Typhoon Yolanda, or internationally known as Typhoon Haiyan, struck the central part of the Philippines but greatly affected the eastern part of Visayas region on November 8, 2013. According to PAGASA it has a maximum sustained winds of not less than 250 kph, gusts up to 312 kph, and a 21 feet storm surge. According to the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), it is said to be the strongest typhoon that has made a landfall to date, and probably the typhoon that has the most number of casualties as it leaves with more than 2500 fatalities, not including those who are missing. Moreover infrastructures such as town buildings and halls, public roads, schools, hospitals, and even farmlands are greatly devastated resulting into a more problematic and hostile environment for the victims.
More than the issues of great devastation in the affected areas of Visayas such as Tacloban, and Eastern Samar, let me explore into the different scope of what typhoon Yolanda had brought to our government. In the light of preparing for the coming the storm, the government both national and local units, had warned the public about the possible harm and consequences that the coming storm may bring. In fact, there were preparations made such as deploying armies to the projected areas that will be hit by the storm, packing of some relief goods for the possible numbers of affected families, and evacuation of some residents to safer areas. These were done primarily because the government aims for zero causality, since they were given warnings ahead of time.
However, zero casualty is not obviously achieved, as stated above death toll continues to rise and according to an international newsman, Anderson Copper, “the devastation brought by t...
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...nd arduous process, and to the communities that need to be rehabilitated as quickly and efficiently as possible.” he said. Moreover, I think that the website was also done to harness trust from the international community. I think that it is also their right to know how their given aids were utilized.
All in all, typhoon Yolanda is not just a mere illustration of a devastating storm but as to how the Philippine government works. As illustrated in light of typhoon Yolanda, the people were able to see how the two units of the government works hand in hand, and in spite of such existence, the president is still put into blame. This could imply how weak our local government units are to the extent that they could not effectively and efficiently manage their constituencies. Moreover, it also illustrates how foreign relations greatly helped the Philippine government.
On August 24th, 1992 in the state of Florida, complete destruction was the end result of Hurricane Andrew. A Hurricane that began in the Atlantic ocean at 20mph. That is almost twice the strength that normal hurricanes begin at. The peak strength of Hurricane Andrew was so strong that devices were not able to measure the winds. An approximation of the force of the winds was said to be up to 200mph. Andrew destroyed about 28,000 homes, damaged 100,000 homes and left 250,000 people homeless along with 30 billion dollars in damage and almost 30 deaths. Hurricane Andrew did not end its devastation in Florida, soon it went to Louisiana causing more damage. (Fig.1)
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
After a disaster hits, it takes a long time for the local and state government to regain its basic functions and to draft redevelopment plans (Olshansky et al., 2008). With malfunctioning government, it is hard to start the recovery process promptly and citizens who are in need of immense amount of economic and social support suffer from lack of resources and public services.
...clearly communicate with one another in the periods before, during and after the storm combined with confusing organizational jurisdictions and bad policy severely hindered the federal government’s response to Katrina. In order to prevent a repeat of those mistakes, the federal government needs to put into place new procedures for disaster response and recovery. These procedures must be clear and concise with minimal bureaucracy so that response time will be maximized and leaders will know exactly what authority they have. Federal, state and local governments need to increase preparation and prevention measures while gaining a better understanding of the relationship between physical geography and city planning. This combined with improvements in resource management and communication, will go to show that the government has truly learned from the lessons of Katrina.
In summary, the events of Hurricane Katrina had left a lasting and devastating impact on not only the general public, but also those within public safety including local, state and federal agencies. The storm had affected nearly hundreds of square miles resulting in thousands of casualties, and people misplaced with no homes to go to as well. In addition, there were many contributing factors that had resulted in major life, including the geography of New Orleans, how the levees around New Orleans were built, as well as the lack of coordination between local, state and federal officials.
When a natural disaster such as Hurricane Katrina struck the Gulf Coast in 2005 the shock of the destruction quickly became evident with the storm’s aftermath. There was the need for an organized response, however the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) was not ready for the magnitude or the severity of damage to adequately and successfully react. FEMA was confronted with a series of events following the disaster in which the agency failed to take control and communicate in helping remedy the catastrophic situation. There was the lack of management in coordinating transportation evacuation measures, supplying needed materials and food as well as housing to the citizens, specifically in New Orleans. The failure of our nation’s Federal Emergency Management Agency to efficiently respond to Hurricane Katrina led to a serious of negative events caused by insufficient planning.
Spink, Gemma. "AIDS." AVERTing HIV and AIDS. 23 Dec 2009. Web. 11 Jan 2010. .
Failure to properly plan and interoperability between cities and local authorities be came on of the biggest downfalls of Hurricane Katrina. The communication was practically not exist and between those needing help and those able to provide said help. Those who had form of communication were stuck on switchboards and didn’t know if they desperate calls would be answered. The authorities did not have reliable commination or methods of helping the community members in need. A massive issue that is still relevant to our government system and played tremendous role in the time that elapsed before relief was given boils down the “he said she said” bureaucratic tendencies. Each agency and personal was claiming that the other was not providing the details or information required to for that level to assist the other. FEMA claimed at one point during the aftermath of Katrina that Louisiana was acting for some form of assistance but was provided details for what type of help was required or specific items that where needed. Member of the disaster relief efforts in Louisiana provided a 48-page document as proof the public that they had been asked in detail for help but that help never came (Th...
Hurricane Hugo was a tragic natural disaster that completely altered the lives of many people affected by it. In 1989, the year I was born, my parents and I lived on an oceanfront lot in Myrtle Beach. When Hugo struck, most of the city was flooded, with some areas under twenty five inches of water. A clear evacuation plan was presented, which most of the city’s residents followed, traveling north to Greenville. When we returned to our house, we found nothing but rubble and debris piled up in twelve inches of salt water. The President flew to the areas affected by Hugo to view the devastation, and immediately gr...
The government response was lackluster at best. The scenarios the government war gamed in order to prepare for mass destruction and disaster was not adequate enough to contain the unanticipated damage caused by Hurricane Katrina and failing levees. Once breached, the rescue and response to the...
middle of paper ... ... Unlike other travesties that help to make the community stronger, this just pulls communities apart. To make matters worse, over the course of just six years, seventy-five million people have died. There are about fifteen million in Southwest Asia.
...ld Health Organization (WHO) report shows that, most people living with HIV or at risk for HIV do not have access to treatment, care and prevention and there is still no cure. In spite of these challenges, there have been successes. Global efforts have been made to address the epidemic, specifically in the last decade. The HIV prevalence rates have been reduced in a small but growing number of countries due to prevention and new HIV infections are believed to be on the decline. In addition to this, the number of people with HIV receiving treatment in resource poor countries has increased 10 times since 2002, nearing an estimated 4 million by 2008.
On November 12th, 1970, the deadliest cyclone in the history of Bangladesh, formerly East Pakistan, struck around the northwest shores of the Bay of Bengal. East Pakistan was undergoing widespread poverty at the time, leading to a wide range of uncertainty in the death toll of the cyclone (Encyclopedia 501). Tensions between East and West Pakistan were at large at the time, leading West Pakistan to be disinclined to assisting East Pakistan in recovering from the storm (History 4). This became a factor to the national mutilation of East Pakistan (Geol 1). This calamity is by no means the strongest storm in history. The storm merely struck the worst possible place at the worst possible time (Disaster 172). Due to this, Bhola is frequently recognized as the most devastating tropical storm in history (International 5).
Beginning as nothing more than a tropical wave off the western coast of Africa, no one ever expected a monster like Hurricane Andrew to plow through the southern half of the united States, leaving everything in it’s trail destroyed and the people devastated. Andrew was officially recognized as a tropical storm on August 17, 1992 and continued to whirl through the Atlantic, gaining speed and a great deal of power. On August 22, 1992 Andrew finally mustered enough strength to evolve into a terrifying category four hurricane. On August 23, 1992 Andrew began claimed three lives of innocent Bahamian citizens, rushing through the island at one-hundred and fifty. The next morning Andrew finally touch-downed near Homestead causing a wave of panic to ripple throughout Florida, Texas, and Louisiana and the citizens to evacuate by the thousands and take cover.
A tropical cyclone is a warm-core, low-pressure system producing high winds that spiral counter-clockwise (in the northern hemisphere) and inward, with the highest winds near the center of circulation. The large counter-clockwise and inward flow is characteristic of the nearly symmetric structure of tropical cyclones as they are comprised of rain bands spiraling toward the center. These warm-core storms typically form over the tropical and subtropical oceans and extract their energy from the heat content of the oceans.