Tag Archives: Natural Hazard Mapping

Carlamere Lesson 8

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The Nathan map is very informative; it clearly indicates the areas throughout the world that are at risk to experience a natural hazard if corrective environmental policies are not introduced. The three natural hazards that surround my hometown located in New Jersey are; change in tropical cyclone activity, which in the western hemisphere this type of storm is called a hurricane. The second hazard is an increase in heavy rain and the third is a threat of sea level rise.   Additionally, there is a chance of the frequency of hailstorms and tornados. The next possible weather condition change relates to temperature, there is a chance of increasing tropical induced storms called El Nino; furthermore, more La Nina storms are likely to occur. Over the last couple of decades, I have seen the effects of a couple of the aforementioned natural hazards, which is a concern for what the future holds if something is not done.

I chose a level two biohazard the event happened on March 13, 2016, in Beijing, China. Yellow fever infected three people; this is the first case of yellow fever reported in Beijing. Yellow fever is a viral disease that is transmitted by mosquitoes and is found mostly in tropical areas. The general symptoms of this disease include fever and chills (RSOE EDIS Staff 2016). It is highly unlikely for yellow fever to occur in New Jersey because we do not have the climate to host the virus. The yellow fever outbreak in China is very small, but it could grow quickly if this type of outbreak occurred in my hometown it would be a big deal. If this outbreak did happen in New Jersey there probably would be considered a very dangerous for the people of the community mainly because we have not been exposed to this before and have not built up immunity to the virus. To reduce the possibility for yellow fever impacting my town there should be mosquito repellent spraying and any water that is not circulated should be removed.

The biggest natural hazard that continually affects the southern part of New Jersey is hurricanes. Most recently hurricane Sandy hit New Jersey in the fall of 2012. The storm started in the Caribbean as a tropical depression, turned into a tropical storm and by the time Sandy hit New Jersey it was 485 miles long. The aftermath was horrifying streets were flooded; trees and power lines were torn down leaving people thousands of people homeless or without power. During the storm New York City reported a seawater surge of 15 feet and the New York Harbor surf recorded a wave of 32 feet (Sharp 2011). Although Sandy devastated the east coast, we rebuilt; however, based on the information from this week’s lesson there will be more severe storms in the coming decades. The projected increase due to climate change, the increasing temperature of the ocean will lead to increased storms and natural hazards.

There are three steps to reduce our vulnerability to natural hazards; the first is to be aware and stay informed of the events happening around town. A part of preparedness is to have a plan for the different types of hazards that can take place in your community. The second step is to know what should be done immediately after the natural hazard occurs. Once you find a safe place evaluate your surrounds and then aid the victims. The final step is to rebuild. The best people to perform these actions are the professional, but if professional help is not available anybody except for the elderly and children should lead a hand. If I ever find myself in the mist of a natural hazard I would first make sure my family is safe and then help my neighbors and community (Pennsylvania State University 2016). I think if we are able to stay calm and use common sense all of us can survive a natural hazard.

Resources

Pennsylvania State University. Reducing Vulnerability to Natural Hazards. 2016.https://www.e-education.psu.edu/geog030/node/374

RSOE EDIS Staff. RSOE EDIS. 2016 http://hisz.rsoe.hu/alertmap/database/index.php?pageid=event_desc&edis_id=BH-20160313

Sharp, Tim. Live Science. November 27, 2011. http://www.livescience.com/24380-hurricane-sandy-status-data.html.

 

 

 

 

Module 8- Vulnerability/ Natural Hazards

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1. After analyzing the Nathan World Map of Natural Hazards, I learned that my hometown of Scranton, PA can face natural disasters such as winter storms (zone 1), heavy rain, hail storms (zone 2), wildfires (zone 1), tornados (zone 2), and even tropical cyclones. I never realized that my area is subject to tropical cyclones, since I live no where near the tropics. I had difficulty determining the zones of the map, so I am not sure if I correctly determined them. The reason why I am not sure is because the scale of this map is too large. Also, the colors and the faintness of boundaries of the states and countries make it difficult to examine disasters of a specific region. Thus, I don’t think that this map is well suited to describe hazards of certain areas. I feel that this map is more suited to determining disasters of larger scaled regions as opposed to specific towns.

2. The event that I chose to look into from the RSOE and EDIS dealt with a wildfire in Palau. On March 27, 2016 at 3:30 AM, there was a huge forest fire on Mt. Apo (cause is unknown) that almost spread all the way to Lake Venado. As a result, many climbers were evacuated and officials prohibited campfires, fireworks, burning items, and cooking with wood, logs, and charcoal. Although the risk for wildfires in Scranton is low since the climate isn’t as dry as other places, there still could be a possible outbreak. Scranton and Northeastern PA contains many forests, and many people who live in these areas burn wood/other debris, have bonfires, use fireworks, etc. As for scale, the event impacted more than 100 hectares (about 250 acres). This is pretty small considering Scranton is 16,281.6 acres. Where the fire broke out in Davao del Sur, is about 2,160 acres; thus, in terms of scale, the impacts are much greater where it occurred. However, the impact of this fire would impact Scranton more since we are not used to dealing with wildfires; therefore, many houses would be burned and lives could be lost. Different people in Scranton would have different levels of vulnerability due to where they live. Those who live in wooded areas would be at a higher risk of being impacted than those who live in Downtown Scranton. Human factors that can fret vulnerability/ disproportionate the impact of such disaster would be carelessness when dealing with fire. For example, many people from Scranton love to have bonfires, and they carelessly throw items such as plastic into the fire. On the 4th of July, people here tend to blow off fire works by trees. I think the best way to reduce vulnerability of wildfires in Scranton is to educate people when it comes to any form of fire. Laws preventing wood burning, bonfires, and firecracker use in certain areas can also help.

3. When I searched for natural disasters in Scranton, PA, not many sources came up. According to USA.com, Scranton is at a very low risk for an earthquake (USA.com, 2010). Scranton is at 0 risk for volcanoes, and 77.46 risk for tornados (USA.com, 2010). This made me recall my mother telling me once about how there was actually a tornado near my area, not too long ago. Other extreme events in my area involve thunderstorms, floods, blizzards, cold, hail, winter storms/ heavy snow, drought, and strong winds (USA.com, 2010). From my experience, I recall last winter’s extremely cold weather that was 15 degrees below zero. Also, Elysburg (about an hour away from Scranton), has experienced a lot of floods due to the Susquehanna river overflowing damaging many homes and NEPA’s beloved Knoebel’s Amusemant Park.

Source:

  1.  “Scranton, PA Natural Disasters and Weather Extremes.” – USA.com™. Accessed March 31, 2016. http://www.usa.com/scranton-pa-natural-disasters-extremes.htm.

4. Based off of Module 8, I think that it is important that consider human factors, more specifically governance and education. I think that education is most important in prevention of anything. If people are educated about the causes of natural disasters and what to do if one occurs, then so many lives can be prevented since they know what step to take when it comes to comes to pre-event preparedness, emergency response, and post-event recovery and reconstruction. Large organizations such as FEMA give money to help prevent and aid disasters. However, I believe it is ultimately the public who must collectively act the most because there are more of us than there are of organizations, and we are the ones who live daily in vulnerable areas (such as Scranton). As for what I can do, I can make educate people on what disasters can occur in Scranton and what to do in those situations through social media, flyers, or simple conversations. By doing so, more and more people will be educated and will spread the knowledge throughout the population of Scranton.