Natural Hazard
Disaster Summary
Sofia Habity
7650785
University of Manitoba
Geography 2272 – Natural Hazards
Dr. John Lacozza
3/Dec/2012
Introduction
Over this report. A thorough analysis of ten natural disasters will be demonstrated. These natural
disasters will be listed based on their severeness. They all occurred over the current year; More
specifically, from September 6th to December 1st. Natural hazards are only called disaster if they have
an effect on their surrounding living environment. Moreover, they can also trigger other event. To
demonstrate, a tropical storm can result in several floods as it will be shown later on. From hurricanes
to earthquakes, numerous natural disasters took place over that short period of time. Many factors were
taken into consideration when listing the disaster. For instance, the number of casualties and economic
damages, the duration of the event, as well as any other mishaps triggered. Damages, and death tolls
will also be analyzed. It is important to realize that many factors such as how a society is prepared, how
well developed a country is and how much people live in a specific area, all contributors to how much
damage will take place. To clarify, developed countries such as the United States and Spain were hit by
significant natural events as evidenced by Hurricane Sandy and the flooding in southern Spain. As
oppositely thought, developed countries tend to suffer the higher economic damage and loss of life than
in developing countries as they are less exposed and more sensitive to hazardous events. On the other
hand, developed countries are prone to higher levels of preparedness and good governance of
unfortunate mishaps than poorer ones. The latter will make them recover from any unfortunate
happenings in shorter times and ensure proper measures are taken to manage any potential natural or
environmental risks that can occur as a result. This can range from the spread of diseases to potential
private economic losses.
It is important to realize that none of any natural hazards can be avoided, especially that many are
almost impossibly being forecasted. Earthquakes are a good example to that. However, many methods
for mitigation are already being implemented and would be a worthy investment for any country that
suffers from frequent natural hazards. For instance, China can avoid substantial economic and human
losses if regimented mitigation plans are incorporated. Past mitigation records have shown that
investment in disaster risk reduction strategies and engaging in educating people payed off, by helping
with post disaster reconstruction. Nonetheless, low probability events tend to have the highest impact
that can overwhelm the best prepared society. Because of climate change, it is important to realize that
many of these hazardous events will likely become more frequent in the future.
One should keep in mind that when going through this report, measuring the effects of a natural
disaster in terms of economic costs showed major difficulties. Information were frequently updated,
and differently demonstrated. The recently updated information were picked and a thorough
investigation of how each disaster occurred including it's time frame, and reason for happening if
applicable will be included. Lastly, a mitigation part will summarize any measure that could have been
taken into account to reduce the risks of a disaster from happening, or even reduce the impacts of a
natural mishap. However, all mitigation strategies should be well implemented in advance so that time
is allowed for individuals to make any changes, and have more time to get prepared to face the event.
This report include a reference list, at least 10 sources were included for each natural disaster to support
the paper.
Natural Disaster #1: Hurricane Sandy
Description: In this report, Hurricane Sandy will be ranked as the most disastrous. This is
based on the the scope of the disaster hitting one of most developed country being the USA and still
resulting in solid economic, social, and environmental losses. Sandy is thought to be the second largest
Atlantic tropical cyclone since 1988. Indeed, the storm had 175 miles of hurricane force winds
stretching out from its center combined with tropics storm force winds extending over an area of 520
miles. Sandy developed from a tropical wave in the western Caribbean Sea on October 22, and
substantially strengthened into a tropical storm. On October 24, the tropical storm intensified into a
hurricane, named Sandy, near Jamaica. Few hours later it reappeared into the Caribbean Sea and
developed into a Category 2 hurricane (Karl Tate, 2012). As hurricanes normally head off into the
Atlantic as they move north, Sandy was being forced by a high pressure zone to head inland, where it
fused with a cold front from Canada (Bob Williams, 2012). The enormity of the storm affected a mindboggling number of people, with somewhere in the region of 60 million Americans likely to experience
some of the weather associated with Sandy. The hurricane changed direction later on, and moved
towards the north-west changing the coastline of New Jersey.
When it comes to the location of this event; the storm targeted many areas. Most importantly,
New York, Washington, Baltimore, and Philadelphia (Goldberg, B. & Mihalek, T., 2012). Moreover,
Mike Carlowicz (2012) reported that the hurricane heavily affected the coastline of New Jersey, New
York and Connecticut.
The development of hurricane Sandy took place October 22, and started dissipating on October
31, 2012 (Miami, FL: National Hurricane Center, 2012)
There were drastic economic and human damage associated with hurricane Sandy. This is most
evidenced by the the fact that it hit the most densely populated areas of the United state. It is considered
to be the costliest storm as the economic impact was estimated to each $50 billion (Steve Liesman,
2012). Many factors contributed to this, the unique nature of the hurricane in its most devastating from
and the vast populated region affected accounting for about a quarter of the nation's economic activity.
Notably, the loss of economic business activities, including insured and uninsured property losses,
Liesman S. (2012) mentioned. According to a forecast announced by Edeqat power outages as well as
subway shutdowns made hurricane Sandy the 2nd most expensive storm in the US history right behind
hurricane Katrina (Mattew Craft, 2012). Edecat reported a total damage reaching between 30 to 50
billion dollars including property damage, lost businesses and extra living expenses. Fuel shortages and
power outages lingered for nearly a week after the worst storm in the U.S history flooded homes in
coastal neighborhoods leaving many without heat and in need of shelters. In fact, About 30,000 to
40,000 people in New York city alone needed housing (Spicer Jonathan, 2012). Moreover, thousands of
flights were canceled costing millions of dollars to airline companies. More than 12,600 flights had
been canceled on a Monday afternoon (Nicas, Jack, 2012). Furthermore, human deaths were
significantly high. To enumerate, at least 56 people in the US were killed and another 67 in the
Carribean (Alan Taylor, 2012). Sandy pounded Haiti, Jamaica, Cuba where 200,000 homes were
damaged. The total cost of damage to private and public property and infrastructure was expected to
reach $300 million (Garry Pierre-Pierre, 2012). the storm claimed 52 lives in Haiti and the consequent
flooding drastically damaged crop supplies and caused unsanitary conditions ripe for the spread of
Cholera an other waterborne diseases
Mitigation: Hurricane Sandy had the most residential, and human damages. Mitigation could have
helped save lives and millions of dollars. Steps such as preparing homes for the hurricane by
strengthening the roofs, walls, door and any other structures that will help keep the property from
collapsing could have been implemented . In short, anchoring the houses to the ground. Another way
that would have helped people recover from their private businesses was insurance. The latter is a good
way to minimize financial risks for individuals
Natural Disaster# 2: Yunnan earthquakes
The Yunnan china earthquakes struck the borders of Sichuan-Yunnan-ghizlou provinces, in
China. (BBC NEWS china, 2012) the two earthquakes struck successively. The first quake hit on the
07th of September 2012 at around 03:19 UTC, the subsequent quake hit at 04:16 on the same day (US.
Geological Survey, 2012)
As a description, this event was in form of two earthquakes that targeted relatively the same
area. The first quake was about 10 km deep as reported by the European-Mediterranean Seismological
center (2012), it created an intense shaking despite its moderate magnitude of 5.6. The quake struck
before 11.30 am on Friday 7, and was subsequently followed by another quake with a relatively
identical strength of magnitude 5.3 the after noon. Furthermore, dozens of aftershocks of moderate
strength followed but that were not of a big importance (Scott McDonals, 2012). This disaster was
ranked second considering the high death tolls it caused within a smaller geographic area compared to
hurricane Sandy that affected many countries.
When it comes to losses, It is important to realize that the two consecutive earthquakes caused massive
losses in China. In detail, human casualties were relatively high; the two earthquakes caused a death
toll of at least 80 people as written on the Bloomberg Business week (2012). It is very common for
earthquakes in mountain areas to leave a legacy of unstable slopes, these slopes tend to collapse as
landslides as soon as a rainfall event occurs. This happened in Yunnan earthquakes and resulted in
blocking roads and most importantly slowing down rescue efforts as Jason Lee (2012) reported.
Notably, the landslides triggered by these earthquakes caused most of the damages in Yunnan. This can
be seen by the landslide that followed the earthquakes 11 kilometers south east of Duan yuan, injuring
two people. Not to mention a second landslide in Yunnan that buried 18 school kids few days after the
quakes. Zhou Guangfu deputy chief of the country's education bureau announced that, among the 18
elementary school students who were affected by the disastrous landslides at the Yuniuo primary school
in Jiaokui township, only 5 were rescued China, Daily (2012) reported. In fact, 257 schools were
damaged during this catastrophe. These institutions contained 98,000 students, that now need at least
270 million yuan of funds. According to the Yunnan provincial government's official website, the high
population density that Yiliang county is known for, the building construction that lacks solidity,
together with the landslide-prone hillsides, increased the likelihood for more deaths and damages to
occur; 821 people were injured in landslides only according to (CNN, 2012). China's Xinhua news
agency reported that 100,000 people have been evacuated and another 100.000 needed to relocate. The
news agency proclaimed the destruction of 6650 houses in the province and 430.000 others damaged
(Theguardian, 2012). As a result of this, the Economic losses that china suffered from reached 90
million USD (582.26 million yuan) as lastly updated by Armand Vervaeck and James Daniell (2012)
Mitigation
Since forecasting an earthquake is clearly impossible, and since china is highly affected by earthquakes
considering it's geographic location,and characterized by a heavy population density. It is also
important to realize from this even that most of the damage was as a result of landslides, triggered by
earthquakes and not the earthquakes themselves. Keeping this in mind for a mitigation program. The
government have the obligation under their jurisdiction to take necessary measure to force and make
changes to building codes and follow updates to ensure the codes are being maintained. Individuals can
also contribute by anchoring their homes to the ground. This can be achieve by strengthening the
foundations of houses and shearing the exterior structures such as walls. This measure could have been
a worthy investment, especially that it takes little money and time. The landslides that happened could
have still caused deaths among people, but many residential houses would have survived
Natural Disaster #3: Guatemala earthquakes
The significant earthquake occurred at a depth of 41.6 km and was located about 15 miles off
the coastal town of Chamerico in southwestern Guatemala the Insurance Journal (2012) wrote. It
happened along Guatemala’s Pacific coastline. An aftershock hit on the following Sunday, 19 miles
from the city's coastal town of Champerico, and180 kilometers southwest of Guatemala city and was
27 kms deep (Romina Ruiz-Goiriena, 2012).
The first quake took place on Wednesday November 7th at 10.35 UTC (CNN, 2012), the late
Sunday aftershock hit at 22:15 UTC (USGS, 2012)
To repeat, The first wave shock of 7.4 magnitude hit the Guatemala’s pacific coastline on
Wednesday Nov 7th, It was felt as far as Mexico city as reported by Washington post (2012). The major
earthquake was followed by 70 aftershocks in the first 24 hours and then by a relatively strong
earthquake 4 days later, triggering landslides. Even though the magnitudes of these two main
earthquakes are higher than the Yunnan, China earthquake, it has been ranked third in this report
considering the relatively low number of death toll compared to the first two disaster.
the major earthquake caused significant fatalities, affected over a million of people and left
25,840 homeless and 12,045 lives damaged (Armand Vervaeck & James Daniell 2012). to illustrate, at
least 52 people were announced death, and 22 missing as reported by CBC news (2012). Highways
were blocked because of the earthquake in the west of the country as well. Aljazeera (2012) reported
that rescues were abandoning attempts to find survivors, and were focusing instead on looking for
corpses. Furthermore, the earthquake not only damaged residential houses, but also government
buildings and school roads (Karla Zabludovsky, 2012). In fact, 10,000 houses were deemed
uninhabitable from landslides that succeeded the earthquakes as Jim Stripe wrote on Newswire (2012).
In addition, a mountain village, around 80 miles from the epicenter was also harmed with some 30
homes collapsing in its center (Times Union reported, 2012). moreover, The government of Guatemala
reported at least 10 high ways remained close. Bridges were also affected, the Guatemala bridge for
instance in Escuitla, where one of its bases sank. The president Otto Perez said that 100 people were
missing and 76,000 without any electricity (WorldNews, 2012). In general, this was recorded to be the
country's most violent seismic event since 1976. futhermore, Insurance Journal (2012) wrote that the
closest areas to the epicenter of these two earthquakes were characterized by their poor seismic
performances and their structural vulnerability. According to the USGS, during the event, the peak
ground acceleration was violent enough to collapse these poorly constructed structures.
Mitigation
It is important to realize that, as it has been seen, several aftershocks followed the first major quake.
For this reason, authorities and other organizations who have a better seismic background and are
aware that aftershocks are common after the first quake, could have notified people that a possible
more important seismic shock could hit anytime again, and try to keep people as away as possible from
buildings, especially those that lack sufficient solidity.
It was clear that most of the damage came from failures in building constructions, A good suggestion
would have been to retrofit existing houses especially in rural location, while enforcing to existing
building codes to the ones currently under construction. Another good idea is try to integrate seismic
pads, at least for building that carry more people, considering how costly these new technologies are.
Educating people than emergency survival kit is also very important. Having in mind that people have
probably suffered from hunger and injuries. Moreover, Water and electricity were cut for days. For this
reason, a kit that would contain medications, candles or flashlights, sleeping bags and clothes, canned
food and also water would have been essential. In short, preparedness is very important when it comes
to surviving a natural disaster.
Disaster# 4: Son Tinh Typhoon
While Americans was struggling to recover from the disastrous hurricane Sandy, east Asia have
been hit by a typhoon that had cost more than 30 lives since it first struck on Oct 25 th (Los Angeles
Times, 2012). According to storm coordinates from Wunderground (2012), Son Tinh formed from a
tropical depression near Philippines on October 23rd, . It strengthened into a tropical storm the following
days and caused serious landfalls. The storm had a maximum continuous winds of 60 knots (110
km/hour) (Adonai, 2012). Subsequently, the tropical storm developed into a category 1 typhoon on
October 26 in Lao People's democratic republic in VietNam. On the night of the 29th, Son Tinh typhoon
moved north east and started to weaken into a tropical depression in Mong Cai district. Without delay,
it reached China later on. The total population affected by this tropical cyclone was 7.3 million, as the
vulnerability of the affected countries was high (Global Disaster Alert and Coordination System, 2012
). Certainly, Vietnam in particular was heavily affected by this cyclone,
When it comes to the date and time regarding the tropical storm Son Tinh. It has been shown
that Son Tinh developed into a severe tropical storm at central south Asia at 5 am local time on the 23th
of November 2012. More specifically, about 530 km southeast of Sansha city, Hainan province in china
(China Meteorological Administration, 2012) and along the Vietnamese coastline. The tropical storm
ended on the 30 October 2012 (Global Disaster Alert and Coordination System, 2012 )
Damages were significant during this event. In Vietnam, the storm caused the death of at least 3
lives, and injured 29 people in its preliminary stages of development (Jetheo Mullen, 2012). later the
following Sunday, Son-Tinh hit northern Vietnam at a typhoon level. As a result, Homes and bridges
were destroyed together with agricultural fields and crops. Moreover, All means of communications
such as telephone and electrical lines were down during the whole time as the Vietnam national agency
mentioned; 86,000 people were evacuated. The developed typhoon subsequently lashed the
Philippines, killed at least 30 people, and injured 19, as left 9 missing. Jetheo Mullen (2012) reported
that about half of the victims were killed by landslides and by drowning, while others were hit by
debris. Furthermore, 15,000 people were sheltered in 97 government evacuation centers (Australia
Network News, 2012). Typhoon Son-Tinh caused an estimated $ 145 million in economic damage
(Michael Richardson, 2012). By the end of the storm, Vietnam had lost 11 people who were killed or
missing. This was in addition to 55,680 damaged houses and 9500 ha of ruined paddy rice and cash
crops. Initial estimate of total damages were of nearly 2 billion US dollars as published in Reliefweb
(2012 a) . As mentioned, the typhoon subsequently hit china, and only killed 1 person. Nonetheless, it
forced around 126,000 people to be relocated in south China's Hainan province (Reliefweb, 2012 b).
Mitigation
agriculture plays an important role in the economies of Asian societies. A good measure to protect
crops and fields is imposed when most of the economy relies on agriculture. To clarify, farmers could
have protected their fields by contouring their farms in order to protect their seeds. Barriers or contour
lines could have also been implemented around fields to protect them. Vegetation is a good measure to
reduce landslides. It is also important to secure all material used for planting, as well as farming tools
for a future usage. Houses could have been saved by strengthening roofs and walls to avoid possible
collapses, coupled with shuttering windows. Making houses resistant by any ways, as long as they
conforms with the legislation and do not have an impact on other people's proprieties.
Natural Disaster# 5: India Cyclone Nilam & Flood
Due to the amount of details, this part of the report will be broken down into section.
This event hit Andhra-pradesh, north of Tamil Nadu, and Tamil Nadu located South of India, as
well as Sri-lanka. Firstly, the cyclone developed on October the 28th and started dissipating on
November the 1st. (tropical weather outlook, 2012). Sorcha Pollak (2012) wrote that cyclone Nilam
formed over the south central bay of Bengal. The regional specialized meteorological center (RSMC)
in New Delhi reported on October 30 that the following day will have the storm intensified into a
cyclone named Nilam northeast of Sri-lanka. As this occurred, the cyclone then spread into the North
east of Trincomalee. Subsequently, and hit the south Indian states of Tamil-Nadu and Aandha-prasesh
(Nadia Fazluthaq, 2012).
Cyclone Nilam resulted in significant human, environmental and economic damages:
Sri lanka:
To start with, the economic loss from this disaster were reported to be of at least $56.7 million
Starting with Gampaha in Sri Lanka, which was the most affected by floods, had more than 49,900
people displaced from their homes. Not to mention schools that have also been inundated by flooding.
Health officers notified about an outbreak of multiple infections and water borne diseases as soon as
water will have started to recede (Nadia Fazluthaq, 2012), diarrhoeal and other water borne diseases are
usually common whenever floods occur. Furthermore, crops also suffered considerable damage
(AlertNet, 2012). In India, (India times, 2012) reported that the cyclonic strong winds along the Indian
coastlines caused an oil tanker to run aground, as a result, 22 crew members struggled to survive in a
lifeboat, but two of them died.
Tamil Nadu:
the storm destroyed houses and brought strong winds blowing 135 kmph and tidal surges of nearly 1.5
meters as Sorcha Pollak, (2012) reported. Heavy rain falls caused a detrimental flood that inundated
over 81,1000 hectares of agricultural fields, including sown and transplanted fields (P.V. Srividya,
2012). Death toll reached 26 in this southern Indian state (India Times, 2012).
Andhra pradesh
Notably, Andha-pradesh suffered the most damage with the highest death tolls. To illustrate; 140
fishermen were reported to have been caste away off the coast (Sabyasachi Dasgupta, 2012). The
cyclone have been the cause of a displacement of 150,000 people (CBC News, 2012). After the cyclone
started to weaken, heavy rains followed; Causing about 76,980 hectares to be inundated. Moreover, 30
houses were acclaimed to be damaged by the state revenue minister N. Raghuveera Reddy; and
additionally 449 electrical poles that collapsed (Business Standard, 2012). In total, 45 people were
pronounced dead in Andhra (Daily Times, 2012). in addition to 70,000 people in Andhra Pradesh who
have been displaced to shelters (Harmeet, S. S., 2012)
Mitigation:
Cyclone Nilam was very disastrous. All of the already mentioned mitigation suggestion would
have also been applied in this event. This includes protecting crop fields, strengthening houses and
keeping an emergency kit available in case. While high winds cannot be stopped by any mean,
protecting building openings such as windows and doors could have shielded any sort of impact from
high velocity winds. Many people could have been evacuated before the cyclone even hit as many
forecasts reported about the cyclone hitting. The government should seriously consider integrating
mitigation education programs, especially that this region is frequently being under the pressure of
many natural disasters.
Natural disaster#6 Bangladesh tropical storm
Late in the night of October the 10th, violent storms swept in from the bay of Bengal and wiped
the coastal districts of south east Bangladesh. It happened at 22 pm local time on October10 (Asian
Disaster Reduction Center, 2012). This event had a direct effect on Dhaka, the capital of Banglaldsh, as
well as 3 districts; Noakhal, Bhola and chittagong (Reliefweb, 2012). half a dozen of other coastal
districts were also influenced by this tropical storm. In general, damages were relatively low compared
to the above natural disasters. Moreover, this tropical storm formed and dissipated in a relatively short
period of time; over one night (Farid Ahmed, 2012). Because of how fast it happened, it was not
tracked by any meteorological agencies (International Federation Of Red Cross, 2012). All things
considered, Bangladesh tropical storm comes in the 5th position because of its relatively high death toll
it caused, which is a bit higher than Son Tinh typhoon. However the later had heavier damages on a
relatively larger area and impacted many populations.
The damages of the overnight tropical storm were comparatively significant. That is to say, it
caused the death of at least 30 people in three districts and left hundreds injured. Furthermore, more
than a thousand people were missing in 4 southeastern districts (Philippines.ucanews, 2012). Indeed,
(ABC News, 2012 a) wrote that an estimate of 1500 fishermen were missing, while (Tropical Medical
Bureau, 2012) reported that the 60 fishermen were reported to still be missing after the strom
dissipated. Buildings also suffered important damage from the storm. For instance, thousands of
homes were devastated and more than 1000 were flattened (ABC News, 2012 b)
By the same toke, (The Nation, 2012) reported that at least 30,000 mud and straw houses were
damaged in the storm in coastal towns, including Hatiya, Bhola and Sandwip. According to the
government's disaster management bureau. Furthermore, English.sina (2012) claimed that innumerable
trees and electric poles were uprooted during the disaster. Additionally, displaced people in the affected
districts were residing on road sides, raised ground, schools and colleges because of the lack of shelter
(Maherin Ahmed, 2012). In Noakhalin district only (International Federation of Red Cross, 2012) said
that least 16 people were killed and 15,140 houses damaged at Hatiya. In Bhola, at least 11 people were
killed and 12,090 houses damaged. Chittagong also evidenced the death of 4 other people because of
the storm.
Mitigation
In the case of Bangladesh tropical storm, the fast paced surge of the storm did not leave time for
tracking. It can also be seen that most of the damage affected houses in coastal towns, as many were
flattened. For this reasons, buildings should have been designed to resist forces applied by the tropical
storm. Many basic mitigation measures could be applied to strengthen homes. For instance, Making
sure roofs are well attached to walls during periods of constructions. While the storm did not leave time
for authorities to evacuate people before the storm hit. It would have been helpful to have more
convenient evacuation centers in city centers. Taking into consideration that Bangladesh is prone to
several cyclonic storms and torrential rains as well as many natural disaster. Having an evacuation
center around the corner is less dangerous to run to when the storm first hits, than in the middle of high
winds and collapsed bridges and power poles. People living in vulnerable areas such as on ridges,
valleys, or shorelines where storm surges have the most strength should consider relocating as soon as
the cyclone season approches.
Natural Disaster #7 Myanmar(Burma) earthquakes
Myanmar was hit by a 6.8 Magnitude earthquake on Sunday November 11. at 01.12 UTC 7.42
am local time. This earthquake was located 50 kilometers north of Shwebo Myanmar, 115 kilometers
noth of Mandalay (Asian Disaster Reduction Center, 2012). It happened as a result of a right lateral
strike slip fault mouvement between the Indian plate to the west and the Sunda and Eurasia plates to the
east (U.S. Geological Survey, 2012 a).
The strong earthquake resulted in a lot of damage to the city of Mandaly. Firstly, it collapsed a
bridge and damages ancient Buddhist pagodas in northern Myanmar. Moreover, reports from the under
developed mining region said that mines demolished. As a result, 12 workers were feared dead. The
gold mining town near the epicenter had 3 dead and 35 injured (Fox News, 2012)
In total, at least 26 people were killed in this event, 12 others were missing and about 230 injured.
(The Gulf Today, 2012) reported that the red cross announced that the earthquake destroyed 251
houses together with 22 damaged hospitals and 137 religious buildings.
Moreover, the Ayayawaddy river crossing bridge that linked Shwebo and Singu, was under
construction. The earthquake casued the bridge to collapse, and as a result a man was killed and 15
other workers were injured, and 4 other were missing (News Xinhua, 2012). More to this, the bridge
caused a vessel loading with goods underneath to sink in the river. Furthermore, smaller towns closer to
the epicenter of the earthquake were worse hit. In fact, no casualties or significant damage were
annouced in the main population center of Myanmar's second biggest city of Mandalay ( UsaToday,
2012). As lastly updated, 122 houses, 48 department buildings and 21 religious buildings and four
schools were damaged between Thabeikkyin and Shwebo Townships (Reliefweb, 2012).
The deadly earthquake was felt as fat as Thailand, Bangladesh and India (Disaster-report, 2012).
The international Res Cross reports also reported a death toll of 26 lives, with 231 were injured, and
462 structures damaged in total (BeforeIt'sNews, 2012). this rise in damage came as a result of the
several large aftershocks that were felt during Sunday. One of the aftershocks was 5.7 in magnitude and
hit after midnight ( Aung Hia Tun, 2012)
The Nation (2012) wrote that the earthquake resulted in a disruption of supply of natural gas from
Myanmar to Thailand. Thailand uses natural gas to generate eelctriciy. This situation triggered the
electricity generating authority of Thailand to ask for a solution to this problem that has been occuring
more frequently in the past few years, possibly because of earthquakes.
Mitigation
Many buildings in Myanmar collapsed during this earthquake. Myanmar is geographically
localized in an area prone to large earthquakes. For this reason, any design of structures, even
traditional or religious ones, should be carried out with consideration of earthquake effects. For
instance, the government can prohibit construction of a building taller than a certain level. An effective
enforcement is necessary to ensure standards are sustained. In fact, a good initiative was taken by the a
a community to educate, and help implement the earthquake disaster earthquake procedures. It is
called. The World Seismic Safety Initiative (WSSI). The latter organize meetings, educate people, assist
in networking, and get involve in many other activities (WSSI, 2012)
In order to address the shortage of power in Thailand that was due to the earthquake, and avoid any
economic conflicts, it is suggested to look for more sources for fuel. Bunker oil powered generators are
currently used, but they raise the overall cost of power generation. For instance, withing 15 years, gas
from the Gulf of Thailand will run out, and imported liquefied natural gas is twice as expensive
(Nation, 2012). A construction of a new coal fired power plants is an initiative to take into account.
Coal is a more costly than natural gas but cheaper than all other fuels, taking intou consideration that
the country does not have a strong economy to consider renewable energies as a source to generate
electricity.
Natural Disaster # 8: Haiti Flood
Cap Haitien city of Haiti, is located on the north coast of the country, about 275 kilometers
north of the capital Port-au-Prince (RSOE-Emergency and Disaster Information Service, 2012).
from Thursday November 8th to Saturday November 10, 2012, the city was hit by heavy rains and
flooding waters. This first started at 05:45 (05:45 am)UTC
The french speaking Caribbean community of Haiti is usually prone to flooding and mudslides
as the island is severely deforested (African Globe, 2012). Most compelling evidenced; this year's
intensive flooding and heavy rains brought significant damage to Haiti according to (RSOEEmergency and Disaster Information Service, 2012). Indeed, the heavy rainfalls flooded streets and
homes in Cap Haitien city, and caused at least 16 people to die. In fact, the unexpected flood came in
the wake of hurricane Sandy, which already caused major damages in Haiti couple of weeks ago
(TheRawStory, 2012).
Emphasizing on damage; as it has been reported, the disaster have affected the most populous
areas. In fact, Cap Haitien Mayor Willborde B. announced that the entrance of the city was completely
flooded. Not to mention that rivers and ravines were forced to expand drastically (SkyNews, 2012).
Under those circumstances, the flood forced more than 1500 people to flee their homes. It also
damaged at least dozens of towns due to the rise of water levels in rivers (The Voice Of Russia, 2012).
1500 people were evacuated from Nord department, which was considered the most affected
(ReliefWeb, 2012). Taken into account these consecutive natural disaster that hit Haiti recently, being
hurricane Sandy and these latest floods (UniFeed, 2012), 15% of Haitians are now affected by famine.
The world food program estimates that more than 1.5 million people in Haiti are now at risk of
malnutrition as they were either displaced or have lost crops. To illustrate, 90% of Haiti's current
harvest season was lost in Sandy's triggered floods. The UN in Haiti says 1.5 million people are still at
risk of not having proper access to food in 2013 due to the destruction caused by Hurricane Sandy and
other natural disasters (BBCNews, 2012). With this in mind, Haitian’s are now forced to rely on more
expensive imports granted that the next harvest season won't begin until March (The Weather Channel).
(Compassion Australia, 2012) reported that following the heavy rains, 146 children from seven child
development centers and 53 child survival program families located near Cap Haitien have been
affected. Flooding in Haiti caused by Sandy triggered a surge in cholera, with almost 300 suspected
cases and three deaths.(U.S.Global Health Policy, 2012)
Mitigation
Haiti should control erosion in the first place. Planting trees is not a very effective measure to
prevent erosion. Once the soil is washed from the watersheds, the soil is lost forever. Therefore, it is
reasonable to invest in stabilizing the watersheds ( The Vetiver, 2012). Moreover, planting grass on the
contour of steep hillsides established extensive root systems which contribute to the reduction of
erosion. A study by scientist from Texas A & M after Hurricane Mitch in Honduras, demonstraged that
a reduction of 92 tons of soil/ha/yr was reached on steep hillside farms that used contour hedgerows to
contour means of protections. Planting hedgerows is labor intensive, but does not require a lot of
maintenance after it's established. It is a good measure to take into consideration, because hedgerows
also contribute to the growth and production of trees and annual crops planted behind the hedges as
Vetiver (2012) demonstrated. This is achieved by conserving the topsoil which in return increase the
availability of nutrients and moisture for plants; coupled with the recharge of groundwater
Natural Disaster #9: Indonesia Landslide and Flood
Torrential rain hit and triggered a severe landslide and flash floods in Mamasa district, located
in a village west of Sulawesi island in Indonesia (Tropical medical bureau, 2012).
This landslide event happened on Thursday 08 November 2012, at 06:05 (MET) (Tropical
medical bureau, 2012). To emphasize; after two days of heavy rainfalls, a flash flood was triggered and
damaged the Mamasa district in village in Sulawesi island. Moreover, a landslide was also initiated by
the torrential downpours in Mamasa district. The landslide swept into a river in Batanguru and as a
result, it burst its banks. The isolated mountainous area where this event occurred and the limited
communication connections hardened the rescue efforts (Times Live, 2012).
When it comes to damage, the flash flood and landslide in Mamasa caused 15 to die and 20
other to be left missing (The Jakarta Post, 2012). Notably, ten victims were recovered late Thursday
after they drowned or were buried by mud. The victims were pulled from under the earth and debris;
more than a dozen of injured victims were sent to hospitals (Gulf in the media, 2012). In fact, the
seasonal downpours affected 29 other villages prior to the main flooding and landslide. The landslide
triggered the river in Batanguru to burst its banks, and seven houses were swept away (ZeeNews, 2012)
The severity of the event was demonstrated by residents and rescuers in Batanguru village to use their
hands to dig through mud searching for their families (Sun Star, 2012). furthermore, a mass of mud was
sent by downpours into about 20 houses located in the outskirts of Palopo town south of Sulawesi
(Jakarta Globe, 2012). Several days of flooding cut off villages and also submerged more than 3600
houses in the area. Not to mention the frequent flooding that occurred after this event in numerous
areas, in particular Western Indonesia and also Central Sulawesi Province few days after the main
disaster. They resulted in minor injuries but forced 383 persons to be displaced.
Mitigation:
firstly, as it has been reported by FoxNews Latino (2012). Indonesia's emergency management
agency already alerted citizens two weeks before the event happened that the rainy season, which
usually comes between November and February on an annual basis during the monsoon season was
going to take place. There was no accuracy relating to when and where exactly it would happen.
Landslides and flash floods are common in Indonesia during the seasonal downpours (The Hindu,
2012). It is possible for Indonesia to consider a framework that would allow her to make use of the
huge amounts of downpour rain water. For instance, building reservoirs that are able to hold rainwater
which can be used for several purposes later on. Building more communication lines is also a good step
to take, especially that villages had a hard time being helped for this specific reason as mentioned
above. More importantly, villages are more likely to rely on agricultural economics. Having frequent
floods and landslides is definitely going to have a detriment effect on fields and crops. For this reason,
getting the government to provide funds for projects that incorporate planting more trees to support the
soil, and hedgerows that would line rivers is crucial in this case.
Natural Disaster #10: Spain & Morocco Rain Storm
This year, southern Spain was hit by a severe rain storm. Many locations were influence, but
most importantly Andalusia which is the largest second region of Spain, Morocco was also influenced
by the storm. The storm front moved toward Catalonia and Balearic island subsequently. The rain
Storm started early on Friday the 27th September and persisted throughout Saturday September the 28
(Joseph Wilson, 2012a).
Residents of southern Spain suffered from heavy torrential rains that killed and injured many
people. It is very common for flash floods to happen as a result of heavy rains. These torrential
downpour causes rivers to burst their banks and consequently swamped homes (France24, 2012).
Gandia was subject to a tornado on Friday evening, the latter was strong enough to topple a Ferris
wheel. The AEMET weather agency in Spain reported that the amount of rain that fell within few hours
on Friday morning was up to 245 liters of rain per square meter as reported by DW, (2012). Clean up
operations followed after the storm stopped; 800 staff were involved in the clean up operation. This
event however, was short and direct, and relatively extensive since it affected not only southern Spain,
but also eastern Morocco. It is listed in this spot considering the relatively small losses that Spain
suffered from, compared to other disastrous events mentioned above. The total number of casualties
was also not very high granted that the storm affected a very densely populated area of the country.
According to the media reports, homes and roads in Spain's southern region of Murcia and
Andalusia submerged in dense, brown flood waters that brushed away large numbers of cars (DW,
2012). Alexander Besant (2012) reported that 600 residents at least were cut by food waters as it was
estimated that 24.5 cm of rain fell on Friday morning alone (BBC News, 2012).
The Telegraph (2012) wrote that a british women was found dead as her body moved away in flood
waters near her home on Sunday. Without delay, a tornado moved through a fair ground in Gandia
located south of Valencia the evening of the same day, and consequently overthrew a Ferris wheel.
As a result, 35 workers running strands at the fair were harmed, and 15 of them were announced to be
severely hurt. Furthermore, major highways in the area of Malaga in Andalusia remain closed.
Likewise, the flooding disrupted high speed train service between Madrid and Valencia and various
other regional lines (Joseph Wilson, 2012b).
Northern Morocco was also swamped by torrential rain that crossed the Mediterranean (Worldpress,
2012). Unseasonal rain caused the deaths of a 50 years old woman and her daughter in law, as well as a
14 years old kid in a rapid flood in Morocco’s West region of Safi. In addition, the highway between
Essaouira and Agadir cities was also disrupted (Demain, 2012). In total,10 people were reported to be
killed in this event (Euronews, 2012)
Mitigation
Considering many geographical factors, it can be concluded that Spain is not prone to many
natural disasters; nonetheless, it is cautious to always be prepared. A way that could have helped
minimized damage was to make sure all drains were cleaned from any accumulation of sediments
that could have hindered water from flowing. The latter would have avoided the sudden burst of water
out of its channels. This procedure also applied to Morocco when it came to the rapid flood triggered
by the unseasonal rains.
Conclusion.
All things considered, natural disasters were more frequent this semester. This was due to the
Atlantic hurricane season that usually happens between June 1st to November 30, coupled with rainy
and Pacific typhoon seasons that commonly occur between May and November of each year. With this
in mind, certain types of natural disasters were more likely to occur in the Asian communities. This
includes the Philippines, India, China and many more that were not cited on the report due to the
limited amount of damage they caused. These communities clearly faced the greatest financial risks and
human detriments. Looking back at the disaster analysis for each of these regions, it could be seen that
they did not have access to proper mitigation strategies to help them overcome the natural unfortunate
events they faced. Up until now, proper planning should have already been incorporated. In fact,
Bangladesh, Philippines, India, Vietnam have all a strong tendency to get earthquakes, torrential rains
that cause flooding, as well as tropical cyclones. The fact that these communities have low recovery
plans, can make a certain disaster look worse and have a more deeply negative effect on the economy
of the country as well as the individuals, than if a certain degree of preparedness was applied.
Moreover, it is important to notice that the highest impacts are among the more densely populated
areas. This can be evidenced by the fact that people chose to live near coastlines where tsunamis have
the strongest effect, as well as lakes and rivers that are more subjected to flood. In short, areas that are
more prone to natural disasters. Keeping in mind that, generally speaking all places on earth are faced
by natural disasters; however, it should be pointed out that natural events happening on a more
populated region will have a more catastrophic effect. For instance, hurricane Sandy was one of the
most disastrous events on the list, this was based on many factored mentioned on the report. The Unites
States is recognized by its strong economy, and governance. They have well established infrastructures
and well designed mitigation and enforced building codes. However, Sandy was able to leave a drastic
impact on the public and private economies.
There is absolutely nothing to do to block hurricanes from happening, regardless of how well
developed and a country is. However, taking certain measures into consideration will definitely help
decrease the impacts. It is important to realize though, that most of the mitigation measure should be
applied well in advance of a hurricane. This applies to all other natural disaster. As mentioned above in
the report, protecting homes by making them more resistant to strong winds, landfalls, and even
earthquakes has a major influence on how much damage that could have on people as a result. Spain
had a fairly low death toll compared to Haiti flooding or the ones triggered by tropical storms, this was
probably because of the fact that Spain had more developed methods to deal with floods. The fact that
the country does not face frequent flooding is not a strong reason for it not to consider incorporating
new technologies and a strong natural hazards management plan. In the developing world, looking
again at the flooding that hit Haiti. It is important to realize that basic measures could have been
implemented to reduce the drastic effect that flood had on the Haitian community. For example,
removing accumulated sediments from water channels over a long period of time will improve the
water flow. This will avoid water to burst out of its channels and a flood can be minimized.
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Disaster 4
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Disaster 5
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Disaster 6
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Disaster 7
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Disaster 8
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Disaster9
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The Jakarta Post (2012). Islands in focus: Death toll in W.Sulawesi flood reaches 15. Retrieved from:
http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2012/11/14/islands-focus-death-toll-w-sulawesi-floodreaches-15.html
Gulf In The Media (2012). Flood, landslide kill 10 in Indonesia; 20 missing. Retrieved from:
http://www.gulfinthemedia.com/index.php?m=gcc_press&id=2456077&cnt=171&lang=en
ZeeNews (2012). Flood, landslide kill 10 in Indonesia; 20 missing. Retrieved from:
http://zeenews.india.com/news/world/flood-landslide-kill-10-in-indonesia-20missing_810147.html
Sun Star (2012). Death toll from flood in Indonesia climbs to 13. Retrieved from
http://www.sunstar.com.ph/breaking-news/2012/11/09/death-toll-flood-indonesia-climbs-13252455
Jakarta Globe (2012). Landslides kill 14 in Indonesia's South Sulawesi. Retrieved from:
http://www.thejakartaglobe.com/home/landslides-kill-14-in-indonesias-south-sulawesi/340546
FoxNews Latino (2012). 10 Dead, 20 missing in Indonesia floods. Retrieved from:
http://latino.foxnews.com/latino/news/2012/11/09/10-dead-20-missing-in-indonesia-floods/
The Hindu (2012). Floods, landslide kill 10 in Indonesia. Retrieved from:
http://www.thehindu.com/news/international/floods-landslide-kill-10-inindonesia/article4080342.ece
Disaster 10
Joseph Wilson (2012). Storm Spain spawns tornado, deadly flooding. Retrieved from:
http://thechronicleherald.ca/world/141757-storm-in-spain-spawns-tornado-deadly-flooding#
France24 (2012). Deadly flash floods hit southern Spain. Retrieved from:
http://www.france24.com/en/20120928-flash-floods-kill-several-southern-spain-malaga-murciaalmeria
DW (2012). Weather: Storm toll mounts in southern Spain. Retrieved from:
http://www.dw.de/storm-toll-mounts-in-southern-spain/a-16273437-1
Alexander Besant (2012). Flash floods kill 10 in southern Spain, injures 35 people. Retrieved from:
http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/news/regions/europe/spain/120929/flash-floods-kill-8southern-spain-injure-35-people
BBC News Europe (2012). Spain floods: Ten die in Malaga, Almeria and Murcia. Retrieved from:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-19767627
The Telegraph (2012). Body of British woman swept away in Spanigh floods found. Retrieved from:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/spain/9577256/Body-of-British-womanswept-away-in-Spanish-floods-found.html
Joseph Wilson (2012). Tornado Hits Fair in Spain; Flood Deaths Reach 10. Retrieved from”
http://www.insurancejournal.com/news/international/2012/10/01/264880.htm
Worldpress (2012). The Extinction Protocol: 2012 and beyond. Retrieved from:
http://theextinctionprotocol.wordpress.com/2012/09/29/extreme-weather-wreaks-havoc-fromspain-to-morocco/
Demain (2012). Intemperies: 3 morts au Maroc, 10 morts en Espagne. Retrieved from:
http://www.demainonline.com/2012/09/29/intemperies-3-morts-au-maroc-10-morts-en-espagne/
Euronews (2012). Ten desd in Spanish floods. Retrieved from:
http://www.euronews.com/2012/09/29/ten-dead-in-spanish-floods/