The Texas City Explosion of 1947 In the 20th century, Texas suffered three of the worst disasters in its 181-year history. Although the 1900 Galveston hurricane, the Dust Bowl of the 30s, and the 1947 Texas City Explosion all had a tremendously detrimental effect on Texas, the Texas City Explosion of 1947 caused huge losses and is remembered as the worst industrial disaster in U.S. history. The 1947 Texas City Explosion had the greatest social, political, and economic impact that is still felt to this day. The explosion changed many social aspects of life for Texas City residents. For instance, due to the loss of many lives, Texas City was riddled with emergency clinics and makeshift infirmaries. According to Wanda Lou Baker, in “Past Stories”, she wrote that she was taken to a clinic after being injured by an exploding building, while other injured residents were lying on the lawn. Another impact was the number of casualties caused by the disaster. There were 576 deaths in a population of 16,000. Many people were trapped under rubble …show more content…
Many of the laws were made to prevent another Texas City from ever happening again. One of the acts that were passed was by the 71st Legislature of Texas, which states specific rules for employers to follow. According to the Hazard Communication Act of 1989, information must be provided for chemicals that might be used by or exposed to workers during normal and emergency situations. This act was passed because the explosion was set off by ammonium nitrate. Another set of regulations states that if an employer shall ever need a fire brigade, the employer will adequately inform the brigade of any hazardous materials. The Texas City disaster also increased national attention on disaster planning, leading to many other regulations and laws being made. It is regarded as the stepping stone of disaster planning and recovery for the United
The Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire most of all impacted all forms of industry, and changed the way workers worked. Along with the legislations that impacted women and children, laws also centered on the safety and well being of all workers. One of the main reforms and changes came through the formation of the New York Factory Investigating Commission, or the FIC: a legislative body that investigated the manufacturers for various infractions. They were based on protecting the workers: both their rights and their lives. The FIC investigated countless factories and “enacted eight laws covering fire safety, factory inspections and sanitation.” The FIC was highly focused on the health and safety of industrial workers, making reports and legislation that focused on “fire safety, building construction, machine guarding, heating, lighting, ventilation, and other topics” and on specific industries like “chemicals, lead trades, metal trades, printing shops, sweatshops and mercantile establishments.” Thirteen out of seventeen of the bills submitted by the FIC became laws, and “included measures requiring better fire safety efforts, more adequate factory ventilation, improved sanitation and machine guarding, safe operation of elevators” and other legislations focused for specific establishments.” Fire safety and new fire codes such as “mandate emergency exits, sprinkler systems, and maximum-occupancy laws,” such as the Fire Prevention Act of 1911, were put into place to limit the likelihood that another fire like the one at Triangle would occur, or be as drastic and deathly. Other organizations like the Joint Board of Sanitary Control “set and maintain standards of sanitation in the workplace,” as well as actually enforcing these stand...
The Chicago Fire of 1871 In the 19th century, the population in Chicago was quickly rising to great numbers. In 1850, the population reached 30,000. Areas in all parts of Chicago started to become extremely over crowded, especially downtown. At this point, all structures were built out of wood, including buildings, streets, and even sidewalks (“Chicago Fire of 1871”). About one hundred days before the great fire occurred, not even an inch of rain had fallen throughout the city, and heavy, strong winds were blowing through Southwest.
The bombing of the World Trade Center was nicknamed “the Big One”, causing a sixteen alarm fire. FEMA’s Incident Commander (IC) arrived on the scene at 12:48 and began assessing what needed to be done: over 50,000 people needed to be evacuated, thick black smoke was filling the building and could not stopped, numerous people were trapped in elevators and personnel on the top floors were breaking glass raining it down on personnel on the ground.
The City of Detroit, Michigan, seems to be a city on the decline in America. Job prospects some of the lowest in the country and one of the only cities to be shrinking, rather than growing. There are a lot of problems Detroit is facing, one of them is there incidence rate for fires. Detroit is the number one city in America for house fires, not to mention their high rate of fires in the many vacant buildings throughout the city. There are many socioeconomic factors with the city that make the incident rates rise, and response less effective.
In 1992, hurricane Andrew was a category four hurricane and said to be one of the worst natural disasters to happen in the United States at the time. It’s winds surpassed 160 miles per hour and caused damage to over 125,000 homes within 400 square miles. Hurricane Andrew left approximately 175,000 families and children temporarily homeless.
There are a lot of options in the San Antonio real estate market at this time, which can prove to be a bit taxing for a prospective home buyer. Those interested in purchasing a home can browse through the Multiple Listing Service (MLS) in order to view all of the listings available. As a whole, the real estate market is thriving, yet the general price of properties in the area are surprisingly affordable.
Think of the most beautiful city in world. You are walking the streets, taking in the scenery in complete admiration of a city built by men. Then one day you go to sleep, a few hours later you awaken, and that beautiful city is completely destroyed. The Great Chicago Fire of 1871 was one of the largest disasters in American history (“The Great Chicago”). After many failed attempts to put out the fire, people were left homeless and helpless to rebuild their city. Thankfully, after every tragedy there is always a recovery.
There were up to 264 people injured in this marathon bombing. They were treated within 26 hospitals. On the scene of the bombing there were so many people with detached limbs or so many people with massive cuts that first responders were having to use lanyards as tourniquets. There are 16 people known that lost a limb in the
At 5:12 a.m. on April 18th, 1906, the California city of San Francisco was awoken by a 7.8 magnitude earthquake. Chaos erupted with the earthquake leading to fire break outs throughout San Francisco (Cameron and Gordon. Pgs 69-73).The earthquake and the resulting fires caused destruction to majority of the city with buildings crumbling and igniting into flames. Many people died along with thousands and thousands of people being left homeless. This devastating earthquake left the city and United States in a financial crisis. Although the 1906 earthquake was one of the worst natural disasters in U.S. history, the city of San Francisco was able to overcome these substantial physical, social and economic impacts it had.
Hurricane Katrina a catastrophe that changed lives of many peoples, people were left without food and water for days. That storm itself did a great damage lead to the massive flooding,
Hurricane Harvey was one of the most devastating hurricanes to strike the United States in several years. Harvey resulted in over eighty fatalities and over 150 billion dollars in damages. This proves to be one of the most destructive hurricanes to be recorded. The overwhelming damage was caused by many different aspects; however, three of the greatest aspects are: varying weather patterns throughout the storm, the city structure of Houston, Texas, and the lack of evacuation. Each of these factors affected the city in a different way, but all resulted in a common outcome, devastation.
FIRE SAFETY CODES There were several factors that increased the death toll of the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire, all of which are now addressed in fire safety codes throughout the United States. Primary contributing factors include locked exit doors, a structurally unfit fire escape ladder, and an empty water tank that was supposed to be reserved for fighting fires (McGuire, 2011). When the fire broke out, the workers immediately attempted to exit through the stairwells and the fire escaped.... ... middle of paper ... ...(1992)
Through the path of history, there have been several major events that influenced thousands of lives and were significant in forming the world today. One of the largest and deadliest events that occurred in history was a disaster not anybody could control or be held accountable for. This was Hurricane Katrina. On the early Monday morning of August 29th, 2005, a Category 5 rating Hurricane Katrina struck the Gulf Coast of the United States with winds up to 175 miles per hour and a storm surge of 20 feet high. Hurricane Katrina was one of the greatest and most destructive natural disasters recorded to make landfall in the United States. The natural causes of the hurricane, poorly structured levees, disaster inside the Superdome, and the
This catastrophic event received immediate coverage from news agencies and journalists across the country. Multiple local, state, and federal Agencies responded to the scene as first responders and post event investigators. The 6th Civil Support Team of the Texas Army National Guard was sent to the scene the following day to assist (Hoffman, 2013). The United States Geological Survey reported that the blast registered the same as a 2.1 magnitude earthquake. It was said to have destroyed 140 homes and several other buildings to include a middle school and a retirement home (Hemenway, 2013b). Investigators said that the blast had left a crater measuring nearly ten feet deep and as much as 100 feet wide. President Obama issued a statement the day after:
On Friday evening, September 7, 1900, many of the 37,000 residents of Galveston, Texas, were settling down to dinner, few if any of them concerned about the steady 15 mph northerly wind rattling their windows. Within 48 hours, at least 8,000 of the townspeople would be dead, victims of the single worst natural disaster in U.S. history. Relatively few people are aware that the deadliest natural disaster in the United States was the hurricane that struck Galveston Island on September 8, 1900. One of the best resources that can be found to help fully understand the significance of this storm is Isaac's Storm: A Man, a Time, and the Deadliest Hurricane in History by Erik Larson.