Natural Disasters : A Short Story

Living in Florida there are many things to be worried about from alligators, hot heat, and the most important hurricanes. The first hurricane I experienced was in the first two months of me living in Florida. I moved here from New York and I had no idea what to expect when I heard that a hurricane was coming. It was like nothing I had experienced before, seeing a tree pulled from the ground by only water and wind was a devastating experience that I was something I did not expect to see. After the hurricane, my dad went to the store and bought as much; canned food, water bottles, candles, flashlights and batteries he could find to make sure that just in case another hurricane hit we would be prepared. After the hurricane, I started to wonder about better ways on how to prepare for another hurricane. Especially, living in Florida there are

My experience during hurricane Harvey was mostly calm. I was very fortunate because, my house did not flood. The water only got up to the edge of my driveway, and that was as it was pouring off into the storm drain. I drove to Walmart to buy some extra cases of water, in case the faucet water became undrinkable. When I got there 100’s people were in line with cases of water, and when I checked the aisle there were none left. I was irritated, but also hoping there would be bread to buy. When I checked for bread, I flipped the store cart and walked out, and now I had to drive to Kroger. Kroger had both bread and water, I was so relieved that I didn’t have to drive to H-E-B, I wanted to do a backflip, but I would’ve most likely broken my neck.

The New York Times article “Pummeled Florida Staggers Toward Long Recovery” by Alexander Burns informs readers on the controversy surrounding the power outages in Florida. The author explains how right after Hurricane Irma weekend it had started to head north of florida, being that it was just leaving somewhere between Miami to Jacksonville. In the meantime florida has power outages throughout the cities, there are people are without no electricity, and to even get back electricity it could take days to months. In this case florida has so many damages with houses being in pieces, homes flooded, every thing ruined with only some things are salvageable and storm damages costing between $20-$50 billion. For other people in florida who didn't believe they needed to be evacuated and who thought they could wait it out, it soon will be necessary for some residents to evacuate. As there may also be tornado warnings because of the historical levels of flooding. With the storm later heading north it's is cautioned to residence when they return home because the powerlines

Finally the hurricane stopped people had their houses ripped apart like shredded paper they were devastated. Many people came to rescue others that were stuck in there houses they were like like a flooded prison cells you could hear the echo as if you

Flights were full and if you could find a seat, the prices were outrageous. Not only were flights full but getting out by car was a major dilemma as well. Gas was in high demand which led to outages and fuel prices sky rocketed. Traffic was at an all-time high for some of these areas and with an estimation on where the track of the storm could go, it led people not knowing where to find shelter.

In New Orleans it was predicted several days in advance that there would be a hurricane coming. There was coverage that followed and gave updates on the status of the storm. Many people decided to evacuate before the actual hurricane hit causing the disaster while some stayed with either none or limited supplies to survive with. Unlike many places New Orleans was aware of the damage the hurricane could cause due to having knowledge of their inadequate infrastructure. Hurricane Katarina flooded ¾ of New Orleans while killing nearly 1500 people. There were thousands of homes lost and billions of dollars lost economically leaving the city destroyed.

I personally have not experienced a disaster. However, I have heard about a lot of megadealths from the media. The most recent is Hurricane Matthew. Hurricane Matthew affected the Caribbean, Florida and North Carolina. It is known that hundreds of people have died and over one thousand people remain without houses and clean water in Haiti, four people have died and one million people lost power in Florida and seven people have died, about 760,000 people still remain without power and over 880 people had to be rescued in North Carolina. I am sadden by the destruction that this hurricane has caused. I have a lot of friends in Florida and a lot of family in North Carolina all whom are safe. It took a couple of days to ensure everyone was safe.

Imagine a world with no one to help, everyone is only looking to better themselves. After a big hurricane of the coast of New Orleans in 2005, the town was a disaster. With nobody to come to the rescue it was everyone for themselves. This hurricane was hurricane Katrina and it was a category three hurricane. It devastated the state of Louisiana and was a vicious storm. Over 80% of the large roads and major areas were flooded by this storm. This lasted for weeks and the outcome was not only horrible to think about but horrible to witness.

The natural disaster that I can remember was the hurricane Rita of 2005. I was hired as a teacher in June to begin teaching in August. This was my first year as a teacher and several weeks later there was a hurricane in the gulf. The city of Beaumont began to welcome all families from New Orleans and they also made room for several students into the schools. The next couple of weeks Beaumont was under a hurricane Rite threat and many people recalled, was under a hurricane Rite threat and many people recall the devastation that Katrina did to New Orleans. I was devastated to hear about the storm on its way toward Beaumont Texas. The weather channel warned everyone to evacuate the cities all around Beaumont area. I was prepared to stay home

In 2005 a deadly hurricane hit the southern states more specifically Mississippi. I remember the only thing on our t.v. in the week to come was the weather channel as we carefully monitored the movement of the hurricane. School was cancelled so being in third grade I was ecstatic that I would not have to go, but I did not realize at the time the scope of the storm at the time. The night the hurricane was to hit we went and stayed at my grandparents’ house which in my mind was a fun sleepover. The next day waking up and looking outside I was in shock. Trees were split in half, power lines were on the ground, and as we went to check our home was relieved that a tree had just missed landing on our house. School was cancelled for two weeks and everyone was busy trying to adjust from the storm. A group of family members would leave in the morning to wait in line for gas another would help hand feed the millions of chickens in the chicken houses. Without power the chickens can’t get food, water, or cooling keeping them alive this is important because payment is based on the amount that is alive. To this day any storm that is in my proximity I take it very seriously, making sure that everyone will be

While natural disasters such as floods, drought and hurricanes are commonly thought to occur due to environmental forces such as weather, climate and tectonic movements; a deeper investigation into the ‘disaster’ displays other contributing forces. Human factors have a large, if not equal, contribution to the occurrance and outcome of such disasters (Pelling, 2001). As Pelling (2001) argues, there is both a physical and human dimension to ‘natural disasters’. The extent to which the natural occurrence of a physical process, such as a flood or earthquake, impacts on society is constructed by that society, creating a ‘disaster’ as measured by a

In the late summer of 2004 I started kindergarten a total of four different times. My hometown, Orlando, Florida, was struck by category four hurricane Charley category two hurricane Frances, and category four hurricane Jean in a span of only six weeks¹. At five years old, I had no concept that this was an unusually large number of hurricanes to be hitting central Florida, let alone the fact that the intensity and number of these storms was likely exacerbated by climate change. I come from a family of weather freaks; my brother, for instance, is currently in the midst of getting a degree in meteorology in the hopes that he can one day chase tornadoes. As such, during the hurricanes, my parents made sure that my brother and I were safely

Do you know what to do if a natural disaster were to happen suddenly? Nathaniel Rich discusses in his novel, Odds Against Tomorrow, the different methods people use to get prepared before, during, and after a disaster occurs. Whether it means leaving the premises, fighting for resources or being ready for a lawsuit. Rich also suggests that fear is an emotion that can be considered to be embedded in human kind, however it is also the source of income to companies like FutureWorld. FutureWorld is a company that exploits the fear of loss and death based on natural disasters. Alec Charnoble is the head of FutureWorld, which aids companies when facing legal suits that are based on natural disasters like that of earthquakes, hurricanes, massive floodings and more. However, natural disasters are unpredictable and no one can control it, therefore what do they employees of a company like FutureWorld base their assumptions on? Rich introduces Mitchell Zukor, a mathematical prodigy that creates equations that support the companies “probability” of a natural disaster affecting an area. Mitchell is an individual who relieves his fear of a future “worst-case scenario” by calculating the possibility of it occurring and the cost it will have as a consequence. In FutureWorld, Mitchell and Jane, another individual who like Mitchell, works for FutureWorld, are one of many pawns used “in this line of work, to frighten clients” (31). Rich gives us reason to believe that companies like

An earthquake that struck Bam, an Iranian city, killed 27,000 people and left 90 percent of housing destroyed. An earthquake just as strong hit San Simeon in California leaving only 2 casualties and 40 damaged homes (Staff). While even just one death is still a tragedy, there is a massive gap between 27,000 individuals and 2. But if both earthquakes hit with the same force, what differed? Why did one earthquake have such a large impact? The simple answer to this lies in the location of the earthquake. The first earthquake occurred in the less developed country of Iran. The other one struck California located in the U.S., a developed nation. Due to a variety of factors, developing countries have proven to be more vulnerable to the effects of natural disasters.

Natural disasters are anything from floods, earthquakes, volcanoes, hurricanes, tornadoes, wildfires, or anything else nature could develop that causes massive amounts of damage, or cause a large losses of life. Such events are not anything caused because of human beings, but only by the actions of atmospheric conditions, or due to the changes of continental drifts that these disasters occur. Technology has come a long way since the early days before the industrial revolution where predictions can be made and warnings can be issued. This helps reduce the amount of possible loss of lives that would occur in 21st century. However, that is not what happened during Hurricane Katrina, a category 5 Hurricane.