Recent Natural Disaster
Towards the end of January 2016, a major blizzard was predicted to produce up to two feet of snow in parts of the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast United States. Media outlets had termed the blizzard Winter Storm Jonas and Snowzilla and regarded it as potentially historic***. The storm was so large that it was able to be seen from space. Astronaut Scott Kelly had released a picture of Winter Storm Jonas from aboard the International Space Station on January 23***.
Type of Disaster
The blizzard, considered a natural disaster, was rated as a Category 4 or “Crippling” winter storm on NOAA’s Northeast Snowfall Impact Scale***. According to the Regional Snowfall Index, the storm ranked as a Category 5 "extreme" event for the Northeast***. It is the most recent winter storm to rank as a Category 5, and the first to do so since 2011***. Nearly 103 million people were affected by the storm***. Several states received snowfall of 30 inches or more with the highest level being 42 inches in West Virginia***. Meteorologists reported that snow was falling at approximately one to three inches per hour***. Approximately 55 people were killed in storm-related incidents such as poor road conditions***. Total economic losses were estimated between $500 million and $3 billion***.
Characteristics of the disaster
Although frequently hit by winter storms, this particular storm rated a category not typically seen. Experts considered it amongst the most powerful winter storms, ranked 4th, to impact the Northeast United States since 1950***. The storm was anticipated nearly a week in advance, however, forecasted snow levels were grossly underestimated. The impending storm system began to intensify as it traveled, causi...
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...n***. By the afternoon of January 23, more than 10,100 flights were cancelled across the country***. Many airports in the affected region suspended service altogether. In total, it is estimated that 13,046 flights were cancelled between January 22 and 26***. Amtrak suspended service for many lines***. Multiple sporting events, including those held by the National Basketball Association, and the National Hockey League, were postponed by the storm***.
In the effort of recovery, President Obama declared Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and Washington, D.C. major disaster areas***. The federal funding would only cover costs incurred by public infrastructure, debris removal, and emergency measures to ensure public safety***. Preliminary estimates places the total cost of assistance at $168,334,023, with New Jersey accounting for $82,663,604***.
A lot of homes, businesses, and other places were destroyed. Atlantic city homes were flooded. Many people, not just in New Jersey, had no power for days to weeks. The storms surge made it all the way past the board walk. Hoboken, New Jersey was hit hard. Their homes, businesses, and transportation ways and means were destroyed. Winds there were counter-clockwise making it worse for Hoboken. A lot of New York was hit too. They also had no power for long periods of time. Many of their homes and etc. were destroyed during the storm.
On May 22nd, 2011 a massive tornado hit Joplin, Missouri killing 162 people and injuring 1150. With wind speeds of 322km/h, the tornado made a total cost of over $2 billion for the city. 8000 structures were destroyed, 2000 of which were homes. Many people were left homeless. The tornado held an incredible EF5 rating on the Fujita scale, measured from the amount of destruction. The tragic event lasted 38 minutes, from 5:34 pm to 6:12pm. Cool wind from the Rockies in Canada and warm wind from the gulf of Mexico formed into a supercell thunderstorm creating a tornado in Kansas. The tornado rapidly moved into Joplin and continued on its 35 km path.
There were a lot of items lost in the flood. Even trucks, cars, and even airplanes. This hurricane has been up to 50 inches of rain. The resulting floods inundated hundreds of thousands of homes, displaced more than 30,000 people, and caused more than 17,000 deaths. Losses are estimated between 70 and 190 billion dollars.
Early this February the states surrounding the great lakes in the northeast were pounded by lake-effect snow storms. Some areas saw more than four feet of snow. These states are accustomed to lake-effect snow storms, but it has been some time since they last saw one of this magnitude. Some areas saw up to 140 inches in less than twelve days. The storm was accountable for 35 deaths. (msn.com 2007)
...al Kentucky, and a unexpected and maybe the most damaging part of the storm to the southernmost portions of Virginia and West Virginia. A terrible combination of interacting factors contributed to absolutely terrible flooding in the hills and mountain valleys of the Appalachians.
Technology was a lacking factor on that January 12th day of 1888, which did not give those people warning on what was coming their way. Forecasters that were subject to human error did not have access to information that could have been provided by the Army. Certain weather terminology was forbidding to use for the fear that some cities were immune to these storms. During that day of the blizzard there were no advanced warning signs (outside of the temperature dropping) that the worst blizzard was about to occur, technology had not yet reached that point. If on that day or any day, the Army would have made weather a top priority some of those children could have been saved or at home with their families instead of dying alone in the snow. Forecasters could only get weather information the day of or twenty-four hours before. Many of the weather disasters were not accurate, so if there were any weather predictions good or bad, the people had no choice to believe it. Both parties really did not know any more than the
In conclusion, the deadliest and most devastating U.S. tornado outbreak of the 20th century was the April 3–4, 1974, “Super Tornado Outbreak.” It lasted 16 hours and at least 148 twisters tore up 2,500 miles of Earth through 13 states over a 24-hour period, according to the National Weather Service. The "super outbreak," as meteorologists now call it, left 330 people dead and 5,484 injured. Property losses were placed at $600 million and only ten of the thirteen states that were hit, were declared a disaster area.
Hurricane Katrina was considered as the worst hurricane in the history of United States. The winds and the rain were shattering people’s homes which collapsed and flooded. Thousands of people were suffering and dying. People were starving, and becoming dehydrated. Many people were left on the street and became homeless. After the hurricane, so many questions were left regarding the widespread damage and loss of loved ones. This devastating disaster destroyed the city of New Orleans and nearby cities and was estimated to cost $80 billion dollars in damage. State and local emergency in the affected area were struggling to perform urgent response missions such as emergency medical services, search and rescue, firefighting, giving food and water,
First, Collins uses hyperbole by repeating the word “snow” five times in one sentence: “Chicago’s snowfall was so huge that the news media ran out of things to attach to “snow” - thundersnow! snowpocalypse! snowmageddon!” (Collins). She consecutively uses three portmanteaus of the word "snow" with increasing stress level to create strong feelings. She wants to emphasize that Chicago is experiencing the most massive snowstorm in the United States, one of the consequences of global warming. This is a circumstance that causes people panic. She then reminds the readers about the blizzard of 1979 which made Mayor Michael Bilandic get “kicked out of office six weeks later in the Democratic primary.” It seems that she wants to make a connection between the congressman and a snow job.
With the winds and waters sweeping away taking away people’s lives and property the storm made it to be one of the costliest in the history of America. According to FEMA:
“At 12:42 p.m. the air was perfectly calm for about one minute; the next minute the sky was completely overcast by heavy black clouds which, for a few minutes previous, had hung along the western and northwestern horizon, and the wind veered to the west and blew with such violence as to render the position of the observer on the roof unsafe. The air was immediately filled with snow as fine as sifted flour” (Potter). No one expected the blizzard that would soon come rolling over to create some of the unfortunate deaths. Now, the questions are what exactly happened during the storm, how are snowstorms created, and what damages it caused.
A little over ten years ago, a catastrophic event struck the American shoreline and left devastating effects for years to come. It was very early in the morning on August 29, 2005; Hurricane Katrina struck the Gulf Coast of the United States. For days before, the hurricane could be charted by various meteorologists so there was no mystery that a very large storm was approaching a very vulnerable part of the United States coast line. The storm made landfall as a Category 3, meaning sustained winds of 100–140 miles per hour. The hurricane stretched some 400 miles across. While the storm hit relatively quickly and harshly, its aftermath was the most catastrophic. Levee breaches led to massive flooding.
Hurricanes are powerful and destructive storms that involve great rain and wind. The United States of America has dealt with many hurricanes that have cost a great amount of damage. However, there is one hurricane that happened in 2005 that stands out among the others, Hurricane Katrina. Hurricane Katrina was one of the worst hurricanes to hit the United States, a category 5 on the Saffir/Simpson Hurricane Scale. An estimated 1836 people died because of the hurricane and the floodings that happened after (Zimmermann 1). Katrina initially beg...
The year was 1992; a cold December arctic wind had brought a chance of snow to the area. It was the weekend and time to relax after a long hard week at work. The weather service had predicted several inches of snow to blanket the region by the next day. Not to worry: it was the weekend and traveling was not a necessity.
...ve damage occurred in New England where federal disaster areas were declared for seven counties in Massachusetts, five in Maine, and one in New Hampshire. Off Staten Island, two men were drowned when their boat capsized. Other fatalities occurred when a man fishing from a bridge was either blown or swept off in New York and a fisherman was swept off the rocks at Narrangansett, RI by heavy surf. Offshore, six lives were lost when the Andrea Gail, a swordfishing boat, sank. Total damage in the Halloween Storm, as it came to be known because of its date, was in the hundreds of millions of dollars.”