The Disaster Of Emergency Management

The Texas City disaster took place on April 16th, 1947, with the detonation of 2300 tons of ammonium nitrate, near the Texas City docks. The Grandcamp was set to embark on an assigned trip to Europe to help in the reconstruction of various countries in the aftermath of the Second World War. The ships were loaded with 32.5 % ammonium nitrate fertilizer, which is a high explosive used in military and mining operations. The result of which was a DDT which is a deflagration to detonation causing a massive explosion leading to many deaths, destroyed homes, and the surroundings being ruined. The leading causes of this horrific tragedy were poor transportation and storing laws of ammonium nitrate which was a main component in the disaster, if these two components had have been handled with more care the lives of innocent people would not have been lost.

On January 15, 1919, one of the most tragic and strange disasters occurred in Boston, Massachusetts. It was around forty degrees that day, when two days previously it had been only two degrees. At 12:30 PM 2,300,000 gallons of molasses spilled into the streets near Keany Square after the tank holding it exploded, most think due to a combination of poor design and the drastic temperature flux. The aftermath was tragic, with twenty one deaths and one hundred and fifty injured. The company who owned the tank was quick to blame others, but soon it was found that the tank was poorly constructed, and if more time had been taken, the Boston Molasses Disaster would never have happened.

Thus, being the busiest rail and perhaps the most important for both the residents of Graniteville and Avondale plant, many trains traveled through the town daily conducting business. Nonetheless, for successfully deliveries, a switch connecting the spur to the mainline railway had to be manually turned towards the proper route. Failure to do so called for an eventual accident. Consequently, the train crash happened as a result of someone forgetting to flip the switch disconnecting the spur from the main line. Causing Freight Train 192 to divert from its route.

It has been called the worst train disaster in U.S. history. The wreckage of the Sunset Limited on September 22, 1993 took 47 lives. There are many circumstances surrounding this wreck that affect the many stakeholders involved.

On April seventeenth, year 2013, a vast blast caused by several bins of fired ammonium nitrate fertilizer at the West Fertilizer Company and distribution facility in West, Texas occurred (Lateef, 2013). This disaster caused 35 people dead, which included 12 volunteer firefighters, no mention that over 100 people living nearby injured. (Dave 2014). The purpose of this report is to analyze the causes of this tragedy to find the shortage of storing flammable fertilizers in West fertilizer Company, also to provide a safer way or strategy to prevent a similar accident which may occur in the future time.

With a total passenger load of about 600 people, there was a great deal of confusion after the collision. Witnesses and neighbors ran to the smoking train, and helped remove injured and dazed passengers, even before the first emergency vehicles could arrive at the rural location.

This chapter provides an overview that describes the basic types of hazards threatening the United States and provides definitions for some basic terms such as hazards, emergencies, and disasters. The chapter also provides a brief history of emergency management in the federal government and a general description of the current emergency management system—including the basic functions performed by local emergency managers. The chapter concludes with a discussion of the all-hazards approach and its implications for local emergency management.

Explain the origin of emergency management and the historical factors that helped lay the foundation for the profession of emergency management. Compare and contrast aspects of emergency management relating to Hurricane Agnes of 1972 and Superstorm Sand of 2012.

This is a review of Emergency Management: The American Experience 1900-2010 by Claire B. Rubin and Butler (2012), chapters 1 and 2. Emergency management at the federal level was nonexistent before 1950 when the Federal Disaster relief Act was passed. Disaster relief was the responsibility of state and volunteer agencies like the Red Cross. Several disasters paved the way for emergency management. The Galveston Hurricane of 1900, the San Frisco Earthquake of 1906, and the Great Influenza Pandemic of 1918 were the disasters that laid the foundation for the 1950 Federal Disaster relief Act (Butler, 2012, pg. 17).

Introduction. On January 06, 2005, a cargo train carrying a massive amount of chlorine gas spilled in Graniteville, South Carolina, creating panic and indeed chaos to both citizens and emergency personnel’s. The residents were caught in their sleep when freight train 192 traveling approximately 47 mph struck and leaked a dangerous amount of chlorine gas into the atmosphere. As a result of this tragedy, 5,400 individuals were evacuated from their homes and nine victims later died of gas related causes. The magnitude of this disaster was one that would change any town or city forever. And such sentiments were felt throughout the community of Graniteville. However, the purpose of this paper is to discuss what was learned from this unanticipated train calamity in Graniteville. While exploring how the field of emergency management can properly respond to unforeseen transportation accidents through implementing efficient and effective ways of communication in the midst of an incident.

The morning started out with a routine tour of duty, hauling 62 freight cars and a caboose. Little did the crew know that down the mainline another event was unfolding. A track gang and a foreman traveled by motorcar to pick up some switch ties. When the group arrived at Red Desert, they were approached by a sheep herder, who needed assistance getting his sheep across the tracks. The foreman assigned two men to flag each direction of track. He also ordered that switch of each side of the passing track to be opened. (That means that the switch is in a middle position, not thrown to either side, which will always lead to derailment.) This would cause the signals to indicate a stop signal. As one of the men opened up the siding switch, he saw 4005 roaring down the track, the workman tried to close the switch before the engine could pass… it was too late. The engineer applied the emergency brake, however, at the time 4005 was going about 50 MPH (80 KPH). The engine, tender, and first 18 cars turned on its’ side, The massive and near full tender smashed into the cab of 4005, destroying it completely. Although the engineer and brakeman were killed instantly, the front brakeman survived the wreck and gave an account as to what happened. “The switch, they threw it right in front of us, they didn’t give us a chance. I felt the engine rock. I don’t know how many times it rocked. The next thing I knew I felt the steam

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.

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

In a new form of protection and communication, social media is the main thing that everything is using in today’s times. Marketing employees have positions as titled as social media directors. Companies have people watching and monitoring everything that happens with their social media reputation all hours of the day everyday. Young people are seeing the power of social media everyday with teachers demonstrating how fast a picture can be shared across the world. Social media is relatively new and could possibly open many gates for communication. This depends heavily on who is publishing information and news on social media. If news spreads fast on social media, then the use of it can be used for emergencies. If many people are

Just after midnight on December 3, 1984, a pesticide plant in Bhopal, India had a chemical leak accident. The chemical that was released into the air is called methyl isocyanate, or MIC, used to make pesticides. This chemical is tremendously harmful and fatal to humans, livestock, and crops. Only a short-term exposure may cause death or unfavorable health effects. The slums of Bhopal and its residents that surrounded the plant which were mostly affected by the gas suffered dearly. An estimated 8,000 people dead and about 300,000 more suffering from its effects. Bloated carcasses of cattle dotted the streets. Tree and plant leaves were yellow and brittle. “Corpses littered the streets and discovered behind locked doors, trapped in private