The Texas Flooding

(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.

I was talking with a co-worker this evening about my assignments for the week in my online classes. When I told her we were studying the intermontane west; she told me about a place in eastern Washington State called the scablands. I had never heard the term before, so naturally I was intrigued. Luckily for me the topic was covered in our book when discussing the Great Missoula Flood. The Great Missoula Flood was caused over a period of time during the last ice age when a massive dam buckled under the weight of the water that melted from the polar ice caps (Hardwick, Shelley & Holtgrieve.) The scablands are only a portion of the total area that is encompassed in the area affected by the Great Missoula Flood. According to HugeFloods.com “The

Texas has received record amounts of rainfall, causing serious flooding all throughout the state of Texas. According to an article published on June 3rd, Houston is looking at an economic impact of roughly 550 million dollars. This interests me greatly because I live in Texas, and seeing prices going up, especially on local produces, is something that will directly impact me. Because of the record rain falls, local farmers are especially in a world of hurt as their crops were destroyed by the rain. For local farmers markets, and local grocery stores that support local farmers, I think you'll start to see a raise in prices as the farmers will be having to make up their margins somewhere. Also, I think you'll start to see Texas lean on other

As we’re trying to move from relief to recovery and rebuilding, it’s nearly imperative that we look back to unveil why this widespread flooding occurred in the first place. If we trace back to the research of engineers in the 1990’s, it was recorded that the reservoir system was inadequate and endangered thousands of lives and properties (Thompson). Arthur Storey, Harris County’s Flood Director in 1996, coins the wreckage that lies before us as “a massive governmental and engineering failure” (Thompson). Research suggests that we foresaw the potential damage, yet failed to invest in modern development

On August 29th of 2005, a category 3 hurricane, dubbed Hurricane Katrina, hit the Gulf Coast of the United States. It brought winds of 100 to 140 miles per hour, and stretched more than 400 miles across. New Orleans had its first mandatory evacuation ordered the day before, while listing the Superdome as a shelter for those who couldn’t leave town. More than 70 percent evacuated, while the rest stayed at their homes, or took to shelters, to wait out the storm. The aftermath of Katrina was felt in Louisiana, Alabama, and Mississippi, but New Orleans was affected the most by far. In the end, more than 2000 were either seriously injured or killed, while those who survived were very short on food, water, first aid, and had very few areas for shelter. A large reason the storm was so devastating was the fact that the storm was able to cover almost 80 percent of the entire city under a large amount of water. Before the storm hit, the city used levee systems and flood walls to protect itself from being flooded. During the storm, however, many failures in the levee system caused close to 80 percent of the flooding covering the city and the nearby parish. Many know that the levee system failed but few in the public know that the major reason it had failed was because of the incomplete design. The disaster

In august 2005, the State of Louisiana was hit with one of the most devastating natural disasters the United States has ever seen. New Orleans specifically was among the cities who felt the full force of Hurricane Katrina. While the storm itself was very powerful the damage wasn’t caused necessarily by the hurricane but by the failure in the levee system. According to Jennifer Trevedi, In the book, Encyclopedia of Disaster, Jennifer Trevedi describes the extent of the damage through breaches of the levee. Trevedi says, the levees were breached in over fifty different spots flooding the St. Bernard and Plaquemine parish.

In 2011 Texas entered into a drought that was the worst the state had seen since modern record keeping began 1895. During the driest months of this drought, the water level of two of the largest water resources for two-thirds of the state were measured at 28 percent less than the average water level. In summer of 2013 central Texas received numerous rains, and many people believed it was a sign that the drought had eased, Unfortunately Texas was far from out of the drought. Today Texas water levels barley sit above one-third full. This is a big problem for Texans everywhere because, Texas uses water for everything from its drinking water, to its agriculture, to its recreational activities. According to the TWDB by 2060 the drought will have cost Texas $116 billion dollars in income loses, 1.1 million job losses, and a decrease in population of about 1.4 million people.

On August 12th, 2016, the southern part of Louisiana was flooded do to massive rain fall. I feel this is a big topic that should be talked about because of the eye opening things that have happened such as damage and the record breaking water levels recorded. This stuff really should be talked about but isn’t.

(“A Brief”). The American Red Cross continued to provide services to members of the armed forces, even during the Korean, Vietnam, and Gulf war’s (“A Brief”). The American Red Cross continued to expand their services into fields such as civil defense, training in CPR/AED, education in HIV/AIDS, and providing support and care in the wake of disasters both emotional and physically (“A Brief”). Since 2006 the American Red Cross has been working with FEMA helping government agencies and community organizations plan, coordinate and provide shelter, feeding, and family reunification services for people affected by disasters (“A Brief”). Today the American Red Cross provides compassion and care in areas such as, Blood collection, processing, and distribution, support for members of the military and their families, health and safety training and education, relief and development internationally, and people affected by disasters in America (“A

With that said, the American Red Cross responded to 70,000 disasters in 2013 (“Last Year’s Disasters: The American Red Cross Response”). While not being a very big number, it still shows that the Red Cross uses its donation money to support victims. On that very subject, to further support Superstorm Sandy victims, the American Red Cross gave back some of that money, and by some, they mean 74 million dollars according to the “Last Year’s Disasters: The American Red Cross Response” YouTube video. Which is more than giving back, it is simply a part of their appeal to those in need. In an interview with John Bavendam, a victim of a tree falling on his house, he said in reply to the query of “Based on the American Red Cross providing medical aid, shelter, and food, would they have been able to help you?” He replied with “Yes they would have provided ‘better’ shelter than a run-down home especially when it feels like you’re dying.” This provides an idea as to what the Red Cross would be able to do for this young man. In 2013, the American Red Cross provided over 24,000 overnight stays, and even more so in 2015 with over 34,000 overnight stays according to statistics from 2015. Furthermore the American Red Cross helped over 19,000 households recover from natural disasters. Which would have been helpful for John, given this question and answer: “What disaster occurred in your life that the Red Cross would have responded to?” “During a windstorm, a tree fell on my home, collapsing the roof and causing insulation to flood into my room.” The American Red Cross is all about making sure people recover, as stated on their own website, they claim that they aspire to turn compassion into strength and with that strength they can help people recover from natural disasters across the United States, so that they can receive care, shelter, and

Hurricane Harvey left many people in despair. Houston is flooded and people have to stay on roofs and in boots. The mayor told the residents of Houston not to leave, which is wrong because lots of them could have died. The Federal emergency Management Agency (FEMA) is a group that helps these natural causes. Donald Trump tweeted about going to Texas and visiting but he’s not doing anything about it. Hurricane Harvey has been the fiercest Hurricane after Hurricane Katrina. Hurricane Harvey hit Texas on Friday night and it kept raining all weekend. On Saturday Hurricane Harvey weakened and the hurricane became a tropical storm.

Hurricane Katrina will forever remain as one of the most devastating natural disasters to have taken place on American soil. On August 27th, 2005, more than a day before Katrina made its way to New Orleans, President Bush, at the request of Louisiana state Governor Kathleen declared a state of emergency to both Louisiana and Mississippi. In doing so, these areas were considered major disaster areas that the federal government would concentrate most of its resources. Despite a declared emergency and the need to evacuate the city immediately, many residents decided to stay in their homes and shelter in place for various reasons, while others left the city as suggested or seek refuge at the state’s designated last resort shelter, The Superdome.

The American Red Cross is a nonprofit humanitarian organization (501(c) (3) Public Charity) that provides emergency assistance, disaster relief, and health or disaster related education in the United States of America. This organization operates to provide care and assistance to those in need. Its main goal is to create a network of people who share a compassionate mission to prevent and relieve suffering to those who are local to the U.S. as well as worldwide through five important categories. The five categories are disaster relief, supporting America’s military families, lifesaving blood, international services, and health and safety services. Through disaster relief, the Red Cross responds to various types of emergencies that range from house fires to earthquakes that affect thousands of people each year. The Red Cross is not affiliated as a

The current problem which the city of New Orleans is experiencing is flooding which is caused by heavy storms as well as hurricane Katrina. For instance, August this year, Louisiana governor John Bel Edwards acknowledged a state of emergency since city’s failure of water pumping system exposes the residents of the city to the greater menace of tainted –weather flooding. This was less than a week where a flash flood had completely overwhelmed the city's water pumping system, and the city officials were struggling to make some repairs to the fire-damaged equipment which are at a power station plant and also shore up its drainage system. Therefore several residents were inundated by this incident. However, hundreds of homes as well as businesses

In 1993, the Midwest experienced the worst flood in American history affecting ten states in the Upper Mississippi River basin. The flooding lasted from late spring to fall, killing fifty-two people and damaging a 100,000 homes and businesses. The cause of the flooding was a heavy winter with lots of snow and a spring season full of rain, which saturated the soil. Instead, of a hot summer, the rain kept coming and the Upper Mississippi River Basin received three and a half times its normal rain. Since it continuously rained, the water levels kept rising and many of the levees broke. The water levels stayed high for weeks destroying towns and agriculture all throughout the Midwest.