Like a good neighbor, Allstate might not be there

The people of New York and New Jersey, the two places with the most destruction in terms of dollars, are now filing their insurance claims, which most of us would after such an event. But many people are finding that their insurance companies are reluctant to pay up for this super storm. People with hurricane insurance may think that they are protected from the floods that usually follow, but are shocked to learn that only wind related damaged is covered. To obtain flood insurance, the most common way is to buy a separate policy from the federal governments’ National Flood Insurance Program. If you were smart enough to purchase flood insurance through the federal government then you may have been lucky enough to escape dealing with insurance agents who make it difficult for you to collect your insurance check. But even the federal government is not without problems.

 The annual budget allotted for disasters in FEMA's budget has in recent years fallen short of the claims made. With hurricane sandy we see the same problem. So far the insurance claims have rise to 17.7 billion dollars, compared with only 3.5 billion that the federal government receives in premiums. This raises the debate on how accurate are these costs associated with flood insurance policies. Granted this was a freak of nature storm that caused excessive amounts of damage, but the ratio seems unreasonable. Insurance companies go bankrupt all the time over selling polices for to little and then not being able to cover the claims, so why is our own government in that position. Others argue that those on the east coast should receive less aid than what they have already gotten based on the fact that the east coast is known to have this time of extreme weather. Those people living there made a choice to accept the risks associated with that area, but are now relying on the government to pay for all the damage. The events that cost the federal flood insurance program the most money are repeat events, most notably areas built in flood plains. The problem is that when these houses are destroyed or damaged through flooding because they are located on a flood plain, they end up getting rebuilt in the same spot. So now in a couple years down the road, the same flood will happen, or maybe one at a larger scale, and the whole cycle repeats itself. 

Sources: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/11/11/realestate/reconsidering-flood-insurance-after-hurrican-sandy.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0
http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2012/11/27/sandy-insurance-complaints-new-jersey/1728999/
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/11/13/nyregion/federal-flood-insurance-program-faces-new-stress.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0

7.6 Magnitude Earthquake Shakes Guatemala

On Wednesday a 7.6 magnitude earthquake struck western Guatemala killing 48, injuring 150, and   leaving 60,000 people throughout the country without power. This is the largest earthquake to hit Guatemala since 1976, where 23,000 people were killed. The earthquake caused a sand quarry in San Marcos, one of the worst hit cities, to collapse and kill 7 people.  In a more developed country there are work safety laws that prohibit unsafe labor practices and force companies to make the job as safe as possible. The  7 people killed in the sand quarry were just out digging into the side of the earth with no protection. There isn't much protection you can provide against an earthquake, but i imagine there is something you can implement to reduce the risk of quarry collapses. 

After the main shock of the earthquake, the  Guatemalan government issued alerts and evacuations from tall buildings in case of powerful aftershocks. Using scientific knowledge, the government was able to make the public aware of potentially powerful aftershocks. Taking this engineering paradigm approach of forecasting hazardous may have been saved many lives.

http://www.aljazeera.com/news/americas/2012/11/201211805947793553.html

http://www.cnn.com/2012/11/07/world/americas/guatemala-earthquake/index.html

Post Huicane Sandy

Now that the storm has finally passed we can take a look and assess the damage of Hurricane Sandy, or for all my Spanish readers, huracán Sandy. My main coverage is focused on New York and their extensive mass transportation systems that were affected. The seven tunnels under the east river were flooded by the 14 foot storm surge, with three of them already opening up after 3 days since Sandy. But bringing back the subway system in New York is a massive project to say the least. Pumping out thousands of gallons of water is the first place to start, followed by repairing the many electrical components. Cleaning off the salt and other corrosive compounds off of the tracks is another large scale project. While New York’s' transportation systems received a large amount of damage, problems arose elsewhere. Water treatment facilities that were near the coast were flooded which caused a mix of storm water and sewage to bypass the plant flowing straight into the water ways and streets of New York. 111 homes have reportedly been destroyed by fire, exacerbated by strong winds.

 

 

Article found at: http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2012/10/30/nyregion/hurricane-sandys-aftermath.html

 

Hurricane Sandy Update

So far Sandy has caused much of the predicted damage forecasted before the storm hit. There was flooding in every state from North Carolina to Massachusetts coupled with wide spread power outages leaving 8 million without. Gale force winds damaged many homes and businesses; flights have been grounded and transit systems flooded. So far the death toll has reached 111people. Some estimates put an amount of $88 billion dollars worth of damage.

This naturally occurring event was mitigated in many ways, most notably the evacuations (mostly mandatory) that were called for. The federal government and FEMA were a bit more prepared for this event than they were for Katrina, bringing in machines to pump out the water that much of the coast is bathing in. What makes this event even more interesting is the fact that it happened just days before the election. Natural Disasters make or break governments because disasters like Sandy show how well a president or state official can govern. Looking back to the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, former president George W. Bush was greatly criticized for his inaction during that disaster. This inability to govern and show leadership lowered his popularity ratings. Obama, as I stated earlier, handled this event quite well. The death toll of Katrina was roughly 1700, while Sandy as of now only killed 111. Had Obama not reacted with the right measures in a timely fashion, the outcome of this election may have been affected.

http://www.bing.com/images/search?q=hurricane+sandy&view=detail&id=2465B50FFA7337A6B5D2F28D3F2DEC4B529056FB

Flooding in Pakistan

Pakistan has recently become victim to flooding in the last month. Monsoon rains brought the death of  422 people and left approximately 3000 injured. The flood also forced 350,000 people from their homes. In the Sindh province of Islamabad, the worst affected area, 4.5 million acres (80%) of their cash crops were submerged by the flood waters. In 2010 Pakistan suffered similar floods, this flood leaving a fifth of the country submerged underwater, making floods seem to be the disaster of choice for this region. 

Flooding of course is a dangerous enough hazard by itself. But this flood has done much more than simply displace a population of people for a period of time. This flood, as well as a similar flood in 2010, has also destroyed precious agriculture and, more so in 2010, affected livestock. Peoples livelihoods have been challenged in the last two years due to this flooding. The fact that this same type of flooding in the same area tells me that this country must not have many mitigating processes established for such events. Early monitoring  systems, weather forecasts, emergency warnings are all things that could have helped in mitigating this disaster. With Pakistans' livestock and agriculture being affected, the risk of famine may start to develop. 

Flooding in the UK also occurred in September, leaving many people displaced from their homes, but surprisingly or not, no deaths. The UK was able to avoid disastrous results by mitigating the affects of the flood. Early warnings were given so that people were able to evacuate in time along with forecasting systems to monitor the storm. 

I brought up the floods in the UK to compare how two similar events have two completely differnet outcomes based on the country in which the disasters hit. Pakistan is a less developed country on the global scale, which can be seem in their inadequacy to provide early warnings to citizens about to be impacted by potentially life threatening floods. In the UK, most of the destruction was in the form of infrastructure like roads and railways, as well as houses. But in Pakistan, the result was both high economic loss and also a higher loss of life. 

Articles found at:

http://www.cnn.com/2012/09/29/world/asia/pakistan-floods/index.html

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-19763569

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-19725625

Picture of flooded town: http://poleshift.ning.com/profiles/blog/list?tag=10

Hurricane Sandy

Hurricane Sandy, or Frankenstorm as it is being called in the media, has passed Cuba and Haiti and is making its way up the east coast of the United States. According to researchers from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, hurricane Sandy is on route to have wind speeds rivaling a category 4 hurricane. Predictions of the danger that Sandy may bring include: up to 12 inches of rain affecting the coast and a chance of heavy (up to two feet) snowfall inland (like Virginia). Tropical storm-force winds that extend 650 miles and possibly 4-8 feet of storm surges in Delaware Bay and Long Island, New York are more worries associated with this storm. This sounds like more than your average storm, that's because it is. Most hurricanes bring only a few of these elements like strong winds and heavy rains. But this storm is unique because of the many different variables affecting it. One of those variables is that of the current full moon. This full moon raises sea levels and added with heavy rainfall makes for a large increase in the risk of flooding. This is a growing concern in New York because of their extensive subway system. Another factor is the high-pressure system currently around Greenland. This high-pressure system prevents Sandy from moving north and west away from the coast, and instead is being forced inward. Yet another problem associated with Sandy, is the cold front moving in from the northwest. If the precipitation from hurricane Sandy reaches far enough inland and mixes with this cold front the result would be extremely heavy snowfall. Large amounts of snowfall have left people without power for weeks, and trapped others inside their homes. The dangers from snow are seemingly endless and are a big concern for states like Virginia and North Carolina.

This storm is a good example of the Swiss Cheese model of environmental hazards. This model demonstrates the way in which a natural storm can become unnaturally dangerous. This model in effect means that once something goes wrong, more things will continue to go wrong. In this case, a hurricane is heading for the eastern coast. This by itself is normally not a dangerous situation. Add in a cold front bringing a chance of snow, and the problem gets worse. Again we can add in more trouble, such as a high-pressure system that will keep the hurricane over the coast longer and that gives us yet another problem. 

This storm had passed over Cuba and Haiti before it had reached the United States. In Cuba only 11 people died which was the result of collapsing buildings. Haiti on the other hand lost 44 lives due to flooding. There seems to be a correlation to the number of deaths of these two countries and their development as a nation. Cuba, which had the advantage of forecasting and early warning systems, was able to deliver the message to the people. Haiti, with less developed systems for communicating warnings, lost people to flooding, which is a rapid onset hazard. Had they had warning in advance, those deaths might have been avoided. 

The states that are expecting Sandy to reach them have already taken mitigating efforts. Parts of New York and New Jersey have order evacuations due to flooding, as well as many other evacuations being ordered for various other concerns. New York City has been trying to better seal the subway systems to keep out the flooding waters. There are meteorologists and many other people constant tracking this storm, making sure that no surprises occur over night. 

Source Articles: 

http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/10/27/us-storm-sandy-hurricane-idUSBRE89N16J20121027

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/10/27/hurricane-sandy-frankenstorm-threatens-east-coast_n_2031403.html#slide=1693357

Deforestation

In todays world, the physical demand on this earth has become a potential environmental hazard. Deforestation, one of these physical demands, has been a growing problem for over the last several decades, especially in the Amazon rainforest. In the Amazon, trees are being cleared for numerous reasons: some get turned into toilet paper, timber for houses, as a fuel supply, the list of what we use wood for goes on and on. But although wood is essential for many of our human needs in todays world, it serves a far greater purpose than to be used as means to an anthropogenic end. The Amazon sequesters, or traps, 2 billions tons of carbon each year. All trees are important in this absorption process, most notably the temperate and tropical rain forests around the world.

Because of deforestation there are less trees to absorb man made and naturally occurring carbon. What exacerbates deforestation is when the slash and burn technique is implemented. This not only means less trees for absorbing CO2, but when trees die and/or burned they too release carbon dioxide in the air. So there is more CO2 being created and less being absorbed at the same time.

As i mentioned above, the biggest concern that comes with deforestation is that of balancing CO2 levels. But a plethora of other problems arise with deforestation. Without trees to protect the soil from erosional processes like wind and rain, the soil has been depleting. The end result of this erosional process is desertification; where the soil gets to the point that it is no longer fertile. Another problem arises in the form of the loss of natural habitats for the animals that live in these areas. The Amazon rainforest is home to one of the most diversified places on earth in terms of the number of different species living there. There may seem to be plenty of land still left in the Amazon covered by forests, but with less forest means less food for the animals.

Why is deforestation happening? Places like the Amazon are being deforested so the land can be turned into large scale agriculture and also cattle raising. The soil of the rainforest is very rich and fertile, thus very ideal for crops, but only for a short time before the soil dries up. These crops don't compare at all in terms of carbon absorption. This large scale exploitation, if you will, of natural resources is done by more economically developed countries who, like the United States, are supplying the demands of an over consuming population. Small tribal groups in areas like central Africa who live in and around these forests, whose livelihoods depend on these forests, are at the mercy of those clearing the forests. In summation, the more developed countries are in demand of the resources in these forests, which comes at the expense of the less developed countries who cannot protect their natural resources.


Article found at: http://www.earthtimes.org/encyclopaedia/environmental-issues/deforestation/
Picture of Amazon time lapse:  http://www.rainforestsos.org/about-rainforests/whats-happening-to-them/