Tuesday, December 4, 2012
Funding of Sandys Recovery
This week Governor Chris Christie revised the state’s estimated
damages from the storm and upped it to 36.8 billion from 29.4 billion. With a
walk down the coast it’s easy to see why. Houses were lifted off foundations
and thrown into their neighbors houses. Few were left unaffected. Front yards
were left littered with flat screen TV’s sofas, mangled waterlogged mattresses
and shattered glass. Rooms of houses are filled with sand and windows are blown
out of every floor of many houses. The thought of having to climb over a dune
of sand in my living room to get from my kitchen to the front of the house comes
merely impossible. People like Kevin Williams is living this reality .
With damage cost reaching a ticket price of 80 billion we ask
how will this all be funded? FEMA has approved more then 700 million in federal
aid for NY victems with 230 thousands New Yorkers who have requested assistance
since the storm hit a month ago.
Insurance companies are expected to pay out a total of 20 to
30 billion to those who have suffered. They are paying less then most would
expect because of the fact that many people have suffered flooding damage and
many people suffered from flood damage but don’t have flood policy prior to the
arrival of Hurricane Sandy.
Congress is expected to fund some of the damage in the coming
weeks. They could give out anywhere from 9 to 15 billion for infrastructure
damage and some home owner damage.
Donations in cases of severe natural disasters like these are
higher then some would expect. Donations have raised around 50 million dollars
from major donors and combinations of small donors online. People reach out to
those in need in times like these because we never know when something like
this could happen in our lives and it gives people a sense of good doing when
they know their money is going to a good cause and helping families get back on
their feet. We all know that natural disasters could affect any of us. Let this
be a reminder that we need to protect our family members by protecting and
preventing financial burdens of these as much as we can.
Insurance and FEMA
The aftermath of hurricane sandy is more money than any
individual could dream of having. The total price tag Gov Andrew Cuomo’s of New
York said has exceeded 42 billion. 33 to repair damaged housing and
infrastructure and 9 billion to help protect transit systems the power network
and sewage treatment facilities from future storms. This is just damage in the
state of new York. Rising costs in the state of New Jersey has reached 29
billion. This is what a strong storm can do to an area of high density. Financial
companies, insurance companies, families and the US budget will all suffer
because of the effects of sandy.
The effects of Sandy meant burden to Millions of Americans.
Hundreds of thousands of flood victims face high increase in their home
insurance costs or risk losing it all. Thousands in the New York area are told
by their insurance companies that they’re not covered for damages resulting
from Hurricane Sandy. Adding that because damage to their property was done by
flooding and not by “hurricane or tropical storm”. As many of a quarter million
homeowners in flood prone areas of the city of New York and Long Island may be
in the same situation.
Even though some insurance companies are denying claims since
Sandy hit shores the Obama administration has stepped in fast and been making
sure those who need emergency housing money get it from FEMA. The purpose of
FEMA’s emergency housing money is to allow people whose homes are uninhabitable
to temporarily rent new living quarters
while waiting for insurance companies to give money to make repairs. Since
insurance companies are failing to pay damage claims, homeowners say they have
to use some of the FEMA money to pay for repairs. This is very similar to what happened in the
Gulf with Hurricane Katrina. In the end people got more funding from government
agencies that didn’t have insurance then those who did because insurance
companies made excuses to not have to pay for damages. Slogans like “All in
good hands” is one by All State insurance, might make you question them when
families with their coverage suffer great financial loss even after paying the
premium to these insurance companies monthly.
Wednesday, November 14, 2012
Sandy and the Presidential Election
The
devastation brought by Hurricane Sandy on the East coast will continue to
affect the people in a negative manner. Some Democratic hopefuls are thinking
that this has been a good sign for the presidential election showing Baracks
leadership skills and passion for the American people.
Sandy is a
reminder to Americans about climate change and the continued denial of the
warming of the planet and melting of the polar ice caps is not a top concern
for Presidential hopeful Mitt Romney. In
recent months Mitt Romney has showed interest in dismantling FEMA and making
disaster relief programs all privatized. With the efforts that FEMA’s crew has been
making during this time Americans are seeing just how much we need and are
benefiting from FEMA.
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| President Obama and Presidential hopeful Mitt Romney helping as much as they can with relief efforts. |
As many
leaders are critiquing Obama as he gets closer and closer to Election Day a not
so common supported or Obama is praising him for the work that he’s done thus
far on the Atlantic coast. Republican Governor Chris Christie of New Jersey
spoke warmly about him as the topic came up often in an interview today.
Democrats are making sure people know who is being a successful leader during
this time and that Obama has the skills it takes to lead a country in a time of
great disaster like this one. “He looks like a real president” said a
individual at a Ohio rally for Obama’s reelection.
There are
many issues that come up when talking about climate change and more frequent
storms is one of them. People want a president that is going to be firm about
this issue and not turn a blind eye to the concept that our planet is in a
changing state. Obama pledged to cool the planet by cutting carbon emissions
because if they continue at the current rate we’ll so more super storms like
sandy and eventually boil the planet. These issues are being showed in live action
just days before the election and could possibly change minds of undecided
voters.
Politico.com-11-02-12
Hurricane Sandy Aftermath
New Jersey is still suffering from
effects of Hurricane Sandy President Obama gave a word today “the entire
country has been watching what’s been happening.” As they have, we’ve been
wondering what kind of devastating effects this storm would leave for people in
the East Atlantic Coast area. President Obama and the Governor of New Jersey
took a aerial tour of the hurricane ravaged coast.
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| New Jersey Residents waiting in line for gas. |
2.1 Million American homes and
businesses are without power, fires are sparking up and ripping through homes
ignited by broken natural gas lines, lines are forming at gas stations, food
supply may become scarce, and temperatures could lower to close to freezing
temperatures, leaving unlivable housing for people without power. The death
toll in the US has reached 55 and is expected to continue to climb.
Some of the deaths are a result of
drowning being crushed by objects blown in the wind and some in fires related
to the storm. FEMA organizers have restoring power as their number one priority
so that people can get power incase temperatures do drop to freezing
temperatures, and so grocery stores can open up again and suit the public. One
thing that often happens in a storm situation like this on is that people take
advantage of being able to easily steal from stores and houses. This storm,
officials are not finding much of that happening at this time. People seem to
just be in distress and too many communities in the area are experiencing
damage ad losses from this storm and they are still living in dangerous
conditions. Emergency managers and response officials will continue their
work.
Physical Analysis of Hurricane Sandy
Tuesday October 30th
super storm Sandy reached land and made its path of destruction across parts on
New England the Appalachia and other parts of the Northeast. Sandy downgraded from a Hurricane just before
landfall and left millions without power at least 51 dead and causing over 20
billion dollars in damage. Sandy won’t
be forgotten for a long time because of its strength and unusual mix of weather
conditions that it brought across the Eastern Seaboard. Here are some of the latest record breaking
statistics
The storm pressure of this
storm is the second highest to ever make landfall. With a reading in just south
of Atlantic, New Jersey was 946mb at landfall. In general the lower the mb, the
stronger the storm. The lowest central storm pressure was recorded in the New
England area was the Long Island Express Hurricane in 1938 with a storm
pressure of 941mb. Records were broken
in many different metropolitan areas such as Philadelphia, PA and Baltimore,
MD.
Wind gusts that developed
with this storm were already strong days before it hammered the coast. Twenty
four hours before reaching landfall areas along the East Coast recorded
hurricane force winds of over 90 miles per hour in New York and New Jersey and
they were felt well into the interior parts of the New England region.
Super storm Sandy might have
hit New York and New Jersey the hardest but, rain fell the hardest southwest of
New Jersey. Sandy dumped more than 8
inches of rain as its winds pelted the cost in Maryland, Delaware and
southeastern Virginia. Sandy broke multiple daily rainfall records including
all three D.C. area airports.
Accuweather has a good list of the highest recorded rainfalls from this
storm and Easton MD recorded the highest at 12.55 inches in a little over 48
hours.
One of the last major aspects
of this unique storm was the snow. Sandy’s unusual development as tropical
storm merging with a winter cold front brought high elevations of snowfall.
Redhouse, MD measured an impressive 28 inches topping the list for the greatest
accumulations amount the eight states that saw measurable snow West Virginia is also a notable state
reaching over 28 inches in some areas and snow is still continuing to fall at
this point. Sandy dropped enormous amounts of snow for this time of the year
and six states received over one foot of snow in areas. Sandy has left a memory
engrained in the lives of people all over the county, leaving us to pick up
after its destructive force.
10/31 Washington Post New York City Braces for Storm
City and State officials braced Sunday for a brutal bearing
by Hurricane Sandy, ordering all public transportation to shut down.
Governor Cuomo ordered the MTA to end
all subway bus and commuter rail service beginning Sunday evening and urged
people to stay home. Areas of evacuation in the low lying neighborhoods and are
being ordered to evacuate to higher grounds adding that all public schools in
the same areas will be closed on Monday stating that “When there’s no mass
transit, and with weather as bad as it’s going to be, we don’t want to put
children’s lives at risk”. Subway and train service will be coming to a
grinding halt by 7pm and by 9pm bus services will be as well. It’s unclear how
long the transit services will be closed down for the governor said but the
storm system from the west and cold air from Canada is expected to wreak true
havoc on the New York region.
Meteorologists are predicting gusts of wind to top 80 miles
per hour and storm surges to reach 11 fee when the killer cane makes landfall
along the central New Jersey coast Monday night right at the high tide. Last
year Hurricane Irene devastated New York for 12 hours and Sandy is expected to
hit for a total of 24 to 36 hours. Governor Cuomo said on Sunday “ This is
nothing to take lightly. You want to stay at home, be prepared, enjoy the
family, read a book”. That sounded pretty luxurious for those individuals but
for the 375,000 people living in Brighton Beach, Battery Park , Broad Channel
and other low-lying zone A neighborhoods Bloomberg ordered evacuated by Sunday
afternoon. The city has close to 72 shelters for those individuals to stay but
most are resorting to family and friends out of the evacuated areas. For those
who are planning on stick out the storm have a “Shove it Sandy” kind of
attitude for the storm. Officials are also activating 1100 national Guard
members 400 on Long Island and 200 in the city. I guess in a situation like
this you wait and prepare for the worst but hope for the best.
New York Daily News – October 28th 2012
October Surprise/ Hurricane Sandy
The possibility or either a
tropical storm, hurricane or bursts of snow devastating the east coast is
becoming more apparent as the days go on and the reality of the Caribbean
become far too real. The pre-Halloween hurricane is already starting to effect
the presidential race between Mitt Romney and President Barack Obama. Prompting
cancelations of campaign events in critical battle ground states such as North
Carolina, Virginia and Pennsylvania. Some states such as Virginia and Maryland
have already issued emergency declarations.
The
National Weather Service in Philadelphia warned the morning of Friday the 26th
to expect major flash and river flooding along with storm tides of as much as 5
feet in the Chesapeake Bay and 10 feet in the Delaware Bay. Meteorologists
advised some areas to expect strong winds for up to two days straight from the
slow moving storm. Sandy could merge with an eastward moving winter storm and
join cold air flowing from Canada to form what the media is calling a
“Frankenstorm” which could drop as much as two feet of snow on West Virginia
and smaller areas of Ohio and Pennsylvania. Experts aren’t confident on how the
storm is for sure going to play out they just know that it’s a large and
dangerous storm and could have widespread effects.
Sandy
throws one more wildcard into the Presidential election that has already taken
many different twists and turns in the public’s perception. Some of the ways
that the storm could affect the outcome are.
1.) Early
Voting. in many states such as Ohio and Virginia will be in trouble and prone
to flooding are already making plans to relocating voting equipment. This could
effect different groups on people in making time or having the availability to
be able to vote on or before election day giving different candidates more of a
advantage.
2.) The Katrina
Factor. Any disaster offers a chance to
see how a leader governs. Seeing the strength of the current President in
dealing with aid to the public and working closely with disaster officials
could make a difference in how Republicans and Democrats push for last minute
advertisings.
3.) The
distraction. The fact that hurricanes and large natural disasters bring in a
lot of attention the presidential election might lose importance and headlines
in the media making final pitches of the future president hopeful less time in
the media.
There are many last minute
variables right now. The campaign is closely monitoring the storm and watching
to make sure the public stays educate and safe when the storm hits.
Servere Tornados
Thousands were left without electricity and power after a
blustery storm swept through Arkansas and Mississippi on Wednesday October 17th.
Storm trackers are suspecting that at least five tornadoes touched down.
The storm traveled up from the Golf Coast into Mississippi
and then up into Arkansas as well where it gained most of its strength. In Northern Mississippi and Eastern Arkansas was
were winds and tornadoes took out dozens of houses, trailer homes, trees, and
electric towers leaving up to thousands of people in both states powerless.
After the strong winds and tornadoes ripped through
Mississippi and Arkansas, dozens of people evacuated from their trailer homes
in Tennessee. A man outside Memphis, TN stated “It sliced it open like a can,
you can see the sky when you go in my kitchen, it’s pretty rough right now
around here”
Tuesday, October 16, 2012
Sunday, October 7, 2012
18 Students Die in China in Landslide
18
Elementary school students buried in a landslide were confirmed dead on Friday,
while one person still remained missing a day after a hillside collapsed and
smothered part of a village in mountainous southwestern China. The landslide
smothered the elementary school, three farmhouses and damaged six other homes
in the village.
The
landslide dammed a river, causing it to pool 15 meters across and forcing the
evacuation of 800 other people and prolonging the rescue of the missing peoples
bodies. Rescue teams had to remove the blockage.
A cause of
the event isn’t proven yet, but it’s assumed to have had some correlation with
recent rainstorms and a series of small quakes last month that loosened part of
the mountain.
Wildfires in Washington State
The Summer
of 2012 has been a summer of devastating wildfires in the west. With warm
weather and low precipitation fires have been thriving. Not one state on the
west coast of the United States has gone untouched by a rash of burning forests,
and fields.
Washington
had been hit very hard. With one lightning storm lighting over 65 wildfires.
Dozens of homes have been burned over the last month. Smoke from the wildfires
in the eastern part of the state were drifting into the western part where
alarmed residents were calling 911.
In mid September
over two thousand fire fighters were assigned to the blazes across the state.
Between two fires a combined 92000 acres or roughly 143 square miles these
fires have been acting up more ever since the weather had dried up.
Thiers
really no good ways to try and prevent disasters like these from happening.
These fires aren’t getting set off by humans. It’s mother nature that’s setting
them off. Although climate change probably had an effect on the dry climate
during the summer. All you can do is use smart strategies to put out the fires
fast before they spread.
Deadly Flooding in Nigeria
At least 39
people have been killed with 40 missing in floods in central Nigeria after
heavy rainfall caused a dam to overflow near the city of Jos. Over 200 homes,
most made of mud, were submerged or completely destroyed. Most
of the livestock in the area had been injured or killed putting families in
more dangers financially.
Emergency
responders in Nigeria say that over 3000
people are now homeless. People are being sheltered in government buildings in
the city. Thousands of people lost all their priorities and food. People in the
mountainous city of Jos aren’t used to these events occurring. Nigeria has been
hit with floods in the past but not in areas of such high elevation.
Maybe in the
future people will try and keep the damns at a higher standard of safety precaution
so that events like these don’t happen again.
Wednesday, September 26, 2012
Melting Himalayas Making Water Scarce
Many politically unstable areas across south Asia are water stricken. Meaning that the amount of water is lacking compared to the demands that need to be met in the area. Some of it is due to the lack of infrastructure. Researchers are reporting how changes in the Himalayan glaciers are affecting the river systems, water supplies, irrigation, and hydroelectric power for roughly 1.5 billion people stretching across eight countries. Changes in water availability due to climate change could result in increased conflicts within the region.
"In the western Himalayas, where people do depend on runoff for water, glaciers are relatively stable, and perhaps even advancing, the report states. And the NRC researchers say they don't predict the same high water demands in these regions on the booming Indian subcontinent."
http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-205_162-57511298/melting-himalayas-may-magnify-water-scarcity/
Some of the changes in the water resources has been experienced during July and August in 2010. Pakistan had flooding that killed over 15 hundred people and resulted in 9.5 billion dollars of damage. The important steps to protect water quality and regulate their current policies are going to have to be taken by the government in the next decade.
Tsunamis and Nuclear Sites
Natural Disasters such as the tsunamis in Japan in 2011 that caused a major meltdown of three Fukushima Dai-ichi reactors and the evacuation of thousands is still a fear for preventative disaster managers. Researchers published in the Natural Hazards journal that 74 reactors at 23 plants are in areas of high risk for tsunami damage in the South East Asia area.
http://www.energylivenews.com/2012/09/26/fukushima-style-tsunamis-threaten-23-other-nuclear-sites/
Sunday, September 16, 2012
Droughts Are Pushing Plants to their Limit
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Droughts in the Southwest made more severe by warming
temperatures are putting plants in stressful growing conditions
|
Saturday, September 15, 2012
Guatemalan Volcano Causes 33,000 to Evacuate
Fuego is one of three active volcanos that is located by
Antigua, Guatemala just south of the Mexican border. It had its strongest
eruption in more than 30 years, causing alarm for the Mexican and Guatemalan government.
Several small communities, totaling, 30 thousand people have been evacuated do
to large amounts of volcanic ash in the air and lava flow coming from the
volcano. The last time Guatemala has seen an eruption was just in 2010 and
since then the government has begun to educate people of the dangers and come
up with better disaster response efforts. Do to these measures taken people
took the alert seriously. Shelters have sheltered over one thousand individuals
overnight. “When you co-habitat with the volcano you know perfectly well that
things could worsen quickly – early warning signals can save your life,” a
resident says.
http://www.breakingnews.com/topic/guatemalas-volcano-of-fire-eruption
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