“The hazards presented by Tropical storms have the greatest impact on the world’s poorest people.” To what extent do you agree with this view? (40 marks) Tropical storms are defined as low pressure systems that form over tropical seas and can devastate areas of human settlements with hurricane force winds and floods. The severity of these impacts varies greatly depending on a countries development levels and is attributable to numerous factors such as: infrastructure, job structure, the provision of service, prediction technology and how much aid is received. Hurricane Katrina and Cyclone are two examples of tropical storms that affected areas drastically apart in economic development. One way in which MEDC’s and LEDC’s differ is …show more content…
On the other hand this was much different in the USA. Many who could afford to decided to move out of the worst areas hit like the New Orleans. The effect of this was a long term change to the areas demographic which resulted in economic consequences as those moving were generally the economically active. This resulted in the problem of the poorest being left behind leading to long term impacts such as deprivation. One way in which impacts can be reduced is through responses. Responses include both preparation and how the country reacts once the disaster has occurred. In the case of Katrina there were advanced warnings in place 2 days before the storm and a state of emergency declared 1 day in advance. Additionally risk assessments had also been published and an evacuation of New Orleans was ordered on the day. Whilst many argued that this was too late the majority of the population still did manage to leave in private cars with 150,000 remaining the majority by choice. The ability of many being able to evacuate so easily is another aspect that differs as in a country of high development such as the US private car ownership is high whilst it is significantly lower in an LEDC. The combined effect of advanced warnings and efficient evacuation thus aided in a significantly lower death toll in the US. In Myanmar however the government was significantly less prepared, whilst systems were in place to detect flooding
What is a tropical cyclone: Tropical cyclones are a type of low-pressure systems which generally form in the tropics. They are violent storms, which rotate anti clockwise. Cloud and wind rotates a calm central area, in the tropics (area north or south of the equator) and causes damage to people's properties, death, destruction of recourses, and leaves people severely injured. Tropical cyclones occur
55). This is because things like a small flood would effect croplands differently than an urban center. A crop my actually benefit from silt deposits but the New York Stock Exchange would not. However, when disasters increase in scale they almost always have a significant impact on the economy (World Bank & United Nations, 2010, p. 55). Unfortunately, even though these impacts may be short-term there are third order effects on the economy. After Hurricane Katrina many areas were completely abandoned but many more were bought by developers pushing out the lower income populations, completely changing the local economy. This also highlights the different effect that disasters have on different demographics. As an example, the economies of developing countries are effected more by disasters then those of developed nations (World Bank & United Nations, 2010, p. 56). Although this may be because of population density or lack of infrastructure, it shows that demographics as well as the disaster itself have influence over the impact on local economy and
After Hurricane Katrina, ten months later, jobs plummeted to an average loss of 95,000. “During the month of November 2005, employment had dropped to 105,300 below the previous year’s figure.” (Dolfman pg. 7) Furthermore, Hurricane Karina in doubt did cause more damage to the economy than expected. The hurricane “affected 19% of U.S. oil production.” (Dolfman pg. 7) Hurricane Katrina completely destroyed 113 offshore oil and gas platforms, occurs damages to457 oil and gas pipelines, and spilled as much oil compared to the Exxon Valdez oil disaster. This devastating event “caused oil prices to increase $3 a barrel,” and gas prices sky-rocketed to $5 a gallon. (Dolfman pg. 7) Lastly, Hurricane Katrina’s impact struck Louisiana’s sugar industry, totaling an estimate of $500 million in “annual crop value.” (Amadeo)
Natural disasters occurring from the climate change could be on the rise. Global warming has been rumored to be causing more hurricanes, typhoons, cyclones, heavier monsoonal rains that cause major flooding, mud slides, and other disasters worldwide. A tropical cyclone, also referred to as hurricanes, typhoons, or cyclones, depending on where in the world the cyclone is occurring, are one of the world’s grandest shows of energy provided by nature. Hurricanes are large, swirling, low pressure storms that have sustained winds of over 74 miles an hour and are formed over warm ocean waters (NASA, n.d.). The purpose of this paper is to discuss hurricanes
New Orleans took precautions to keep the city safe in the event of a future hurricane. The new buildings reconstructed after the destruction of the hurricane were built to be flood resistant (“After the Disaster”). Many of the new houses were being renovated to be higher off of the ground than previous homes in a like manner (“After the Disaster”). This was to prevent equivalent damage from flooding to occur in the future. Another effect of the levee problems that made Hurricane Katrina much worse was that the city installed more and stronger flood barriers to keep the city free of flood waters (“After the Disaster”). The Department of Health and Human Services sent multiple medical supplies to health professionals so they are prepared for the future as well (“Bush”). The city of New Orleans learned so much more about their city after the hurricane hit. They learned how close of a community they lived in. The amount of people that stepped in to help the city in its time of need was enormous. New Orleanian people received help from many organizations, including: The Social Security Administration, The Department of Labor, the Postal Service, and many others (“Bush”). In a like manner, the president at the time, George W. Bush, intervened and cared for the city of New Orleans when they needed it. He gave the city hope and motivation to get back onto its feet. President
Often, the government responds to natural disasters with thorough preparation and planning. The federal, state, and local levels of government do this in an effort to help reduce injury and property damage as well as ensure the overall safety of the general population. The 2005 Atlantic hurricane season saw the costliest and one of the deadliest storms in United States history. This storm was Hurricane Katrina. Hurricane Katrina displaced of an estimated 645,000 Louisiana citizens (Cepeda, Valdez, Kaplan, & Hill, 2010). This paper will examine…
For instance, around 500 people were violently drowned to death by the rapid waters rising into homes and communities. Many people lost friends, and loved ones to this flood. Many tragically lost their homes and jobs too. Homes were destroyed, jobs were taken down, and people became devastated and depressed. A lot of people were able to go live will relatives, or friends, but a majority of them had nowhere to go.
Since Hurricane Katrina destroyed New Orleans, the city has been repopulated by rich whites and Latinos with African Americans returning to the area at much lower rates. Hurricane Katrina affected millions of people across the United States by tremendous flooding and Category 5 winds; Hurricane Katrina remains the most expensive and most destructive natural disaster to strike the United States.
The calamitous natural phenomenon known as Hurricane Katrina brought terrible side-effects to lower-class African Americans. A catastrophe like Hurricane Katrina changed the lives of the lower-class African Americans forever because of the devastation from several effects. People today are more prepared for a natural disaster because “Hurricane Katrina was one of the strongest storms to hit the United States coast within the last 100 years” in New Orleans (Brianna Frank). Most of these ramifications of Hurricane Katrina came from the phycological, economic and medical effects due to this natural disaster,
'The hazards presented by volcanic and seismic events have the greatest impact on the world’s poorest people'. To what extent do you agree with this view?
Hurricane Katrina was one of the most destructive hurricanes to ever hit the United States, causing damage across the entire Southeast, with the harshest conditions falling on the city of New Orleans. This hurricane began as the consequence of a tropical wave encountering the traces of an earlier tropical depression in the Gulf of Mexico. Once the wave and depression interacted, a new depression formed, located right near the Bahamas. This depression intensified exponentially, developing into a complete hurricane. Katrina wreaked havoc for slightly less than a week before subsiding over the eastern Great Lakes. This hurricane had catastrophic social and economic effects on the Southeast requiring a lengthy reconstruction period.
Hurricanes are formed over tropical waters. These intense storms consist of winds over 74 miles per hour (Ahrens & Sampson, 2011). The storms addressed here are Hurricane Katrina and Hurricane Sandy. This paper will explore the contrasts and comparisons between these two horrific storms.
THESIS STATEMENT: One of nature’s most powerful and destructive storms are hurricanes. Although they can be deadly to humans and animals and have been known to cause extensive destruction, they also play a very important and beneficial role on Earth.
As hurricanes form, they tend to pose significant problems and have devastating impacts on the ocean, land, and on society. In the ocean, hurricanes cause strong winds to occur which in turn, has a large impact on the shipping market. Hurricanes cause the wind to change direction around the eye, causing chaotic sea swells and waves in which a ship is not able to steer around because the waves come from all
Natural disasters may be defined as natural catastrophes which cause great damage by disrupting the functioning of a society thus rendering the country incapable of coping through using its own resources as there is a need for outsider assistance in order to effectively preserve lives and the environment. Conversely, Natural hazards are natural phenomena that are potential threats to people within a society, structures or economic assets and may cause disaster. Natural disasters are inevitable and ubiquitous worldwide. Within the Caribbean, they are chiefly present in the forms of hurricanes, earthquakes, floods, droughts, and volcanoes. The great damages caused by natural disasters may be divided into three categories: social, economic