Hurricane Matthew: Affecting The Caribbean, Florida

When most people think the of the Gulf of Mexico, the thought of surf probably never crosses their mind. However, the gulf is capable of producing quality surf more than you would think. From hurricanes to cold fronts, the gulf can receive waves from various weather patterns.

And it involves interaction with familiar faces, tasks, procedures, and organizations. (Auf der Heide, Erik. 1989) An emergency is generally personal in nature. A disaster is “an event associated with the impact of a natural hazard, which leads to increased mortality, illness and/or injury, and destroys or disrupts livelihoods, affecting the people or an area such that they (and/or outsiders) perceive it as being exceptional and requiring external assistance for recovery” (Cannon 1994, 29, fn.2). Finally, a catastrophe can be viewed as “…any disaster that overwhelms the ability of state, local, and volunteer agencies to adequately provide victims with such life-sustaining mass care services as food, shelter, and medical assistance within the first 12 to 24 hours.” (GAO, Disaster Management, 1993, p. 3).

During a storm, when the wind reaches over 75 miles per hour, tropical cyclones forms over either tropical or subtropical waters. Over the years, there has been over a handful of these hurricanes that have been both costly and deadly. It was between August 24th and the 26th of 1992, when the second costliest hurricane to take place in the United States of America history. The name of that expensive storm is called Hurricane Andrew. Hurricane Andrew affected the areas of the Bahamas, Louisiana, and South Florida.

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.

Hurricane Katrina was a disaster. It killed many people and animals, cost lots of money and many people lost their homes. Katrina formed in August 23, 2005. Imagine if you were in a hurricane like that or any hurricane. You can’t feel the same feeling the people felt in the hurricane unless you were in one yourself. Just think about it destroying everything in its path, killing people and animals.

Hurricane Matthew tore through the southeastern United States, leaving thousands of people homeless and without the necessities to live. Lumberton, North Carolina and the surrounding areas in Robeson county experienced some of the worst flooding because the levees holding the water back from the Lumber River broke. Many families lost everything from their homes, personal belongings and even loved ones. As the student body President at Lumberton High School, I have been working with organizations such as the Red Cross and United Ways to help collect and distribute clothes, school supplies and other necessities to students affected by the flooding. I am currently working with our Student Government Association to coordinate the pickup and transport

I decided to show my date the hurricane risks associated with Key West, Florida. Key West is at a very high risk for hurricane damage because of its low elevation and its proximity to the sea. I did some research and discovered that approximately 90% of Key West is only five feet above sea level. For this reason storm surges, flooding, and erosion could cause considerable damage to most of the city. The issue regarding how to protect the city from these problems is of much debate. On google earth I could identify sea walls that prevent sea water from flooding the city. Sea walls and storm management systems are perhaps Key West’s main form of mitigation. However, as we have learned in the flooding unit, if the water is high enough no manmade drainage system will prevent flooding. A risky feature that we could identify was how flat Key West is. If

After Hurricane Matthew lost its strength it took its high winds and rains with it. However, it left behind water that had fallen during its trip up the southeastern coast. Particularly in North Carolina, the storm has continued to threaten lives as floodwaters rose. More than two-dozen people have died as a result of the storm. In North Carolina, the hurricane killed only more half of the deaths the U.S. experienced. “The crisis is far from over. In some cases, the floodwaters aren’t expected to crest until Friday” (Domonoske, 2016 pg. 2)

From late September to early October, Hurricane Matthew -- which formed as a tropical storm near the Windward Islands on September 28 -- rammed through the Caribbean and along the southeastern coast before it became post-tropical on Sunday, October 9 as it moved away from North Carolina.

Nearly 250 miles in diameter along with 3,000 miles traveled, more than 2.5 million were left without power, 546 deaths occurred, 128 were missing, and 439 were injured, with this, Hurricane Matthew was an extraordinarily devastating, category 5, Hurricane. The winds had sustained up to 160 miles per hour, flights were canceled, and evacuations were made mandatory for millions of people that lived along the Southeast Coast. My family and I fell victim to this horrific storm due to an extensive power outage. We had no running water, for the entirety of the following week. We made it through, because of a generator that was given to us, and non-perishable foods.

One of the most deadly natural disasters to takes place in the United States occurred in 2005. Throughout the Southern states of Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi and in the Gulf of Mexico killing thousands of people and destroying multiple business and land structures. Hurricane Katerina had been nationally televised showing clips of the water raising, people standing on roofs calling out for help, people loading the stadium and other forms of chaos that had taken place. There are multiple challenges that I believe the authorities had to face when processing this scene for evidence. The first being the collection of bodies, many people due to hurricane drowned and were trembled over by buildings or houses which fell down. Their bodies decomposed and some not fully intact from injuries that took place while the hurricane was in progress.

Have you noticed the amount of natural disasters that have occurred lately? Recently, natural disasters have been happening such as hurricane Harvey, Irma, and the 7.1 magnitude earthquake Mexico experienced. Sadly, California could be next to be hit from an earthquake.

Disasters, whether natural or manmade, can happen anytime and anywhere, without warning. An earthquake, hurricane, tornado, fire, or hazardous material spill or even an act of terrorism can happen

Natural disasters have never been an issue for me in the twenty years I have been living in Florida. There have always been the threats of dangerous hurricanes living near the coast, but I never took them seriously. I always thought " they're just little storms, what's the worst that could happen?". I was so naive to think that way.

Every emergency or disaster, from a small house fire to a hurricane that devastates entire communities, have a distinct cycle. This is