Hazards and Disaster Management in America

Outline of lecture 1.Major hazard and disaster zones in America  Natural and man made disasters – emphasis on natural disasters 2.Hurricanes and hurricane regions 3.Elements at risk in America 4.Lessons that can be learned from Cuba

References List of United States disasters by death toll at disasters_by_death_toll disasters_by_death_toll al/stories/10-disasters

 Most environmental disasters — lie outside human control, but some of the world’s most devastating catastrophes were caused by people.   As mankind continues to pursue fuel, food and building materials, we’re polluting ecosystems and destroying the planet we depend on for survival.  Major environmental disasters in America are associated with:

1.Earthquakes hazards 2.Volcano hazards 3.Landslide hazards 4.Magnetic field variations 5.Tsunamis 6.Tornadoes 7.Hurricanes 8.Wildlife fire hazards 9.Floods 10.Droughts

Earthquakes in America stmhttp://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/ stm

 Ninety percent (90%) of all earthquakes occur along the plate boundaries. The Americas are the major landmasses of three plates (North and South American and Caribbean).  Almost all of the known major earthquakes in the Americas have occurred along the western edges of these three plates, where they are overriding or sliding past the Pacific, Cocos, Nazca, and associated smaller plates

 The areas of greatest hazard are along the subduction plate boundaries of Alaska, Central America, South America, the eastern Caribbean and México, the transform plate boundaries of the northern Caribbean and western U.S., and the southeast coast of Hawaii.  Although Hawaii is not near a plate boundary, it is a hot-spot?, where whole-plate (rather than intraplate) tectonic processes dominate.

 The 1960 Chile (M 9.5) and the 1964 Alaska (M 9.2) subduction zone earthquakes are the largest earthquakes ever recorded.  Deadly earthquakes  s/info-HAITIQUAKE1001.html s/info-HAITIQUAKE1001.html

 Exposure and vulnerability to the effects of earthquakes is increasing as urban centers grow, especially in tectonically active areas.  The economic and social effects of earthquakes can be reduced through a comprehensive assessment of seismic hazard and risk that leads to increased public awareness, seismically sensitive land-use planning, and the implementation of seismically sound building construction codes.

 The 2010 Haiti earthquake struck on January 12, 2010 at 16:53 local time with a magnitude of 7.0 and had an epicenter near the town of Leogane, which is almost 25 km (16 miles) west of Haiti’s capital, Port-au-Prince.  Earthquakes can affect the normal activities of people through ground shaking, surface rupture, and tectonic deformation.  Secondary effects include landslides, liquefaction, tsunamis, seiches, and fires. The ground shaking potential at the earth's surface is known as seismic hazard.

 Till January 24, there were almost 52 recorded aftershocks which measured up to 4.5 magnitude and some were even greater.  According to estimates, some 3 million people were affected by the disaster, with a death toll of around 316,000 people and 300,000 injured and 1,000,000 approximately became homeless. Around 30,000 commercial buildings are said to have been destroyed completely.  The disaster management became a serious problem during this natural crisis as delays were caused in distributing aid and even violence is reported to have been observed.

 The communication also became as problem since Haitians only language is Haitian Creole, because of which a machine translation program was quickly written to translate English and their local language. Haiti is the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere ranking at 149th out of 182 countries on the Human Development Index  The country’s whole education system has collapsed with almost 1,300 schools and three main universities in Port-au-Prince destroyed.

Some of the aid and rescue workers also died. Almost above 90 per cent of rubble remains uncleared till date. Around $1.1 billion were donated for the relief efforts, but only two per cent of the money has been given so far. Damage in Haiti 1. fo-HAITI1001.htmlhttp://online.wsj.com/public/resources/documents/in fo-HAITI1001.html 2. fo-HAITI_BEFORE_AND_AFTER_1001.htmlhttp://online.wsj.com/public/resources/documents/in fo-HAITI_BEFORE_AND_AFTER_1001.html

Tsunami warning issued for Hawaii after massive 7.7- magnitude earthquake strikes off British Columbia coast. Read the story at: /Tsunami-warning-issued-powerful- earthquake-strikes-western-Canada.html /Tsunami-warning-issued-powerful- earthquake-strikes-western-Canada.html

Check a tsunami animation at:  - Click the play button to continue  72.stm 72.stm  wf - also explore large Tsunamis since wf

 The country with the lowest risk of disaster in America is…………Uruguay.  This fairly small nation in South America is home to few, if any, natural disasters. There is occasional flooding, but not the sort of thing that makes international headlines for its massive destruction.  There are no earthquakes, hurricanes, volcanic activity, etc. There are also no nuclear plants in the country.  Uruguay also has a small, ethnically homogeneous population with a poorly funded government that’s incapable of financing totalitarian control of its people. Uruguay’s fascist military government is part of its unfortunate past, not its brighter future.

Hurricanes 1. stmhttp://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/ stm

 The destruction caused by hurricanes in the Caribbean and Central America is a force that has shaped history and will shape the future of the region. The danger arises from a combination of factors that characterize tropical cyclonic storms: rise in sea level, violent winds, and heavy rainfall.  "Tropical cyclone" is the scientific term for a closed meteorological circulation that develops over tropical waters. These large-scale non-frontal low- pressure systems occur throughout the world over zones referred to as "tropical cyclone basins.

 The name for them varies: in the Atlantic and northeast Pacific they are called "hurricanes" after the Mayan word for devil, in the northwest Pacific "typhoons," and in the South Pacific and Indian Ocean simply "cyclones."  Of all tropical cyclone occurrences, 75 percent develop in the northern hemisphere, and of these, only one out of three are hurricanes in the northeast Pacific or northwest Atlantic. The storms of the northern hemisphere travel westward; those of the southern hemisphere move eastward.

 In the Atlantic tropical cyclone basin, which includes the Atlantic Ocean, the Caribbean Sea, and the Gulf of Mexico, hurricanes originate mostly in the northern Atlantic and to a lesser degree in the Caribbean.  The areas most at risk are the Caribbean island countries north of Trinidad, Mexico and the southeastern United States, Central America north of Panama, and to a limited extent the northern coast of South America

 Hurricanes also originate in the northeast Pacific, where they can affect the west coast of Mexico.  Most of South America is essentially at no risk, because the tropical southwestern Atlantic and the southeastern Pacific are devoid of these meteorological occurrences, but systems originating on the west coast of Africa can potentially strike the northernmost part of the continent; for example, in 1988 Hurricane Joan formed on the northwestern coast of Africa and struck the coast of Venezuela and Colombia before hitting eastern Nicaragua.

 The distinct stages of hurricane development are defined by the "sustained velocity" of the system's winds-the wind velocity readings maintained for at least one minute near the center of the System. In the formative stages of a hurricane, the closed isobaric circulation is called a tropical depression.  If the sustained velocity of the winds exceeds 63km/h (39 mph), it becomes a tropical storm. At this stage it is given a name and is considered a threat. When the winds exceed 119km/h (74 mph), the system becomes a hurricane, the most severe form of tropical storm.

 Decay occurs when the storm moves into nontropical waters or strikes a landmass. If it travels into a nontropical environment it is called a subtropical storm and subtropical depression; if landfall occurs. the winds decelerate and it becomes again a tropical storm and depression.

 The original name lists featured only women's names. In 1979, men's names were introduced and they alternate with the women's names. Six lists are used in rotation. Thus, the 2008 list will be used again in  The only time that there is a change in the list is if a storm is so deadly or costly that the future use of its name on a different storm would be inappropriate for reasons of sensitivity. If that occurs, then at an annual meeting by the WMO committee the offending name is stricken from the list and another name is selected to replace it.

 Several names have been changed since the lists were created. For example, on the 2007 list (which will be used again in 2013), Dorian has replaced Dean, Fernand has replaced Felix, and Nestor has replaced Noel.

Arthur Bertha Cristobal Dolly Edouard Fay Gustav Hanna Ike Josephine Kyle Laura Marco Nana Omar Paloma Rene Sally Teddy Vicky Wilfred Ana Bill Claudette Danny Erika Fred Grace Henri Ida Joaquin Kate Larry Mindy Nicholas Odette Peter Rose Sam Teresa Victor Wanda Alex Bonnie Colin Danielle Earl Fiona Gaston Hermine Igor Julia Karl Lisa Matthew Nicole Otto Paula Richard Shary Tomas Virginie Walter Arlene Bret Cindy Don Emily Franklin Gert Harvey Irene Jose Katia Lee Maria Nate Ophelia Philippe Rina Sean Tammy Vince Whitney Alberto Beryl Chris Debby Ernesto Florence Gordon Helene Isaac Joyce Kirk Leslie Michael Nadine Oscar Patty Rafael Sandy Tony Valerie William Andrea Barry Chantal Dorian Erin Fernand Gabrielle Humberto Ingrid Jerry Karen Lorenzo Melissa Nestor Olga Pablo Rebekah Sebastien Tanya Van Wendy

1.Check the latest hurricane to hit the Caribbean and the United States at /Hurricane-Sandy-2012-update-Misery-UK- holidaymakers-flights-US-cancelled-New-York-City- shuts-down.html /Hurricane-Sandy-2012-update-Misery-UK- holidaymakers-flights-US-cancelled-New-York-City- shuts-down.html 1.Note its path and Trail of destruction 2.Look at its influence of air travel at

See the latest from Hurricane Sandy - the trail of destruction /Superstorm-Sandy-500-trapped-devastation- East-Coast-Atlantic-City-bears-brunt.htmlhttp:// /Superstorm-Sandy-500-trapped-devastation- East-Coast-Atlantic-City-bears-brunt.html /Hurricane-Sandy-2012-One-million-power-New- York-Bloomberg-warns-city-prepare-worst.htmlhttp:// /Hurricane-Sandy-2012-One-million-power-New- York-Bloomberg-warns-city-prepare-worst.html /Hurricane-Sandy-update-Floodwaters-breach- rivers-submerge-towns-storm-century-barrels-East- Coast.html?ICO=most_read_modulehttp:// /Hurricane-Sandy-update-Floodwaters-breach- rivers-submerge-towns-storm-century-barrels-East- Coast.html?ICO=most_read_module

ENVIRONM ENT DEVELOPMENTCRITERIA Tropical Depressionmax sustained winds < or = 63 km/h (39 miles/h) Tropical Storm63 km/h < sustained winds < 119 km/h (74 miles/h) Hurricanesustained winds > or = 119km/h (74 miles/h) Tropical Depression (dissipation) max sustained winds < or = 63km/h (39 miles/h) Nontropical Subtropical Storm (dissipation) 63km/h < sustained winds < 119km/h (74 miles/h) Subtropical Depression (dissipation) max sustained winds < or = 63km/h (39 miles/h) CLASSIFICATION OF HURRICANE DEVELOPMENT

Hazardous characteristics of hurricanes 1.Winds - Hurricane wind speeds can reach up to 250km/h (155mph) in the wall of the hurricane, and gusts can exceed 360km/h (224mph).The destructive power of wind increases with the square of its speed. Thus, a tripling of wind speed increases destructive power by a factor of nine. Topography plays an important role: wind speed is decreased at low elevations by physical obstacles and in sheltered areas, while it is increased over exposed hill crests 2.Rainfall 3.Storm surge

 Destruction is caused either by the direct impact of the wind or by flying debris. The wind itself primarily damages agricultural crops. Entire forests have been flattened by forces that pulled the tree roots from the earth. Man-made fixed structures are also vulnerable. Tall buildings can shake or even collapse.  The damage caused by a flying car to whatever it strikes will be greater than if the wind had acted alone. Improperly fastened roof sheets or tiles are the most common projectiles. Other frequent objects are antennas, telephone poles, trees, and detached building parts

Rainfall 1.The rains that accompany hurricanes are extremely variable and hard to predict. They can be heavy and last several days or can dissipate in hours. The local topography, humidity, and the forward speed of a hurricane in the incidence of precipitation are recognized as important, but attempts to determine the direct connection have so far proved futile. 2.Intense rainfall causes two types of destruction. 1.The first is from seepage of water into buildings causing structural damage; if the rain is steady and persistent, structures may simply collapse from the weight of the absorbed water. 2.The second, more widespread and common and much more damaging, is from inland flooding, which puts at risk all valleys along with their structures and critical transportation facilities, such as roads and bridges. Chapter 8 describes flooding in more detail.

 Landslides, as secondary hazards, are often triggered by heavy precipitation. Areas with medium to steep slopes become oversaturated and failure occurs along the weakest zones. Thus, low-lying valley areas are not the only sites vulnerable to precipitation.

Storm Surge  A storm surge is a temporary rise in sea level caused by the water being driven over land primarily by the on-shore hurricane force winds and only secondarily by the reduction in sea-level barometric pressure between the eye of the storm and the outer region.  The most vulnerable coastal zones are those with the highest historical frequencies of landfalls. Regardless of its height, the great dome of water is often 150km (93 miles) wide and moves toward the coastline where the hurricane eye makes landfall.