The Jersey Shore is not the breeding ground for muscular, fake-tanned, loud-mouth party-goers popularized in American culture by the 2009 MTV reality television show. That image serves as the broad standing consensus of Americans understanding of the state’s one-hundred and thirty mile coastline. A few steps away from the glimmer of the neon lights in the beach towns of Seaside Heights, Belmar, and Asbury Park lies the heartland of America. A splendid melting pot of schools, playgrounds, parks, churches, small-businesses, and quaint old homes teeming with life. Some in Washington seem to do their only research with a television set. Four years removed from the shock, awe, and utter devastation that Superstorm Sandy left in its wake, New Jersey is stranded in a Superstorm that has never left. Wanting hard working New Jerseyans back in their homes that are built to code, reopening small businesses, and taking every necessary precaution to ensure that our coasts are protected from natural disaster seems to tall of a request. It is not and the people of New Jersey deserve to be lifted up and dusted off even if it is four years late. …show more content…
In the days leading up to the 2012 presidential election President Obama made it a point to tour the state and share a now iconic hug with Republican Governor Chris Christie.
The compassion shown for our state was there in the moment, but the same cannot be said the days months, years moving forward as proven by Federal Aid offered to the state of New Jersey. Initial estimates of President Obama’s aid package came in at around 50 million dollars in 2012. And, even then New Jersey legislators were saying that would not be enough money (Tamari). Hurricane Sandy damaged or destroyed 364,000 New Jersey households and cost New Jersey business owners roughly 8.3 Billion dollars in lost revenue (Huffington
Post). Storms such as Hurricane Sandy come once every hundred years and the serve to uncover geographic and infrastructural problems that that residents were not even aware of. Sandy woke the sleeping giant in the room. It proved that our coast lines are grossly overpopulated and that many are not even coastlines at all. Entire rivers were created where the ocean met the bay. Breaks in the coastline were filled with primitive engineering tactics two-hundred years prior. In addition, the storm presented such a strategic weakness in New Jersey’s geographic understanding that flood maps were redrawn for the first time since 1983 (Huffington Post). New Jersey legislators wanted more than 50 billion dollars in federal aid and got less than one third of what still was not enough money. To date the state of New Jersey has received roughly 16.42 billion dollars from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). 16.4 Billion dollars is a slap in the face to the hardworking taxpayers of New Jersey who received a large sum of money less than they put in, which is why I am seeking additional funding funding from the Federal Emergency Management Agency that has left hardworking middle-class New Jersey families in the dust.
Semaphore is a classic Adelaide beach supporting many facilities. However, this would not be the case if coastal management was not put into progress. Coastal management is a way of supporting the world’s coasts, by using many techniques from construction of structures in which prevents wave energy from reaching the shore to planned strategies. Factors of this includes; rising sea levels, erosion, long and short term drift, sand movement and marine biology. The importance of coastal management is quite significant as it will help to prevent coastal erosion. In addition to this, without coastal management the world will be affect economically, environmentally as well as socially. Without the strategies involving the management of the coast,
Cayton, Andrew R. L., Elisabeth Israels. Perry, Linda Reed, and Allan M. Winkler. "The New Jersey Plan." Prentice Hall America: Pathways to the Present. Boston, MA: Pearson Prentice Hall, 2007. 152-53. Print.
Royer, Jordan. “Hurricane Sandy and the importance of being FEMA”, Crosscut.com, Crosscut.com, Web. 1 Nov 2012, 3 May 2014.
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.
Seawalls: Good or Bad? Walter Cavanaugh and Gary Grossman have a serious dilemma. Their entire households were literally falling away from them. Their houses on Indio Drive in the Sunset Palisades Planning Area in Pismo Beach rest atop a bluff that protrudes into the sea.
Hurricane Katrina has affected the lives of thousands of Americans. According to Anne Waple of NOAA’s National Climate Data Center, Katrina is “one of the most devastating natural disasters in recent US history” leaving “At least 80% of New Orleans…under flood water”. Film director, Spike Lee, in his documentary, When the Levees Broke, looks into the lives of the people of New Orleans that was affected by Hurricane Katrina. Lee’s purpose is to address racial disparities, political issues, and the discrimination against helping victims during the storm. He adopts a straightforward tone from the victims and outsiders in order to illustrate how the residents of New Orleans were affected by failures of the government for the duration of Katrina, before and after. Despite the government programs and their slow attempt to help, the government did not act quickly in the events of Hurricane Katrina because many residents of New Orleans did not receive the great amount of aid they were promised.
The Coast Guard, for instance, rescued some 34,000 people in New Orleans alone, and many ordinary citizens commandeered boats, offered food and shelter, and did whatever else they could to help their neighbors. Yet the government–particularly the federal government–seemed unprepared for the disaster. The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) took days to establish operations in New Orleans, and even then did not seem to have a sound plan of action. Officials, even including President George W. Bush, seemed unaware of just how bad things were in New Orleans and elsewhere: how many people were stranded or missing; how many homes and businesses had been damaged; how much food, water and aid was needed. Katrina had left in her wake what one reporter called a “total disaster zone” where people were “getting absolutely
“When I saw my house three weeks after the storm, I was glad it stood, but I knew it was time for change. Now, five years later, I have learned that for me to enjoy the beauty of this place, there is a cost to bear. I love this place and am here to stay, but I have to invest more than I had imagined. The hurricane has greatly affected our lives, but not only in a bad way.” Gene understands that the story does not end with just the damage, but also what it contributes to the future.
Only 26 miles long and not even 1 mile wide, Topsail Island offers a unique environment blending the Atlantic Ocean and the Intercostal Waterway. Although mostly peaceful and scenic, the vast beach that stretches the entire length of the island and the plethora of colorful summer homes that crowd the limited space are prone to obliteration. Extremely susceptible to hurricanes, Topsail survives off federal aid to rebuild and redevelop. There are more tourist traps and junk store littered about the island than grocery stores due to FEMA and the Federal government pouring millions of dollars into the salvaging the barrier island, attempting to rebuild the beaches and consequently boosting the economy and tourism. Though known to be a sinkhole for federal subsidies, the island sponsors numerous environmental projects protecting local wildlife and promoting sustainability. Following frequent destruction from hurricanes over the past two decades, Topsail Island has responded in an ironic manner by both rebuilding and developing while also expanding its growing concern with environmental protection.
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,
... The numerous repercussions of Katrina demonstrates that inaction should not be the government’s approach to large-scale disasters such as hurricanes.
"Hurricane Sandy: One Year Later | FEMA.gov." Hurricane Sandy: One Year Later | FEMA.gov. N.p., 28 Oct. 2013. Web. 04 Dec. 2013. .
The lifestyle of citizens previous to hurricane Katrina was simple and family oriented. To many of those whom lived in New Orleans, New Orleans was there home, is there only home; and ev...
On early morning of August 29th, 2005 on the Gulf Shore near New Orleans, a devastating hurricane struck. It wrecked havoc, demolishing anything in its path. Leaving nothing but mounds of trash. The surviving people were forced to leave due to massive flooding and the destruction of their homes. New Orleans was not the only place hit by Katrina but it was one of the areas that was hit the hardest. Millions of people were affected by this tragedy and the cost range was up in the billions. Crime rates went up, no one had a place to stay and water was polluted. The damage done by Katrina affected New Orleans and the other areas hit years after it struck. Restoration for the areas hit was going to need support from all of America and support groups across the country. No one was ready for this tragedy or could ever predict the horrible outcome.
People did many things to prepare for Hurricane Sandy. Many people who lived on or near the coastline were given evacuation orders by government officials. These areas were likely to experience severe flooding. The people who lived in low elevations along the coast were particularly in danger. These people left their homes in New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut; some were fortunate enough to find a hotel to stay in or relatives to stay with. Others who weren’t as fortunate waited in community shelters. Organizations such as the American Red Cross opened shelters specifically for people who had to leave their homes because of Hurricane Sandy.