South-East Queensland Floods

Numerous different aspects were altered due to the ruckus of Hurricane Katrina. The first major aspect was housing and location. Katrina nearly demolished 300,000 homes. The ascending sea level along the coast resulting from onshore winds is a storm surge. With a twenty-two foot storm surge in New Orleans and a twenty-seven foot storm surge in Mississippi, Hurricane Katrina averaged a shocking twelve foot storm surge. As a storm surge’s footage increases, the surge will continue to move inland farther and farther. Hurricane Katrina’s storm surge is documented as moving inland a total of twelve miles into the state of Mississippi (FAQS, 2013). Hurricane Katrina impacted a total of seven states. Five of these states were Georgia, Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, and Louisiana. Kentucky and Ohio were two more states affected but in a different way. Because of the tremendous amount of water, Kentucky and Ohio were victims of the Mississippi River flooding. Some states experienced more extreme destruction than others. Alabama, Mississippi, and Louisiana experienced Hurricane Katrina’s wrath firsthand. These three southern states were affected the worst by the massive storm (FAQS, 2013). Mississippi’s forest industry experienced a great amount of destruction losing 1.3 million acres of valuable forest land. The main cause of destruction in New Orleans was blamed on the failure of the levee system to stand its ground

During an emergency such as flood disaster, public health personnel and public health nurse are tasked with different duties to help the victims. The main aim of the public health personnel is to provide health services to people and the community affected by the floods. It is therefore necessary for them to

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).

Cyclone Debbie had a huge impact on thousands of people as many had to leave their homes and seek a safe shelter. It was believed that around 25,000 people had to get evacuated from low-lying Mackay. These residents were urged to seek shelter at Rockhampton. Social impact includes loss of life and livelihood, damage to crops which leads to food being harder to get, this will then increase price of food, damage to education and many other services like public transport, increased cost and pressure on governments to rebuild destroyed facilities and infrastructure and all money put away for other projects or investments must now be used to

The American red cross estimated that Katrina destroyed over 300,000 single-family homes throughout Louisiana and Mississippi.

(Ref. 4) On April 28, 2009 Houston, TX experience yet another flood and it was caused by the aftermath of a Tornado. People, houses, vehicles and roads were affected. Many people had to rescued and cars along with ambulances were submerged under water. Highways were forced to be closed and people were captured canoeing or walking to get to places due to high waters in the area. In just 24 hours about nine inches of rain were being reported in areas in Houston.

After the typhoon, the environment was made safer for the survivors as a lot of the radioactive materials was washed away.

The public health nurse has many resources available to help assist residents after a natural disaster. The priorities after a disaster such as a flood are for providing services in high-risk areas such as adequate and safe water, basic sanitation facilities, liquid and solid waste disposal, shelter, food protection, and personal hygiene. The public health nurse has access to written literature that can be provided to residents who are safe to remain in their homes, which describe food and water safety as well as hygiene measures. If residents are willing to leave an unsafe living environment, the public health nurse is able to locate shelters for temporary safe housing.

Major natural disasters such as hurricanes, earthquakes and floods often precipitate sudden emergencies, which have significant impact on all domains of life for affected populations. Children are a particularly vulnerable group to the effects of natural disasters, with unique physical, developmental, and psychosocial characteristics that place them at high risk for adverse outcomes (Murray, 2011). Some of the consequences for children after natural disasters include physical insecurity, poor living conditions and displacement, and disruption to community life. Numerous children may also be left orphaned after the loss of one or both parents. The aftermath of natural disasters place children at risk for adverse physical but

Over 2000 people died because of the flood and 1600 homes were destroyed. People in the path of the rushing flood waters were killed as their homes and other building were swept away by the flowing water. Some people in Johnstown made it to the upper floors of the tall buildings in town. A bridge downstream caught a lot of the moving debris and then caught fire, burning many people as they floated on debris. The total amount of property damage was over 17 million.

The public health personnel had to deal with multiple problems both during the initial period and after the immediate danger had past. Actions taken by the community health nurse to help the people who were interviewed cope with the situations after the flooding were:

The floods affected 75% of the state from Rockhampton to Brisbane in both inland and coastal areas. 500 000 km2 were affected – this is larger than the area of France and Germany combined.

Millions were made homeless by the huge waves that swept houses and cars away. It was estimated that the costs to repair all damage would be at approximately $5 billion.

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

Homes were mildewed from the storm, as well people were left cold without heat and there just was not enough descent housing; however, the money that was raised for the victims was being set aside and I feel that this was a problem that the red cross encountered while handling money.