GY216 Essay Topic: Semester 1 2017-2018
A natural disaster is a horrific event which is caused by the natural processes of the earth. The severity of a disaster is measured in how many lives were lost, economical damage and the ability of the population to rebuild. Incidents that occur in unpopulated areas are not seen as a disaster. For example if a flood occurs in an area where there were no living people it would not count as a disaster. On average, between 1994 and 2013, natural disasters caused the death of almost 68,000 people on average each year. Some natural disasters are more destructive than others and there are many factors which contribute to the severity of a natural disaster. Location and whether the country is a developed or
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Poor infrastructure is an unsafe condition. The majority of all rural housing consists of two-room dwellings that have mud walls and floors and roofs that are thatched with grasses or palm tree. They are also constructed with plastic and other materials and roofed with corrugated metal. Housing in the cities is pretty much the same as housing in rural areas with densely populated houses. Overcrowding in these slum leads to hygienic problems and are very dangerous if a fire breaks out. These poorly constructed houses contributed to the devastating effects of the earthquake on Port-au-Prince. ‘Haiti is situated to the north of the Caribbean Plate, on a transform (slip/conservative) plate boundary with the North American Plate. The North American plate is moving west’ . Haiti is situated in a place where plates are moving all the time and is prone to many different natural disasters. ‘During the hurricane season eight years ago, Haiti was hit by four storms – Fay, Gustav, Hannah and Ike – which killed more than 800 people and devastated nearly three-quarters of its agricultural land. It also suffered dire flooding in 2002, 2003, 2006 and 2007. In 1963, Hurricane Flora killed 6,000 people in Haiti and Cuba’ . This is an example of how dangerous Haiti’s location is, the earthquake in 2010 wasn’t just a once
The Haitian government’s lack of preparedness for earthquakes despite the fact that earthquakes are common to the region is indicative of the governments inability and lack of resources to properly plan and protect it’s population against natural disasters. This lack of preparedness is not an isolated incident. Prior to the disaster, the World Bank and others were working with the Haitian government to incorporate disaster risk management into Haiti’s development strategy and to develop its capacity for disaster response. This capacity building was in its early stages of development when the earthquake hit, on January 12, 2010, and was mainly focused on hurricanes, which are the most common cause of natural disaster on the island (Margesson, 2010, p. 4).
My views closely relate to those of what Cohen says because we have no right to intervene with the animal world or project our view of morality onto them, especially when it leads to a discrimination of rights. However this doesn’t mean we shouldn’t protect animals or care for them. We do these things for animals not based on their rights or our obligations, but because they feel just like we do.
What is the most devastating natural disaster known? Hurricanes are one of the most catastrophic and natural events to ever be experienced. They can be up to 600 miles across and have wind speed of 75 to 200 mph. Hurricane Sandy and Hurricane Katrina happened to be two of the most devastating hurricanes in history.
In 2010 a 7.0 earthquake devastated Haiti. The earthquake left hundreds of thousands of people stranded without homes. It considered being the country’s worst earthquake in 200 years. It had destroyed so many buildings, homes, and office buildings. Haiti has always been a target for hurricanes and disasters of the ocean. Haiti is still trying to recover from all the devastations. Due to the earthquake, many Haitians live in run down homes. Four years later, some areas look the same after the earthquake hit the country.
In Haiti, building codes and regulations are all but nonexistent, so the minimum safety standard is not sufficient for people to be dwelling in the buildings. Since there is not a lot of wood available due to deforestation, concrete is the primary building material used for most of the structures, according to Alan Dooley, a Nashville architect (Fountain, 2010). Concrete is costly and the cement
The effects caused by earthquakes are devastating. They cause loss of human life and have effects on infrastructure and economy. Earthquakes can happen at any time anywhere. In January 12, 2010 an earthquake of a magnitude of 7.0 hit the nation of Haiti. An estimation of 316,000 people were killed, and more than 1.3 million Haitians were left homeless (Earthquake Information for 2010). Haiti was in a terrified chaos. After the earthquake, families were separated because many of the members were killed. Homes, schools, and hospitals were demolished. People lost their most valuable belongings. It will take time for the country to recover from this terrible disaster. The long damages are economic issues, health-state, and environmental issues that effect in the beautiful island of Haiti.
In the past few years alone, Haiti has been the victim of constant hurricanes, mud slides, and flooding in addition to a severe drought in the
The devastation of the earthquake was mighty and shook the land far and wide leaving most of its structures decimated. This disaster did everything but help Haiti, with its already crippled economy this caused its inhabitants employment rate to plummet draining whatever it had left. An article published by the Daily Beast wrote “ six months after the earthquake, collapsed buildings still odone the landscapes; millions of Haitians continue to live in makeshift tent cities” (Daily). This quote really paints the idea that Haiti is in utter despair with most of its populace homeless and jobless. The fact that even a half a year past the initial strike Haiti can't get on its feet shows the crippling nature of its past and how it affect the present. Not only have most of Haiti's population are homeless but many have fled in panic and hysteria. In the documentary The Quake it was said “Since the earthquake upwards of 60,000 Haitians have fled Port au Prince searching for food work and shelter” (Quake). The distress of the Haitian people caused by the earthquake furthur shows how easily Haiti's will can be broke, and it is no secret that the country's past is the cause of
For years, Haiti has been known as the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere. The country has been effected by many health, environmental, political, and natural disasters all leading to its biggest issue today, poverty. Poverty has sent Haiti into a huge stand still. Children aren’t getting educated, families can’t find shelter, and it is uncertain where the families will get their next meal. Since the beginning of the 19th century, poverty has been Haiti’s biggest conflict caused primarily by natural disasters, lack of education, and the spread of disease.
The 2010 earthquake in Haiti caused major damage and lead to various amounts of migrations within the island. With majority of the population already in poverty, the earthquake caused the rate of poverty to increase even more. Shabby housing and the absence of social assistance makes diseases another causes of poverty in Haiti. This often forces families to sell their belongings to buy medical treatments. Since the earthquake, stories about how corruption, poor infrastructure, shoddy construction, and general poverty in Haiti have largely aggravated the death toll of this disaster.
According to official estimates from (http://earthquake.usgs.gov/ , 2012), ‘316,000 people killed, 300,000 injured, 1.3 million displaced and 97,294 houses destroyed’. It is also estimated that damage costs where in excess of 11billion according to (http://news.bbc.co.uk , 2014). This brings into question the risk management strategies in places like Haiti. Haiti was not an area unknown to earthquakes before 2010 in fact they had previously had earthquakes which were more powerful than the 2010 disaster. For example in 1946 they had an earthquake which measured 8 on the Richter scale but caused only 100 deaths according to (http://earthquake.usgs.gov/ , 2012).
It was a beautiful day like any other with the clear blue sky and the
Natural Disasters can occur anywhere at anytime. Some are more predictable than others, but they all bring hardship to everyone’s life. Examples of natural disasters are Earthquakes (Haiti 2010), Tornadoes, Tsunami, Hurricanes, Wild Fires, Winter Storms, Heat waves, Mudslides and Floods. Regardless of what kind of disaster occurs, bottom line, everyone needs to be prepared mentally and physically to deal with the aftermath. Education is the first step to prepare you to deal with any major disaster. Three of the major disasters that can potentially disrupt normal day to day operations in our lives, are Hurricanes, Tsunamis and Tornadoes.
There are different types and causes of disasters: man-made, natural and a combination. Man-made disasters are caused by human error or human actions that cause harm to the environment, and people (Baack & Alfred, 2013). Natural disasters are caused by nature, a hurricane for example, and a combination of NA-TECH (natural-technological). Examples are earthquakes that cause structural damage such as a collapse of a bridge (Nies & McEwen, 2011). Communities must have effective emergency preparedness in place to reduce the casualties of a disaster.
The least violent type of natural disasters is the flood; it is one of the most frequent hazards. A flood can affect local areas or a very large area affecting entire river deltas. Not all foods are alike, some of them develop slowly over a period days and some of them occur in a matter of minutes. The floods that develop quickly are known as flash floods; flash floods have a dangerous wall of thunderous water that carries rocks, mud and other different debris. If you live in a low-lying area near water you more prone to flooding, the smallest streams, gullies, creeks, and streambeds can cause a flood. Floods are often not a common thought when you think of a natural disaster, but they can be fatal, destroy homes, businesses, and roads, happen when you least expect, and happen when you are not prepared (FEMA:Flood). An extreme example of this type of natural disaster is the flood in eastern Australia last month; the flood, which lasted for weeks, caused thirty dea...