Flood In Florida Panhandle

As Hurricanes Katrina, Rita, and Wilma successively lashed the gulf coast starting in late August 2005, nature’s fury exposed serious weaknesses in the United States’ emergency response capabilities. Not all emergencies pose this magnitude of challenge. In the United States, the initial—and usually major—responsibility for disaster response rests with local authorities. This “bottom-up” system of emergency management has a long history and continues to make sense in most circumstances. Core Challenges for Large-Scale Disaster

The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) would become the central point-of-contact within the national government in responding to incidents. Since formation in 1979, FEMA’s core missions were to enhance the government’s ability to survive a foreign attack, and to assist state and local authorities in disaster response (Carafano, 2005). And while the two core missions seem heterogenous in scope at times from an outside perspective, the biggest difference between the two tasks is duration. A man-made disaster may be over in a matter of minutes as compared to a hurricane lasting several days, but in both instances the road to recovery is long. In order to streamline response and recovery in either scenario, FEMA was reorganized with new directives to support comprehensive emergency management practices (CRS, 2006). Today, FEMA provides the standard approach and guidance that many local communities may not have due to funding, training, and

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

Editor’s Note: This Chapter is the continuation of an adaptation of a state plan for disaster preparation and response. In total, the original chapter comprises Chapters 1, 14, 16-18.

This is the story of a hurricane. Before Hurricane Harvey came, I stocked up non-perishable foods just in case power outage, filled up the gas tank and charged the devices. Watching the meteorologist in different stations gave me an anxiety attack. They were saying we were going to have thirty to forty inches of rain, flooded streets and houses. That was day one on Friday. Day two on Saturday I was in the house all day watching the news and the forecast. I was asking myself what happened to the rain or the meteorologist exaggerated? That’s not until I watched the Pre-Texan game when the rain started pouring down. About half way to the game my light started going on and off. Hoping my light does not turn off, of course, it did, but luckily

Packing 145-mile-an-hour winds as it made landfall, the category 3 storm left more than a million people in three states without power and submerged highways even hundreds of miles from its center. The hurricane’s storm surge — a 29-foot wall of water pushed ashore when the hurricane struck the Gulf Coast — was the highest ever measured in the United States. Levees failed in New Orleans, resulting in political and social upheavals that continued a half decade later. (Laforet, New York Times)

The whole world observed as the administration responders appeared incapable to provide essential protection from the effects of nature. The deprived response results from a failure to accomplish a number of risk factors (Moynihan, 2009). The dangers of a major hurricane striking New Orleans had been measured, and there was sufficient warning of the threat of Katrina that announcements of emergency were made days in advance of landfall (Moynihan, 2009). Nonetheless, the responders were unsuccessful to change this information into a level of preparation suitable with the possibility of the approaching disaster. Federal responders failed to recognize the need to more actively engage (Moynihan, 2009). These improvements include improved ability to provide support to states and tribes ahead of a disaster; developed a national disaster recovery strategy to guide recovery efforts after major disasters and emergencies; and the Establishment of Incident Management Assistance Teams in which these full time, rapid response teams are able to deploy within two hours and arrive at an incident within 12 hours to support the local incident commander (FEMA,

On April 18, 2016 Yahoo reports Houston, Texas have flooding that forces residents to move out their homes and live in a nearby shelter. The flooding causes damage to the electricity lines, foreclosures of freeways, and forcing schools to close down because of the weather. One million students got the day off including workers. It’s deeply saddened that five victims were dead in this weather. There is over 450 water rescue and victims were transported to the mall to shelter away until the storm passes. It’s hard for people to drive in the freeway because the water can be up to 15 feet deep. The weather causes frustration toward the Houston resident.

In May of 2015, a slow moving storm producing record amounts of rainfall and tornados caused flash floods across Texas and Oklahoma causing mass destruction and many causalities. Flooding in Texas and Oklahoma does not happen often in most areas. Some areas have not seen rainfall totals like what was seen in May for more than 50 years. The flooding in May of 2015 was the most widespread and record breaking. In some areas houses were ripped from their foundations. In Wimberley, Texas, a family was still in the house as it washed away, killing a mother and her two children. Trees were uprooted as well as lakes, rivers and creeks overflowed their banks. Streets and interstates were shut down because of the flooding. A tornado, touching down

Floods are common natural disasters that occur all over the world. Flooding has devastating impacts on the lives of people who are affected by the disaster. Floods can ruin crops, demolish homes, take innocent lives and cause many other types of hardships. These disasters can also leave people with a financial burden and emotional effects. Studies have shown that floods have led to various sickness and health complications. This common disaster has recently taken place in the state of Louisiana. Louisiana has been suffering from an enormous flood and has left people without homes, without food, and without personal belongings.

In today’s world, there has been one disaster or another, and hurricanes are one of those disasters that always happens. But, for one reason or another we are never prepared or understand the danger of any type of hurricane over a category one. Most of us have been through many hurricanes, like this learner who has lived in Miami, Fla. for over 30 years, and experienced her last hurricane which was Hurricane Andrew. Warnings are always given, first responders are trained to all ways be on alert, and FEMA is supposed to be ready to jump in once the storm has done its damage. But we can never be prepared, because hurricanes are unpredictable, and can become deadly for citizens and create millions of dollars in damages. Within this post we will discuss Hurricane Katrina, preparedness and Emergency management before and after the disaster.

This chapter provides an overview that describes the basic types of hazards threatening the United States and provides definitions for some basic terms such as hazards, emergencies, and disasters. The chapter also provides a brief history of emergency management in the federal government and a general description of the current emergency management system—including the basic functions performed by local emergency managers. The chapter concludes with a discussion of the all-hazards approach and its implications for local emergency management.

Every emergency or disaster, from a small house fire to a hurricane that devastates entire communities, have a distinct cycle. This is

On August 29, 2009, Hurricane Katrina struck the United States Gulf Coast. It was a Category 3 Hurricane, according to the Saffir Simpson Scale. Winds gusted to up to 140 miles per hour, and the hurricane was almost 400 miles wide . The storm itself did a tremendous amount of damage, but the storm’s aftermath was cataclysmic. Many claimed that the federal government was slow to meet the needs of the hundreds of thousands of people affected by the storm. This paper will examine the four elements of disaster management – preparedness, response, recovery, and mitigation – as well as an analysis on the data presented.

“Natural disasters have killed more than 600,000 people and left behind trillions of dollars in damages in the last two decades, the United Nations said Monday.” (Chan) Extreme weather has caused millions of casualties and extreme damages over the years, but lately there has been an increase in severe weather events. This is causing problems in the US, with the amount of tornadoes rising in tornado alley “Tennessee experienced a 67 percent increase in tornado activity in 1983-2013 compared to the 1954-1983 time period. Oklahoma experienced a nearly 35 percent decrease in tornadoes in 1983-2013 compared to 1954-1983.”