Intro
Around the world, natural disasters impact people’s way of life. For example, they cause destruction and take thousands of peoples’ lives. In order to learn about natural disasters, you need to know about the most common natural disasters per region, the preparation across the world, and the aftermath.
Natural Disasters Per Region
Most disasters are prone to a specific area. The US has different natural disasters per region such as the Southwest, Pacific Northwest, Great Plains, South, and the East.
Southwest
In the Southwest, in places like Los Angeles, California, dangerous droughts occur there frequently. The droughts taking place have been caused by limited rainfall and unusually warm weather. This leads to disastrous wildfires. In Los Angeles, the wildfires have burned more than 9.3 million acres of land. For example, the Napa Valley fire destroyed thousands of buildings and left 22 people dead. The wildfires are powered by high winds that have been known to reach 70 mph, dehydrated plants, and little rain from the droughts. Additionally, the South gets earthquakes. The earthquakes occurring in San Francisco and Los Angeles occur because according to Jeffery Taylor, California is located in a fault zone, an area where there are cracks in the earth and the land shifts. This shows that the Southwest has underwent multiple wildfires, droughts, and earthquakes.
Pacific Northwest
In the Pacific Northwest, more specifically in Seattle, earthquakes and tsunamis are a large threat. The earthquakes arising have been triggered because like in California, Seattle is located in a fault zone. However, the tsunami the city is expecting will be caused by a large earthquake leading to a sudden disturbance in the sea’s surface. The next year-around, costly threat to the Pacific Northwest is wildfires. For example, the Carlton Fire in Washington cost the state over 3 billion dollars and left thousands of people without homes. The Carlton Fire was caused by climate change, longer and dryer summers, and more people moving to remote and fire prone areas. The last pricy but occasional threat to the Pacific Northwest is landslides. In a New York Times video they talked about the 2014 landslide in Oslo, Washington, “in 2014 when a landslide buried the town of Oslo in Washington, roughply 3 times the volume of mud as there is concrete in the Hoover Dam covered the community. In the end, 43 were dead with an estimated cost of 50 million dollars” (Do). This confirms that the Pacific Northwest faces mostly earthquakes, tsunamis, wildfires, and landslides.
Great Plains
In the Great Plains, a farmer’s paradise, they experience hail storms very frequently. According to the New York Times video, on average, the Great Plains experiences about 500,000 thousand hail storms a year. Their storms can carry hail bigger than a softball and fall at speeds faster than 100 miles per hour. Additionally, the Great Plains, especially in Oklahoma and Kansas, has gone through multiple tornadoes. Oklahoma had been hit by two Category 5 tornadoes in the last 20 years. The tornadoes fueled by high winds and flat landscapes has cost the state 1.8 billion dollars in damage. This reveals that the Great Plains most common natural disasters are hail and tornadoes.
South
In the South, especially in Florida, they are frequently hit by destructive hurricanes and flooding. For example, Hurricane Michael damaged three-quarters of the buildings on Mexico Beach. The vicious Category 4 hurricane was believed to be powered by global warming. Florida attorney Mr. King said, “I believe the planet’s getting warmer and the storms are getting stronger. We didn’t used to have storm like this. So people who live on the coast have to be ready for it” (Mazzei). This shows that climate change plays a role in the way natural disasters affecting the society. To add on, Florida was hit by the Category 5 beast, Hurricane Andrew in 1992. As result from the hurricanes powerful winds, Florida gets flooded. In New Orleans, flooding resulting from a hurricane caused the state 40 million dollars in damage showing how the South has mostly suffered hurricanes and flooding.
East
In the East, the natural disasters depend upon the season. For example, during the winter, the East coast is almost always hit by snow; and although that might sound fun, it’s not. During the 2014 Polar Vortex, Boston got buried under 9 feet of snow later resulting in 3 billion dollars of economic damage! Does it still sound like fun? Additionally, during the other seasons, the East has experienced and lost billions of dollars to flooding and hurricanes. For instance, the 2012 Hurricane Sandy. The devastating hurricane left New York City flooded and without power for days. Fortunately according to the New York Times, the East coast is home to two of the safest capitals in the US, upstate Vermont and New York.
Preparations Across the World
Cities around the world all have different ways to prepare for natural disasters. This section will specifically examine how some of the US’s major cities and cities around the world prepare.
Architecture Preparations in the United States
All places differ in the way they prepare for natural disasters. For example, Los Angeles is preparing for their next earthquake by requesting people to strengthen their buildings. According to MIT editor and writer, Jeffrey Taylor, “Los Angeles is requiring owners of about 15,000 weaker buildings to strengthen them against earthquakes” (Taylor). In addition to that, San Francisco is requiring that apartment buildings built with less-sturdy wood frames to be retrofitted or remolded be strengthened against earthquakes. San Francisco is also putting together shelters, is making websites with earthquake information, is preparing their emergency service teams on how to create a shelter. As stated by Trent Rhorer, the head of the San Francisco’s Human Service Agency, “We have more than 100 facilities that (in total) can shelter 60,000 people — rec centers, churches and other buildings — so we are certainly prepared. Obviously, with shelter, feeding, medical and other needs, it will be a logistical challenge, and there is always room for improvement” (Fagan). Kevin Fagan, a long time writer and author for the San Francisco Chronicle later explained, “The city runs regular training sessions for citizen emergency response teams and maintains a website portal with information on that and other get-ready measures. And on Thursday, as Kelly and others toured the retrofit project, emergency crews gathered at St. Mary’s Cathedral to run a four-hour drill on creating a disaster shelter” (Fagan).
This shows how San Francisco and Los Angles are preparing differently because San Francisco is focusing on protecting their people while Los Angeles is focusing more on keeping the buildings up. Additionally, New York City is prioritizing their subways after the 2012 Hurricane Sandy. According to Dan Zarrilli, New York’s director of climate policy programs, New York is installing multiple devices to help prevent water from flooding the subways. For example, the Sandy Flood Mitigation Program is placing 80 pound stoplogs which can hold up to 14 feet of water, around the subways. Next, they are installing 3,000 pound marine doors in the subway entrances to help seal them from water. Additionally, according to the programs director, Robert Laga, they are installing over 3,000 mechanical closure devices into the vents of the city. These vents can be activated by hand and close the vents to prevent water from flowing in. Lastly, the company is placing multiple Flex-Gate’s in subway entrancesto help protect them from up to 16 feet of water. Based on this, it’s clear that the US’s architecture natural disaster preparations are different.
Preparations Around the World
Like in the US, cities around the world prepare for natural disasters in their own way. For example, in Peru’s capital, Lima, the government frequently holds nationwide earthquake evacuation drills to help inform its citizens about what to do if an earthquake was to strike. Additionally in Japan, since they have experienced many natural disasters, they are doing a lot more.
To start, Japan has a law to make all houses, schools, office buildings and other structures’ earthquake resistant. While building structures, they need to include Teflon, rubber, or fluid-filled bases to allow the building to move with the shock or absorb it. Next, Japan’s smartphones are automatically installed with an earthquake and tsunami emergency alert system app. According to Lucy Daymon, a Japan journalist, the apps are “…triggered around five to ten seconds prior to the impending disasters, it’s meant to give users time to quickly seek protection if necessary. The system chants “Jishin desu! Jishin desu!” (translating to “There is an earthquake”) until the earthquake stops” (Dayman). She also mentioned that Japan has earthquake-ready bullet trains. She said that the trains are installed with earthquake sensors that are able to freeze every moving train in the country if needed. For example, in 2011 when a 9.0 magnitude earthquake struck Japan, the sensor stopped 27 bullet trains and resulted in no deaths. Japan also has TV coverage and earthquake survival kits.
When there is an earthquake, all of Japan’s TV channels change to an official earthquake coverage page that delivers information on how to stay safe. The earthquake survival kits which can be found at any lifestyle or drugstore hold first aid kits, bottled water, food, gloves, face masks, insulation sheets, and survival tools such as torches and radios. Also, Japan has earthquake education disaster prevention lessons within their schools. For example, Japan holds earthquake drills, children are educated on how to stay safe in an earthquake, and schools take field trips to the fire department where the children get put into earthquake simulators. Next, Japan has over 60 earthquake education centers. Within the centers, people go into real life earthquake simulators and are taught about earthquake survival. For example, Tokyo’s Rinkai Disaster Prevention Park gives visitors “…an action packed experience.
Visitors start by escaping from a stalled elevator and then crawling through a dark maze of hallways. When they find the exit, they step into a simulated disaster scene. Sirens wail and broken power lines spark. They’re quizzed as they make their way through the simulation” (Doughton). Lastly, Japan has water discharge tunnels to collect water if they have a cyclone or tsunami. The tunnel redirects the water into the Edo River and cost them 3 billion dollars to build. Next up, Mexico. Mexico City is using earthquake warning systems to detect first waves of an earthquake and send out warnings. So, if an earthquake were to hit, radio stations, TV’s, and mobile phones would get an alert. Based on this, the world’s cities all have different focuses when preparing for the next natural disaster. Los Angeles and San Francisco focus on keeping buildings up, New York focuses on protecting their subways, Peru focuses on keeping their people safe, Japan focuses on saving lives and buildings, and Mexico focuses on protecting its people.
Natural Disaster Aftermath
Natural disasters cause millions of dollars in damage and kill loads of people. This section will observe how much money the US has lost and how much land has been destroyed by different natural disasters.
Earthquakes
According to Jeffrey Taylor, the Earth experiences hundreds of earthquakes a day. These deadly earthquakes take hundreds of lives and destroy cities along with it. So, how much are we really losing to these deadly disasters? Well, on the South coast of the US alone, we have lost over 700 million dollars to earthquakes. More specifically, to preparing the damage earthquakes gave us. To add on, during the September of 2017, Mexico City lost 400 of its citizens to an earthquake. Additionally, US Geological Survey scientists said that “a 7.0 magnitude earthquake is likely to kill at least 800 people throughout the Bay Area, leave 150,000 people homeless and cause losses of more than $1.5 trillion. At least 400 fires will ignite, potentially engulfing 50,000 homes” (Fagan). This quote examines how much damage an average, everyday earthquake can cause.
Droughts, Wildfires, Landslides
Droughts, one of the most common causes for wildfires has been occurring more frequently. The droughts caused by California’s warm weather and limited rainfall was recently said to be, “… a heartbreaker” (Do). In California, droughts have cost the state over 4 billion dollars in lost crops, sinking land, and lost revenue. These devastating droughts lead to more disastrous wildfires. In 2017, a wildfire left more than 300 homes and buildings destroyed and 5,600 buildings damaged. Additionally, wildfires have burned more than 9.2 million acres of land, which is more land than the state of Maryland. Wildfires have also caused California over 10 billion dollars in damages. In October, a Napa Valley fire killed 22 people and made the California Department of Forestry and Fire protection call it a “very difficult and trying year” from all the fires they’ve been put up against. In the Pacific Northwest, more specifically in Washington, they have lost 3.9 billion dollars to wildfires. The money went to controlled burns, fueled removal, getting rid of the fires, and reconstruction. Finally, landslides; landslides have been a large threat to the Pacific Northwest. For example, in 2014 when a landslide buried the town of Oslo in Washington, it left 43 people dead and cost the community 50 million dollars in damage.
Hurricanes, Flooding, Hail
Hurricanes, one of the world’s most common natural disasters has cost the US millions of dollars and can happen almost anywhere. In Florida, when Hurricane Michael stuck Mexico Beach, it damaged three-quarters of the buildings. Florida attorney, Mr. King said, “The duplexes next door were wiped out. Three homes across the streets were leveled down to concrete slabs. A fourth house, standing but much of the roof and some walls caved in..” (Mazzei). As a result of the hurricanes, Florida had 40 million dollars in damage. Then, there is flooding, one of the pricier natural disasters. In the South, flooding resulting from a New Orleans hurricane cost the state over 1 billion dollars in damage. Additionally in New York, Hurricane Sandy cost the city “billions” of dollars in damage as well. Finally, as harmless as it may seem, hail is one of the most pricy natural disasters. The hail in the Great Plains can be bigger than a softball and fall at speeds faster than 100 miles per hour. Also, it cost them over 2.4 billion dollars in damage!
Conclusion
All across the world, dangerous natural disasters take lives and destroy cities. You needed to know the most common natural disasters per region, the preparation across the world, and the aftermath; and now you do. But, Florida’s Govenver, Rick Scott, asked the question we should all be asking ourselves, “Is there something we can do better?”
