Federal Emergency Management Agency

1938 the year of one of New England's worst hurricanes with huge waves and record-breaking winds. Many contributing factors such as the conditions and human error and how the impacts made the storm so powerful. Many people were left homeless, injured or in the worst cases, dead. All of this was a recipe for disaster. One of the major events that made the storm so powerful was the conditions. There were winds up to more than one hundred mph. People from the YouTube videos houses were falling…

Three Gorges Dam Built on the historical Yangtze River, the Three Gorges Dam is the world’s largest and most controversial dam to be built. The dam has been the cause for the displacement of an approximated 1.3 million people and is currently wreaking havoc on the environment. The question is, however, was it right for the Chinese government to do this? This question can easily be answered using the Australian method of SHEEP factors; social, historical, economic, environmental, and political.…

Hurricanes, no matter the Category are serious, and can cause catastrophic damage with winds going as fast as 155 mph sweep through areas. Hurricane Katrina, a Category 5 hurricane, with winds going approximately 40 mph, and Hurricane Harvey, a Category 4 hurricane, with winds going 130 mph at landfall, are both great examples of hurricanes that resulted in a great mass of destruction. While Katrina and Harvey’s differences are evident, some similarities are conspicuous. New Orleans destruction…

one can see the vital role of social support, both coming from the community and government, in people’s effort to cope with the overwhelming impact of disaster. One can see that in order for people to be resilient and bounce back again, they need agencies to count on and “a shoulder to lean on”, thus social support…

Imagine you and family sitting at home, watching a calm New York Mets baseball game on TV. Suddenly you realize there is a massive wall of water near your neighborhood. Then, you turn and look then all you see is glass flying everywhere. Hurricane Andrew was the time in August 1992, when a tropical wave near Africa, moved to the Atlantic Ocean. Then, the winds reached hurricane levels. The state of Florida wasn’t prepared for Hurricane Andrew, the disaster created many problems and caused mass…

Written by: Ryan Terrell and Jake Carter Hurricane Harvey hit the Texas Coast on August 25th, 2017. Many people were affected by the storm, and many people were left homeless. 70 or more people lost their lives during the storm. Houston had flooded within days after the storm hit the Texas coast. We interviewed Mrs. Jett, and we found out that her brother had been affected during the storm. Her brother lives in Taft, north of Rockport. The storm took a so called “bite” out of the side of his…

In South Florida, refugees are being pushed away from South Florida due to a hurricane which is destroying their homes and are being pulled toward Georgia because they have the resources, shelter, and safety they need. On August 30,2017- September 15,2017 there was a category 4 hurricane that was 80 miles wide and had 155 miles per hour winds that hit South Florida. There was major flooding, homes were being destroyed as well as their land, and people were even dieing. This is causing the…

separation of the wall from the soil. These observations lead to the conclusion that the failure of the New Orleans flood protection system was the result of a failure of judgment and decision-making on the part of engineers and the authorizing/funding agencies. The New Orleans levees provide an example of the importance of the first canon of ASCE’s code of ethics: “Engineers shall hold paramount the safety, health and welfare of the public. Sources…

In a federal system like America where there three levels of government, the major problem is coordination of government agencies which manifests largely during crisis like Katrina or the Boston Marathon bombing. These two crises differed in terms of response rate, coordination of concerned government agencies and Katrina was used as a lesson for future crises. The United States creates more government agencies to respond to the demand of a growing population. However, the government…

Puerto Rico is an island part of US territory which was recently stricken with a massive hurricane that washed over it completely, leaving Puerto Rico in ruins and having to work from the ground up. Puerto Rico’s road to recovery is very different than any other hurricane stricken area because they were already in massive debt, they weren’t prepared, and other disasters happening around elsewhere were taking up all of the resources. The conditions of hurricane Maria were very prime for a strong…