- My hometown of Wyckoff, NJ was really difficult to pinpoint on the map because the scale is very large. The color code is difficult to identify along with closely seeing the state of New Jersey and my town on this map. But really looking into the Nathan World map of natural disasters, I was able to tell that my hometown has a medium-low risk of winter storms, along with a low risk of wildfires and a medium risk of encountering tornado and hail storms. This map would be better suited for this assignment if, we were focusing on areas of the world rather than focusing on our individual hometown.
- The disaster that I chose is a biological hazard in Angola, Africa that started on February 16th, 2016 at 3:12 am. There is a yellow fever outbreak in Angola, which has caused 168 people to die, and 1,132 people infected. Unfortunately, infected mosquitos transmit the viral hemorrhagic disease. My hometown of Wyckoff, NJ has a very rare chance of experiencing yellow fever because unlike Africa, my area is not exposed to mosquitos quite often. The only times we are exposed to mosquitos are during the hot summer months of June, July, and August. With the amount of hospitals in my area I would think that fewer people would be affected from this disease before it spread around, unlike in Angola. Angola, Africa has a population of 21.27 million people where Wyckoff, NJ has a population of about 17,000 people, which if the disease affected 1,132 people in my area, it would cause more damage. Different people and areas of the world are more vulnerable due to money and where they live. In my town, the wealthier people are more protected because they have more resources to protect them from the disease where, the less wealthy are more vulnerable because they don’t have the proper protection and resources. My town could improve its vulnerability of this disease by being more educated about the severity of yellow fever and being aware of the danger of mosquitoes.
- Living in Wyckoff, NJ I’ve had my experiences with heavy rain storms causing power outages, falling trees, and heavy water outside and sometimes seeing it in my own or my friends homes. With New Jersey being at significant risk of rainstorms, it explains the hazard that Wyckoff faces throughout the year. From the map below, you can see that the Township of Wyckoff is at risk for rainstorms along with a bunch of other neighboring towns surrounding the area. When hurricane Sandy hit a few years ago, I experienced power outage along with seeing the damage that it caused the roads, houses, and cars.
http://map1.msc.fema.gov/data/FRP/FRM_02030103_20150130.pdf?LOC=e41855f51fdcb6a4a2b17fed23437096
- To fix this issue in my hometown, I believe that first the town should trim trees or cut down trees that are in dangerous shape and causing harm to the town. This would help to protect the community along with power issues that might be caused by strong winds or heavy rain. The best people to perform these actions are the department of public works. They can take steps to ensure a safer and cleaner environment for the whole community. As a member of the community of Wyckoff, I can take action in reducing vulnerability to natural hazards in my town by increasing my education on disasters that are going to occur in my area. By increasing my knowledge about disasters, I can be ready to take action if these disasters occur. I can also educate my friends and family so, they are prepared as well.
3 thoughts on “Module 8- Natural Hazards”
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Hi Mara! My name is Peter Han and am planning on studying mechanical engineering at Penn State. In my hometown of Niles Michigan, I have also experienced heavy rainstorms that have knocked over trees and caused damage to peoples homes and other buildings. I agree that your plan to help prevent this would help, as falling trees can cause a lot of damage, but we should be careful on how many we cut down as we do not want to have an environmental problem. I also found the yellow fever outbreak that you talked about in part two very interesting as this disease would be very hard to avoid as it is sometimes hard to avoid mosquitos.
Here is a link to my blog: http://geog030.dutton.psu.edu/2016/04/01/vulnerability-reduction-peter-han/
Hi Mara,
My name is Carmela! Check out my blog post: http://geog030.dutton.psu.edu/2016/04/01/vulnerability-reduction-carmela-madrigal-lua/#respond
I live in Pennsylvania and I could relate to what you stated in your post. When power outages happen there are many things that are damaged by it. I like the plan that you mentioned on being able to solve this hazard. I personally think that it would reduce many incidents and make it a bit safer.
Hi my name is Joelle! Check out my blog post: http://geog030.dutton.psu.edu/2016/04/01/module-8-natural-disasters/
The area I live in Pennsylvania is also subject to hail storms. While there is a danger to hail storms, it is because of the heavy rain that endangers my area as well. I think that your plan to help solve the hazard in your town is a great idea. Although it may help your town with the dangers in the storms, it may impact the environment in a way that could possibly bring more dangers.