Compare And Contrast Hurricane Mitch And The Mississippi River Flood

Natural disasters are scary and cause some serious problems. Those problems may be short-term, such as small flood meaning new crops need to be planted. However, the same disaster can also bring some long-term problems too. A long-term problem cause by a flood could be needing to get out of debt because paying for somewhere to stay until repairs are done costs money, then paying for the repairs such as water damage and damaged furniture also costs money. There are also so many different natural disasters that can cause life-changing problems. Some natural disasters that cause horrifying damage are volcanoes, hurricane, tornadoes, tsunamis, floods and so many more. After reading the articles “Memories of the Flood” and “Hurricane Mitch” I

really better understand the damage a natural disaster can do in a community or family, but which is worse? I know that everyone’s vote is on Hurricane Mitch because of the devastating long-term effects the hurricane had on people’s lives.

Both Hurricane Mitch and the Mississippi River Flood were traumatic, but that isn’t where the similarities end. Both required rescue teams with goods for everyone and even people were necessary to help people affected recover quicker. Hurricane Mitch and the Mississippi River Flood were both so disastrous that helicopters were needed to get people away from the disaster in both instances. In both occurrences, there was no way around these natural disasters. On the other hand, no two natural disasters are ever too similar.

While both Hurricane Mitch and the Mississippi River Flood are very similar they are also very different.

The Mississippi River Flood is caused by the rain water overflowing the Mississippi River. The Mississippi River Flood caused no deaths or injuries just cause serious damage to everyone's homes and crops. However during Hurricane Mitch 11,000 people died and 10,000 more people went missing, then over 3 million were left homeless. Unlike during the Mississippi River Flood where people were informed of the flood weeks ahead, Hurricane Mitch was unexpected. Best explained in the story “Hurricane Mitch” the route of Hurricane Mitch isn’t what experts thought “Hurricane Mitch began as a small storm in the Caribbean Sea on October 22. It formed about 200 miles south of Jamaica and began to grow. Because it was moving slowly north, people expected it to hit Cuba. Two days later, Hurricane Mitch was enormous and was turning west. Two days after that, Mitch had winds as strong as 180 miles per hour and was turning south. On October 29, the full force of Hurricane Mitch struck the coast of Honduras. It had become the deadliest hurricane in more than 200 years.” This just shows how unexpected Hurricane Mitch was, and unprepared the people of Central America or Honduras were for a

hurricane.

In conclusion Hurricane Mitch is worse because the very serious long-term effects of the hurricane. While during the Mississippi River Flood people needed to live elsewhere, more than 3 million people in Central America were left homeless after Hurricane Mitch. However in the Mississippi River Flood no died, they had a warning weeks ahead, letting them know to evacuate. On the other hand during Hurricane Mitch it was very sudden, “Hurricane Mitch began as a small storm in the Caribbean Sea on October 22. It formed about 200 miles south of Jamaica and began to grow. Because it was moving slowly north, people expected it to hit Cuba. Two days later, Hurricane Mitch was enormous and was turning west. Two days after that, Mitch had winds as strong as 180 miles per hour and was turning south. On October 29, the full force of Hurricane Mitch struck the coast of Honduras. It had become the deadliest hurricane in more than 200 years.” This shows that no one was expecting the hurricane to hit them which shows how much worse it was, because no one was prepared for it so many more people died. While the Mississippi River Flood was well known about throughout the community. So therefore, the evidence all backs up one thing, that Hurricane Mitch was worse due to the more severe long-term events following there hurricane.