Natural Disasters and Vulnerability Blog Post

1.It was harder to tell the different natural hazards in my specific town on the Nathan World Map because they only gave general regions on the map of different areas. I live in Erie, Pa and we are known for our very intense winter storms which I am surprised the Nathan Map didn’t show. It did show however medium frequencies of Tornados and low frequencies for wildfires. Hailstorms were also show in the middle, which surprises me because of the amount of snow we get every year. Overall, it was hard to exactly tell what the weather is like for a specific town as this task asked,because the map only gave a general overview. Also, it didn’t seem accurate for Erie,PA in particular.
2.

The natural disaster I chose was a forest wildfire in New Mexico. I wanted to choose this disaster because my hometown would never experience this type of disaster. My hometown, in Pennsylvania experiences all four seasons of summer,winter,fall,and spring. Each season obtaining the natural weather circumstances. Erie, does not have particular dry seasons or strong enough dry seasons with the climate to allow this disaster to happen. Also, Erie is more city oriented so there are very little large forests great enough to cause a wildfire or be known as a forest fire in general.
Erie is very large compared to Ruidoso, New Mexico so the scale of the disaster would not be nearly as large as the area of my hometown. The disaster didn’t show a specific scale of the wildfire fire.If this disaster were to happen in my hometown it would be a lot more damaging than it potentially is in New Mexico. This would be due to the fact that Erie is more populous and city-like so if a wild fire were to break out, it would destroy a lot more buildings and homes than somewhere with a smaller population.
Different people have different vulnerability levels in my town because of the storms that we experience here. Like I said before my town experiences an immense amount of snowstorms during the winter so people here are more vulnerable to the natural disasters that don’t typically occur such as a tornado or earthquake. Although we can get pretty intense storms that can include flooding, tornadoes are very rare. If a tornado would occur my hometown would be very vulnerable. We could reduce this vulnerability by becoming educated on what to do if this type of situation were to happen. Although rare, they can occur and knowing what to do in that type of situation and how to take shelter/repair the town after the damage would be very important.

3. From my personal experience and the experiences of those that have lived in Erie for a long time, know the damage that can occur from the snow storms we face. Car accidents and being snowed in are only two of the disasters that can happen from these storms. Thankfully, Erie citizens know how to deal with these circumstances. We have plows on our streets 24/7 when we are warned of a snow storm approaching. Most of us know how to safely drive on the streets to avoid any accidents and what areas should heavy be avoided during that time. When an Erie winter comes along, we all know what to prepare for and how to stay safe. Those who have never lived in Erie before would be the most vulnerable. You can not safely travel in an Erie snowstorm unless you are educated on how to and have done so before. Also, dressing for the climate is a drastic difference than other places in Pennsylvania as we have had up to negative 20 degree whether before.

References -Zoe Schulte (me)
4.
To reduce vulnerability in my hometown, everyone should be educated on the winters that we have. They should know to prepare and take the storms seriously. If there are slippery roads, negative climates, and up to 10-12 inches of snow after one storm it is not to take lightly. Everyone in Erie needs to be aware of the circumstances of every storm and how to prepare for them.Some actions that can be done are to have the snow plows ready to go, and news casters prepared to warn the city of the storm approaching. Also, to have the right clothing options and right car to drive for the safest way to get around if necessary.
The best people to perform these actions would be snow plow companies and the news.
I can educate myself on the best ways to stay safe. Since I know personally how bad the weather can get I can warn those who don’t so they are less vulnerable to the harsh circumstances.

3 thoughts on “Natural Disasters and Vulnerability Blog Post

  1. Hi my name is Michèle and I found your response to the Nathan map really interesting as it differed from my experience. I’m from New York I thought it was fairly accurate and useful when it came to analyzing the natural hazards that my city is vulnerable to. I also really enjoyed reading some of your ideas about how to reduce vulnerability of natural hazards, there are a few I hadn’t thought of myself. Here’s a link to my post:https://sites.psu.edu/geog30/wp-admin/post.php?post=49922&action=edit

  2. Hi Zoe, my name is Cassie and this is the link to my blog post: http://sites.psu.edu/geog30/2016/03/28/natural-hazards-cassie-hess/. I am from Central New Jersey, so I am a little closer to the coast than Erie but do experience similar weather. My area is also at risk for tornadoes and hailstorms. Erie probably experiences more snow storms than my hometown, but I am familiar with the inconvenience and the dangers of heavy snow storms. I think that my town could also benefit from being more prepared for cold weather and heavy snow. It is much better to be over prepared than under prepared.

  3. I too had trouble locating my town on the Nathan Map. I know that Schuylkill Haven also get a lot of snow every winter. I like the fact that you choose the wildfire in New Mexico. I too feel that my area would not have to worry about this. The only fires we would have to worry about is house fires do to the closeness of each house. This is the link to my page http://sites.psu.edu/geog30/2016/03/30/christina-liptak-natural-hazards/.

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