18,247 acres burnt, the fire was 100 percent contained on July 10, 2012. All in all, 346 homes were burnt. Due to that fact, two families lost a loved one. Eventually the mystery of this wildfire, is still unknown.