1. Disaster Group Carlos Calante Rachel Carden IDS 3920 Sarah Good Casey Pond

2. Lee county Population : 571,344 Private NonFarm Business: 15,126 Land Area, 2000 (square miles): 803.63 Persons per Square mile: 548.4

3. Wild Fires Thousands of acres of land are up in flames More than unnatural Displaces business, Affects health of majority of lee county population, elderly

4. Wild Fires Picture and video taken by: Carlos Calante

5. Hurricanes Hurricanes that effected Ft. Myers: Hazel, Donna, Isabell, Judith, Abbey, Jenny, Dennis, Bob, Andrew, Gordon, Harvey, Gabrielle, Charley, Wilma. In 1960 Hurricane Donna hit Southwest Florida as a Category 4 140 mph winds 10 to 12 inches of rain in Southwest Florida 1992 Hurricane Andrew hit as a Category 5 hurricane caused 23 deaths and a total of $26.5 billion dollars in damage (38.1 billion 2006) 25% of the Florida Everglades trees were knocked down by the storm. August 13 th 2004 Hurricane Charley made landfall in Southwest Florida 10 direct deaths, 20 indirect deaths, and 13 billion dollars in damage making it the fourth costliest hurricane to hit the United States

6. Hurricanes 145 mph when it hit Port Charlotte Storm surge of 6.5 feet at Captiva Island and created a ¼ mile inlet now know as Charley’s cut It cut off power to as many as two million people in Florida. About 240,000 were still without power a week after Charley made landfall. Damage to the Citrus crop was $150 million Hurricane Wilma hit on October 24 th 2005 Directly responsible for 35 deaths and 26 indirect deaths in Florida Damage in Florida alone caused $20.6 billions dollars in damage FPL stated that Wilma left 6,000,000 people without power

7. Financial Effects Four hurricanes (Charley, Frances, Ivan and Jeanne) and one tropical storm (Bonnie) pummeled the state last year leaving behind more than $50 billion http://www.inc.com/news/articles/200507/florida.html

8. Financial Effects cont. Tax Impact –This swell of economic activity also lined the state's coffers with $2 billion in unexpected tax revenues. Tourism –A record 76 million tourists visited Florida in 2004 and spent nearly $57 billion. –In 2005, 40 billion tourists visited Florida and spent $25 billion Crop and Orange Industry –The $9 billion dollar citrus industry absorbed $2 billion in hurricane-related damages http://www.inc.com/news/articles/200507/florida.html

9. Financial Effects cont. Plan and Preparedness Donations and Taxes help in the aiding for preparing for future inevitable disasters –Donations accumulate millions of dollars each year in the planning of another disaster –Florida in effect has incorporated florida tax relief funds for those affected by hurricanes. Also a multi million dollar fund http://www.cfdiocese.org/news/news06/dplan06.htm

10. Financial Effects Cont. Upside to disasters –According to Enterprise Florida, a public/private partnership working to diversify Florida's economy, 225,000 new, non-agricultural jobs were created in the Sunshine State between May 2004 and May 2005 –With the National Weather Service predicting 12 to 15 storms to form this season -- with half of them becoming full-blown hurricanes -- the Sunshine State's economic future looks bright, even if the weather forecast isn't. http://www.inc.com/news/articles/200507/florida.html

11. Preventing Disasters Building Codes Prescribed Burns Drainage Systems

12. Building Codes Hurricane Straps Polyurethane Foam

13. Prescribed Burns Accumulation of Fuels Manageability Cost Effective

14. Drainage SFWMD C-43 Basin Project Southwest Florida Feasibility Study Gator Slough Improvements

15. Drainage Picture and video taken by: Carlos Calante

16. Preventing Disasters “Economic losses worldwide from natural disasters in the 1990s could have been reduced by $280 billion of just $40 billion had been invested in preventative measures.” - State of the World 2007 p. 123

17. WAIS Divide Antarctica Project View pictures of Antarctica Research Team here: http://picasaweb.google.com/calantec/JoeAntarticaResearchGroup To visit main website click here: http://www.waisdivide.unh.edu/