1) As mentioned before, my hometown is Shepherdstown, WV. This is located in the Eastern part of the U.S. According to the Nathan World Map, Shepherdstown seems to remain in the middle for the intensity of many natural hazards. We are only at zone two for hailstorms and tornados. For other natural hazards we are at zone zero or one, making Shepherdstown seem like a very safe place to live in. Shepherdstown isn’t right on the east coast, but being fairly close to it I became worried after seeing that the east coast is at zone four for tropical cyclones. The map is very informational; however, it was hard to 100% accurately see what natural hazards will affect my area without being able to zoom in on my location. I also didn’t understand what the anomalies during el nino and la nina maps meant without an explanation.

2) Earlier today in Nevada City, California, there was a biological hazard where a school had to close because a child was diagnosed with measles while at school. My hometown could easily experience the same kind of disaster if a child from my hometown also had the measles and went to school. The risk for this is low, as many schools and probably the schools in my hometown have a rule where you can’t go to the school unless you have the measles vaccination. If a child were to come in to a school with the measles the whole school would be very vulnerable, as measles is very easily spread through the air or direct contact. Not only the school, but my whole hometown would be very vulnerable as well. My hometown would be vulnerable because if the child traveled through my town and ended up getting someone else in the town sick, many more people throughout the town would also catch it. The scale of the disaster has so far been pretty small as only one person was found infected. This is also a small scale compared to my hometown because my hometown contains thousands of people. Most kids in my hometown all go to the same school, but the Nevada City report did not say how many students could become infected to compare the two. The impact would remain the same if it were to happen at my hometown, as the school would immediately close until they could ensure that the school was clean and no other kids would be infected. One of the biggest reasons why people in my town have different vulnerability levels is because of wealth. Some people in my town are very wealthy and can afford healthcare to get their children vaccinated. There are also “hippies” in my town that live in small apartments above some of the bars. I don’t want to judge them, but I’m sure some of them can’t afford healthcare. Due to their low income if they have children, they will not get them vaccinated for the measles or other diseases. These unvaccinated people would lead to the disproportionate impact of the disaster causing more harm than there would’ve been. With pre-event preparedness my town could make a law stating that everyone must be vaccinated at a young age for the measles, and the government will pay for it if you can’t afford it/ don’t have healthcare. We could also reduce the vulnerability by schools only allowing kids to come each year that have went to the doctor and were tested negative for measles and all other contagious diseases.

3) West Virginia is a very mountainous state. Our houses are located in narrow valleys, which leave us very vulnerable to flooding. We also live right next to the Potomac River, which usually doesn’t flood, but has been known to have flooded in the past. Another natural hazard that I have experienced is winter storms. This winter a huge snowstorm, Winter Storm Jonas, rolled through states along the east coast and Appalachian Mountains. Somehow out of every state and town, my town accumulated the most snowfall. Shepherdstown got over forty inches of snow. Although there were no casualties in my town from this storm, it made every day life very difficult for the people there.

Resources

Ready WV. “Natural Disasters.” Before A Disaster. 2016. http://www.ready.wv.gov/before/Pages/NaturalDisasters.aspx

Johnson, Shauna. “In the Storm’s Aftermath, Snow Removal Continues across West Virginia.” WV MetroNews. January 25, 2016. http://wvmetronews.com/2016/01/25/in-the-storms-aftermath-snow-removal-continues-across-west-virginia/

Federal Emergency Administration of Public Works. “The Flood of March 1936.” http://pubs.usgs.gov/wsp/0800/report.pdf

4) Many actions have been taken to reduce vulnerability in my town already, but I think it is up to the people living in the town themselves to execute the steps. News reporters always warn the people in my town about snowstorms that come, so the people need to take measures themselves such as buying food ahead of time so they won’t have to try and drive in the snow. We can strengthen our emergency response to have more snow plows and salt out on the roads. I also think there should be people designated to drive around, if it’s safe, and look at everyone’s houses to make sure a roof didn’t collapse from the snow (etc.) and that no one was hurt. I myself can talk to the lawmakers of my town and see what plans they have in place already and how we can improve them.