Wait a second!
More handpicked essays just for you.
More handpicked essays just for you.
Negative effects of climate change
Effects on our planet from climate change
Negative effects of climate change
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
Recommended: Negative effects of climate change
Memphis Tennessee floodings are awful events, but some have left their mark in history, and have impacted society making many people search for solutions. Historical flooding events have dated back beyond 1927, but Memphis’s first calamitous flood was in 1927, then in 2011, but between those dates there have been street floods that happen without interacting with the river. Many important aspects of everyday life are lost during floods such as lives, homes, and money. People have been searching for solutions to prevent floods, and ideas that are executed well could easily become an ideal panacea. Memphis is where I have been raised and experienced several floods, which gives me a much stronger feeling about the history, impacts, and techniques to stop floods.
There are several well-known flooding that have affected Memphis, Tennessee such as the Great Mississippi Flood of 1927, the 2011 Mississippi River flood, and storms that caused street flooding’s like the ones in 2008 or 2010. The Great Mississippi Flood of 1927 was caused by extremely heavy rain which swelled the Mississippi river to its water carrying capacity. People tried to prevent the flood in Memphis by fabricating and fortifying levees to expel water from the land; although, river water began to seep through the sand bags, which were meant to keep water out. The Memphis Fire Department trucks had appeared at the breaches and pumped water back over the sand bags. Despite valiant efforts, the river overran the levees and caused massive amounts of damages and deaths, which would affect hundreds of people. Once again, substantial rainfall was the catalyst to several flooding’s in Tennessee, including the 2011 Mississippi River flooding. This flood reached over forty-eight...
... middle of paper ...
... flood zones completely, which would hopefully preclude flooding.
Floods that affected Memphis Tennessee have become a part of history, made devastating impacts, and have solutions. The floods in Memphis may not be a major chapter in history, but it has shaped the growth of Memphis. The impact leaves scars on many people and on others small scratches, but either way a very diminutive amount of people would wish for this misfortune. Several would rather have a solution to prevent floods from the river or an immense amount of rainfall. Society has experienced these floods almost yearly, but some have been more detrimental and hazardous, which could lead to a build-up of traumatic events landing that flood in history and impacting Memphis for years. Solutions to floods should be executed as soon as possible so no one will have to face the loss of something precious.
Floods can be a very dangerous natural disaster because a flood has the power to move cars, buildings, and cause massive damage to life and property. Even the small floods that are only 30 centimetres or so can do massive damage to houses and if the
New Orleans is a city that is rich in culture as well as history. The city is in effect, an island – Lake Pontchartrain surrounds the city to the north, the Mississippi River to the west and south, and a bevy of lakes – including Lake Borne to the east. Surrounding the city is a series of levees to keep these bodies of water at bay. In addition to these levees, the only defense the city has is a series of canals and a very antiquated pumping system. However, the same levees that protect the city, makes it a death trap should a major hurricane make a direct hit to the metropolitan area. The risk of intense flooding brought forth by storm surges of 20+ feet would wipe the city out.
Rather than working with nature through multi-tiered flood control with spillways and reservoirs, levees disallowed the river to naturally flood, deteriorated the natural ecosystem, and ultimately weakened the city’s defenses against the hurricane (Kelman). Culture and society further interacted, as beliefs in man’s power over nature and racial discrimination promoted levee expansion and racial segregation, creating a city of racially differentiated risk (Spreyer 4). As a result, inundation mostly impacted the lower land neighborhoods that housed poor people of color. Society and nature interfaced in the application of levees that contained nature’s forces. Ultimately, nature won out: the hurricane overpowered the levees and breached the Industrial Canal, disproportionally flooding the mostly black, low-elevation neighborhoods of New Orleans (Campanella
How is the Mississippi controlled ? How & why used ? Benefits Problems Levees Mounds of earth are built parallel to the river, along its banks. These contain the rising river in flood times and protect buildings along the valley on the flood plain behind. · Known & successful technology which follows nature (rivers deposit silt to build natural levees anyway) · Protect settlements ·
Mississippi was also managed in New Orleans to limit flooding. This was done through levies that were at first naturally built by the river’s mud flows during floods. Later the levies were built higher and higher to keep the flooding Mississippi into the New Orleans area. But the levies were often ineffective in managing, or led to, more flooding. Kelman explains this when they write “With the development in the Mississippi Valley ongoing and artificial banks confining more runoff inside the channel, the river set new high-water marks” (Pg 702).
In the late summer of 2005, a terrible tragedy occurred that changed the lives of many in the south-east region of the United States. A Category 3, named storm, named Hurricane Katrina, hit the Gulf Coast on the 29th of August and led to the death of 1,836 and millions of dollars’ worth of damage (Waple 2005). The majority of the damage occurred in New Orleans, Louisiana. Waple writes in her article that winds “gusted over 100 mph in New Orleans, just west of the eye” (Waple 2005). Not only was the majority of the damage due to the direct catastrophes of the storm but also city’s levees could no longer hold thus breaking and releasing great masses of water. Approximately, 80% of the city was submerged at sea level. Despite the vast amount of damage and danger all throughout the city, officials claimed that there was work being done to restore the city of New Orleans as a whole but many parts, and even the people, of the city were overlooked while areas of the city with higher economic value, and more tourist traffic, were prioritized along with those individuals.
Ubilla, Javier, Tarek Abdoun, Inthuorn Sasanakul, Michael Sharp, Scott Steedman, Wipawi Vanadit-Ellis, and Thomas Zimmie. "New Orleans Levee System Performance during Hurricane Katrina: London Avenue and Orleans Canal South." Geotechnical & Geoenvironmental Engineering (2008): n. pag. Academic Search Premier. Web. 12 Dec. 2013.
Memphis is considered to be a dangerous city by many around the country with not many attractions besides Martin Luther king, jr. What they do not know is that Memphis is full of rich music and history. Various genres have made an impact on people’s daily lives such as gospel, soul, funk, blues, jazz, R&B, pop, country, and rap. Stax records were found in in 1957 which was known as satellite radio at the time. Stax has made a major impact on helping the lives of people in Memphis. Stax has overlooked the obstacles of color and racism by giving many artists of different races the opportunity they dreamed of. Stax has made a major impact by helping the lives of people in Memphis, breaking color and racism barriers, and most importantly by making music. (Stax Museaum)
McCullough presents a meticulously researched, detailed account of the Johnstown Flood of May 31st 1889, which provides arguments for why the disaster was both “the work of man” and “a visitation of providence”. However, it is apparent that McCullough believes that man was more responsible than nature/god for the extent of the catastrophe. In McCullough’s opinion, the storm that caused the flood was no more than the inevitable stimulus of the disaster, whereas the deferred maintenance and poor repairs on the dam were the primary reason that Johnstown was devastated in 1889. McCullough exposes the failed duties of Benjamin Ruff and other members of the South Fork Fishing and Hunting Club, whilst simultaneously questioning the responsibility of the Johnstown folk who were concerned about the safety of the dam but complacently trusted the wealthy, powerful club members to fulfil their responsibilities. McCullough clearly explains the debate that took place immediately after the flood, on what or whom was to blame for the disaster, by explaining the views of the press, the townspeople and the lawsuits that were filed. McCullough’s view is evident from the sub-title of his book. By placing the word “natural” within quotation marks, McCullough immediately suggests that the flood was unusual to any other, and implies that mankind has displaced its blame onto nature.
Van Heerden, Ivor Ll. "The Failure of the New Orleans Levee System Following Hurricane Katrina and the Pathway Forward." Public Administration Review, 67.6 (2007): 24-35.
By August 28, evacuations were underway across the region. That day, the National Weather Service predicted that after the storm hit, “most of the [Gulf Coast] area will be uninhabitable for weeks…perhaps longer.” New Orleans was at particular risk. Though about half the city actually lies above sea level, its average elevation is about six feet below sea level–and it is completely surrounded by water. Over the course of the 20th century, the Army Corps of Engineers had built a system of levees and seawalls to keep the city from flooding. The levees along the Mississippi River were strong and sturdy, but the ones built to hold back Lake Pontchartrain, Lake Borgne and the waterlogged swamps and marshes to the city’s east and west were much less reliable. Even before the storm, officials worried that those levees, jerry-built atop sandy, porous, erodible soil, might not withstand a massive storm surge. Neighborhoods that sat below sea level, many of which housed the city’s poorest and most vulnerable people, were at great risk of
According to Hurricane Katrina At Issue Disasters, economic damages from Hurricane Katrina have been estimated at more than $200 billion… More than a million people were displaced by the storm… An estimated 120,000 homes were abandoned and will probably be destroyed in Louisiana alone (At * Issue). For this perspective, “Hurricane Katrina change the Gulf Coast landscape and face of its culture when it hit in 2005” (Rushton). A disaster like Katrina is something the victims are always going to remember, for the ones the lost everything including their love ones. Katrina became a nightmare for all the people that were surround in the contaminated waters in the city of New Orleans. People were waiting to be rescue for days,
Imagine that a family is sitting at home watching a calm game of baseball, when suddenly they realize that a massive wall of water is approaching the neighborhood. Where did this flash flood come from, a reader might ask? The wall of water was made by the raging winds and immense power of Hurricane Andrew. Hurricane Andrew was the second most expensive storm in history that destroyed over 250,000 homes in the states of Florida and Louisiana alone. Hurricane Andrew was not predicted to make landfall, so when it did many civilians did not have any ideas that the Hurricane was coming until it was almost too late. Hurricane Andrew also caused many short and long term effects in the ecosystem and local economies.
Hurricane Katrina was one of the most devastating natural disasters to happen in the United States. The storm resulted in more then US$100 billion in damage when the cities flood protection broke and 80% of the city was flooded (1). The protection failure was not the only cause for the massive flooding, the hurricanes clockwise rotation pulled water from north of New Orleans into the city. 330,000 homes were destroyed and 400,000 people from New Orleans were displaced, along with 13,00 killed (1). Although the population quickly recovered, the rate of recovery slowed down as the years went on leading us to believe not everyone
Fink, Sheri. "Hurricane Katrina: after the flood." The Gaurdian. N.p., 7 Feb. 2014. Web. 17 Apr. 2014.