As the lightning strikes, in the kitchen, I sit without a word to say. The windows keep shaking and hoping they don’t collapse. The common sounds now are screams in my head. Guilt will consume me. If I do not try to stop this disaster as I walk to my bed. As I keep walking, my parents keep arguing while I try to open the door. The power to stop a disaster is mine, but no one really knows. Hesitation and fear are the common feelings in Texas as of now. However, a hero cannot be in trepidation. Winds holler with the cry of a city. I open the door in preparation. The ones in fear will operate in hope now; it is my time. I may have had a short life, but Harvey could not succeed Mom runs after me and shouts my name. “Calvin!” is the
time of crisis by R. David Paulison, who unlike Brown, has had a career focused on disaster
Many people acted gallantly after Hurricane Katrina. The Coast Guard, rescued nearly 34,000 people in New Orleans alone, and everyday citizens commanded boats, offered needed supplies including food, and did whatever else they could do to help the ones in need. But, the government seemed to be caught off guard from this disaster. The FEMA took days to authorize operations in New Orleans, and even then did not seem to have a guaranteed plan. Officials, along with President George W. Bush, seemed oblivious to the extravagance of problems and suffering New Orleans and elsewhere.
As hurricane Harvey devastated Texas, prices of necessities hit shocking highs. Gas stations started charging twenty dollars for gas and convenience stores were charging over ninety dollars for a case of water. Delayed help from FEMA left Texans seeking help from other states. People with boats and jet skis made their way to Texas to help those stranded in their homes or in rafts. “The federal response to Hurricane Harvey’s devastation in Texas has quickly depleted FEMA’s disaster relief fund, which dropped by $2.14 billion last Thursday to $1.01 billion as of Tuesday. The figures from FEMA were first reported by Bloomberg and later confirmed by NBC News” ( Khimm, 2017). The House of Representatives enacted a bill allocating more money to FEMA due to a worsening hurricane season than previously expected. “The good news for the research community is that the
Natural disasters always bring many property damages, casualty and countless people who lost their home and all their belongings. "On May 22, 2011, the city of Joplin, Missouri was impacted by an EF-5 tornado. There were 158 deaths with over a thousand injured as a result of the tornado". Hurricane Katrina has been a good example as a warning on how the agencies as FEMA should have been handling the disasters. There were complaints from the survivors to the government, FEMA and other organizations that were involved in the rescue. Throughout the years, FEMA, the government, and some non-profit organizations have been working on the solution from the lesson of Hurricane Katrina and trying to minimize the casualty and property damages in the
In day to day operations, uncertainties do occur. Henceforth it would be important to have a contingent and well detailed disaster preparedness plan and procedures. Healthcare systems, on a day to day basis, are faced with emergencies in form of disasters. As a result, majority of medical centers have well-structured exit plans in the event of a disaster occurring("Hospital Disaster Preparedness: Your Guide to Getting Started - Emergency Preparedness", 2011). However, this essay will aim at interviewing one of the top disaster preparedness staffat the Houston Methodist Hospital. In the interview, I will seek to identify the top three disasters that the Houston Methodist Hospital is prepared for. Similarly, in the interview, I would seek to identify the top lessons learnt from disaster preparedness at the hospitals.As it concludes it would summarize the findings with regards to the interview stated below. Below is an excerpt from the interview to answer the two aforementioned questions.
Austin is the largest city in the southern part of the United States, the capital of Texas. The city's population is growing rapidly, and in 2014 there were more than 912 000 inhabitants. Together with suburbs it is 1,7 million. In 1839, the village named Waterloo was renamed in Austin, in honor of Stephen Fuller Austin - a man who played an important role in the history of Texas. In 1846, Austin became the capital of Texas.
I believe people to be naturally good to others, because there is more kind-hearted people more than cold-hearted people in this world. In this world you will see a handful of people helping and giving to others no matter the situation. The percentage of evil and cruel people is a very low percentage. After everything people all over Texas is coming together, and it shows the good in people that we thought did not have a good heart.
As of September 1, Texas is still being impacted by Hurricane Harvey. Along with all the destruction that Texas has to deal with, now they are dealing with downpours, winds, and flooding. Fifty-two inches was recorded in rainfall in Houston in the matter of five days, which broke a historical record. Billions of dollars was given to relieve some of the financial need, as most of the people in Texas didn’t have flood insurance.
On August 25, 2017 around 11 P.M., businesses, houses, cars and trees were swallowed by flood waters. Debris started building up and copious amounts of water started to over flow the drainages causing dams, levees and bayous to exceed anything beyond their conceptual holdings. Areas that have never come close to flooding found themselves suddenly become "lakefront properties." The storm churned out water, lightning, and wind and went back over the gulf to start the cycle again. The destruction that Hurricane Harvey caused to my beautiful hometown Houston, Texas including a large portion of south Texas, wester Louisiana and other parts of the country has been extremely surreal. Watching the destruction of this beautiful city that I love dearly,
The people of New Orleans, Louisiana believed that it would be a storm like any other, nothing to set this Hurricane apart from the others that they had dealt with over their lives living in their beloved city below sea level. Unfortunately, that proved to not be the case and indeed it would be a storm they would remember for the rest of their lives.
On August 29th, 2005 Hurricane Katrina caused catastrophic damage and flooding in Mississippi, Louisiana, New Orleans and areas in between. It destructed the lives and homes of thousands of people, with a total of 1,883 fatalities (Hurricane Katrina Statistics Fast Facts, 2015). Hurricane Katrina left many homeless and hospitals unprepared for the challenges posed to the healthcare system as a whole. Some of these challenges included gaining access to healthcare facilities, providing expedited care to those most in need, and preventing spread of disease that commonly occurs during natural disasters. Many facilities did not evacuate in time and many were left stranded in flooded waters as patients conditions worsened and access to essential medications and treatments became limited.
Citizens of America seek thrill and excitement. Whether this is in the form of concerts or snorkeling in the waters off the coast of Hawaii. However, others choose to go to the extreme and participate in the utmost endeavours. These thrill seekers may go through intense training before taking place in these activities. Accidents, although, do happen. Individuals cannot predict all that will transpire. People have a moral obligation to save others in need.
Residents of the Lone Star State are fond of saying that everything is bigger in Texas, from football teams to marching bands, farmers' markets to barbecue favorites. But a corollary to that oft-spoken refrain is everything is better in Texas as well. After all, the state was the second-most inbound location for families who moved in 2015, according to the U.S. Census Bureau, and for eight consecutive years, Harris County maintained the distinction as the U.S. county with the most significant annual population growth.
In today’s world, there has been one disaster or another, and hurricanes are one of those disasters that always happens. But, for one reason or another we are never prepared or understand the danger of any type of hurricane over a category one. Most of us have been through many hurricanes, like this learner who has lived in Miami, Fla. for over 30 years, and experienced her last hurricane which was Hurricane Andrew. Warnings are always given, first responders are trained to all ways be on alert, and FEMA is supposed to be ready to jump in once the storm has done its damage. But we can never be prepared, because hurricanes are unpredictable, and can become deadly for citizens and create millions of dollars in damages. Within this post we will discuss Hurricane Katrina, preparedness and Emergency management before and after the disaster.
In the United States, people who live in poverty are already one of the most vulnerable populations and it is this population that is heavily impacted by public policy relating to natural disasters. Often, public policies relating to disaster preparedness and recovery are not discussed until after a natural disaster takes place which is too late to do any good for the people affected and who are devastated almost beyond comprehension. The role of government in disaster preparedness and recovery became a “hot button” issue especially after Hurricane Katrina when the federal and local governments seemed to protect/help those who already had resources and not those with little to no resources. According to a Gallup Poll by Jones & Carroll (2005), forty-nine percent of respondents said that FEMA was most helpful to them while thirty-one percent of respondents said that nothing was helpful to them during recovery from Hurricane Katrina. This information indicates that there is a gap in services disaster relief policies and programs that needs to be filled.