According to the Nathan World Map of Natural Disasters, Washington, NJ, my hometown, seems to be faced with Level 2 Tropical Cyclones that would hit the coast and effect the state. My town may be faced with Level 2 or Level 3 hailstorms, although they are very rare. My town seems to be in the Zone 2 for tornados and Zone 1 wildfires, which are low hazard. My area is affected by El Nino causing fewer storms, and will have more storms during La Nina. Looking at the Nathan World Map of Natural Disasters was quite difficult when looking for information on a small scale. When viewing the whole map it’s hard to decipher what zone my small town would fall under. This map would be useful when looking at global weather perspectives and when trying to learn how the United States is affected by natural disasters.

According to The Hungarian National Association of Radio Distress, there was a power outage in Calloway County, Kentucky early this morning on April 1^st. This power outage affected 15,000 people and was caused by severe weather. Power outages are a very common thing in my town in New Jersey after severe weather. After thunderstorms, tropical storms, snowstorms, and hurricanes the area is crippled with falling wires and trees, damaged telephone poles and blocked roads. The area is very familiar to these issues, and tries to accommodate people as soon as possible, however there were still times after Hurricane Sandy, where I was out of power for fourteen days. My town and Calloway County Kentucky are very similar in scale. My town although spread out, accommodates around 15,000 people as well. Power outages affect most people in our town at the same time. Although, when it comes to restoring power to the homes, they are addressed by township. There are developments in my town that are newly constructed, and the power grids are completely underground. These people are the best off after severe weather. Unfortunately, the people who live in town, where the telephone poles are wires are above ground are more negatively affected by the power outages because of the falling poles, trees, and dangling wires. It becomes a very dangerous place until the area is restored. This gap between the new developments and the people that reside in town also depicts the different socioeconomic classes in my town as well. The people that live in the developments are wealthier than the people that reside in the immediate town. Another factor when considering who is affected by power outages is the electric companies fix the most populated areas first. So those developments and the town get fixed before the farm streets and back roads are fixed. These people are forced to live without power for a longer time. This is what happened to me after Hurricane Sandy. To reduce my towns vulnerability to power outages, it would be beneficial to mimic the new developments and try to get the power grids in the town and on the back roads to be underground as well. This would make it a safer place after a natural disaster, and would save electric companies from having to make so many repairs after disasters.

As I mentioned before the most common natural disasters in New Jersey are severe storms. These storms produce violent rain, wind, and lightning that cause power outages and damage to homes and cars in the area. Sometimes accompanying the power outages is flooding. Many of the rivers in my area such as the Musconetcong river and more devastating, the Delaware river, flood and destroy peoples homes, was away valuable farm soil and make driving dangerous in my area as well. More rarely, according to FEMA records, there are wild fires in my area as well. With the vast protected farmlands and farmer burning away brush, fires can get started in the area after dry seasons. There was a fire documented in 2002 and 2007 and they were minimally destructive to the area however homes were evacuated.

“Disaster Declarations for New Jersey.” FEMA. Ed. New Jersey State Government. U.S. Department of Homeland Security, n.d. Web. 01 Apr. 2016. <https://www.fema.gov/disasters/grid/state-tribal-government/37>.

In my town, I think it would be necessary to work on building resilience in non-disaster times. If my town were to convert all of the electric grid systems from above ground to underground, there would be little to plan when a severe storm is to happen. The electrical lines would be protected and the telephone poles would be gone. The only thing the town would have to worry about after a storm is cleaning up the streets because of fallen trees and debris and the damage to homes and cars. However, thinking ahead, the town could work to be prepared, and cut down trees that look like they will inevitably fall during the storm. This could eliminate more of the work after the storms. By implementing the underground electrical grids, the town would also be eliminating socioeconomic differences when it comes to natural disasters. The poor people in my town would feel less worried about their home during a storm, knowing they wont have to worry about fixing it because of fallen telephone poles or, living in a dangerous area until the wires are fixed. My town although not the wealthiest, does have high taxes and I think it would be beneficial to take these taxes and put them towards being preventative to natural disasters. To possibly put this plan into action I would have to speak with the mayor of my town or the officer in the municipal building about emergency protection plans. Obviously, something like this would take careful consideration and policy planning and would involve budgeting and networking with electrical companies.