Earthquake in Taiwan

Courtesy of weather.com

Today the USGS reported a magnitude 6.3 earthquake occurred about 95 miles away from Taiwan's capital of Taipei, where buildings reportedly swayed for about ten seconds. The quake was centered in a remote, mountainous area so no major damage or casualties have been reported. Authorities have reported some scattered power outages as well as a few people trapped in elevators in the suburbs of Taipei. Luckily, the newer buildings in Taiwan have been constructed to withstand earthquakes, so in many cases like this, the damage is quite limited in city areas. Earthquakes are a frequently occurring hazard in Taiwan, but many of them are small and don't amount to much. 

There are a couple of things at play here. First, Taiwan is an example of a place where the people are educated enough to realize that they needed reinforced buildings because of where they are located. This preparedness likely saves a lot of lives each year compared to places at the same risk, but without strong building codes. Second, Taiwan is an example of a place where the frequency of earthquakes is high, but the risk of one happening with a very high magnitude is low. The people of this area assume that risk and bank on the fact that although these events are a common occurrence, they are rarely strong enough to do major damage.

http://www.weather.com/news/strong-earthquake-hits-eastern-taiwan-20131031

Flooding in India

Near Hyderabad, residents wade through a flood-damaged road

Over the past weekend flash floods hit the east India states of Odisha and Andhra Pradesh. At least forty people are dead according to the CNN report. The floods hit quickly and unexpectedly in many areas, and local residents did not have much time to protect their belongings before retreating to safer areas. Thankfully, a recovery effort being headed by the local government is already underway. Along with dry fruits being sent in, a free kitchen has been set up and tickets distributed. The government also plans to provide housing damage assistance. Thirteen different districts were affected in Odisha alone, including Ganjam, where about 85,000 people had to be evacuated from their homes. The continued rain also has some worried about the drainage system, which might be at risk of breaches if the heavy rains continue.

This event shows that even when a natural hazard strikes quickly, a well-prepared government can still provide its citizens the help they need. Obviously the local government here had plans in place to provide food and housing assistance in the event of a disaster, and that is a very important part of hazard management. Many places that face these same dangers live under governments that either do not care, or are not nearly as educated as to what needs to be done, and potentially, educating people in those areas could save many lives in the future.

http://www.cnn.com/2013/10/26/world/asia/india-floods/

Hurricane Sandy Victims Still Struggling

Princess Cottage in Union Beach, N.J., in 2012 following Hurricane Sandy

A year has passed since Superstorm Sandy rocked the east coast of the U.S. but for many residents in New Jersey not much has changed. Billions of dollars in aid have been rolling in from the government, but those waiting for help in New Jersey haven't seen hardly any of it, and when they do, they will still have to wait until pre-approved contractors are ready to go to work. When Sandy hit in October of last year, it took until January 2013 to approve a $60 billion aid package. While New Jersey was waiting for its plan to be approved, places like New York City tapped into their savings to get neighborhoods back on their feet, while New Jersey residents sat and waited. About 360,000 homes were damaged or destroyed in the storm, and hardly any of those families have received any help as of yet. When they do, they won't even be allowed to touch it themselves. The money will be in a bank account which a contractor will draw from while they repair houses. This is to prevent what happened in New Orleans, where residents took the money and left town, but in the long run, it seems to be hurting people more than helping them.

The storm may have happened a year ago, but the effects are being felt much later, and this case shows what happens when a government simply won't do what needs to be done to help the recovery. Residents in these areas are caught in a never-ending battle between the government, insurance companies, and keeping themselves afloat financially while they wait for someone else to make decisions for them. To avoid issues like this one, policies should be put in place that would dictate how money should be flowing in the event that this were to happen again. Hazard prevention and prediction only goes so far when a big storm like Sandy hits, and that is when preparedness comes into play most.

http://abcnews.go.com/US/jersey-residents-waiting-hurricane-sandy-rebuilding-money/story?id=20371933

Hurricane Raymond Threatens Tourist Areas

A satellite image of Hurricane Raymond from The Weather Channel

Hurricane Raymond is currently stalled off the cost of Mexico. This storm has been a slow-moving and erratic one, and that pattern is expected to continue, making it unclear as to how much more it is going to impact the inland areas of Mexico. On Sunday night into yesterday morning, Raymond intensified quickly as wind speeds climbed from just 40mph to 120mph, making this the first major hurricane in the Western Hemisphere in 2013. Wind speed peaked at around 125mph on Monday, but there has since been slight weakening. Because of the current intensity and uncertain path, there are hurricane warnings out for the cost of southern Mexico, including the Ixtapa-Zihuatenejo metro. area, as well as watches and tropical storm warnings that include popular tourist areas like Acapulco. Because of the storm's slow nature, heavy rains and flash floods, along with mudslides are a major concern here. Acapulco already has reported as of this morning, that over seven and a half inches of rain fell in a 48-hour period since Sunday. This storm has the potential to cause devastation with wind as well, but it will completely depend on how close it actually gets to the coast. The hurricane-force winds with Raymond only extend about 25 miles from the center of the storm, so for now, it is hard to say exactly how bad things are going to be...

Here we have an example of a situation where even with good planning and weather forecasting, the people living in these areas still can not be completely sure of how safe they are going to be. Our ability to predict storms and storm paths is only so accurate, and thus even when we try our best, sometimes hazard events can get the best of us no matter how prepared we think we are.

http://www.weather.com/news/weather-hurricanes/hurricane-raymond-mexico-acapulco-zihuatanejo-pacific-20131021

State of Emergency in Australia

The remains of a train car after being hit with a bushfire in the Blue Mountains

A state of emergency was declared today in New South Wales, a state of Australia. Worsening weather conditions are making it difficult to contain already out of control wildfires, especially in the Blue Mountain region. Current weather forecasts prompted the state of emergency after showing a likelihood for more dry weather and strong winds.

One person has already died and about 200 properties have been destroyed in the last five days throughout the region as firefighters battle "some of the most destructive wildfires ever to strike the state." The main focus is currently on a blaze near Lithgow that is burning along a 190 mile long front. On Thursday, residents in Sydney even watched as smoke from these fires moved across the city.

The forecast currently predicts wind speeds of anywhere from 50-100 kilometers per hour through Wednesday which will pose a significant threat to firefighters and local residents. Roughly 25 communities are being considered for a mandatory evacuation to try and minimize the potential for deaths. 

This event is a good example of the concepts of hazard magnitude and frequency. The Blue Mountains region is in Australia, a place where wildfire frequency is rather high. But the risk of a high-magnitude event occurring in this specific area, especially one of this size, has been historically low. The residents of this area are essentially banking on the fact that although the area is fire-prone, the majority of fire events are of lower magnitude and thus, do not cause nearly as much death and destruction. They have gotten away with taking that risk for a long time, but now they are seeing what can happen when the conditions are just right.

http://worldnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/10/20/21048246-state-of-emergency-declared-as-weather-worsens-australia-wildfires?lite

Government Shutdown Just Adding to the Situation

Over the past weekend, an unusual early and strong snow storm hit South Dakota and caught farmers and ranchers there completely by surprise. State officials are saying that about 75,000 cattle have died as a result of the massive storm that hit from Thursday to Saturday this past week. This storm set a new snowfall record for the month of October in just three days, with statewide total averaging out around thirty inches. But it wasn't just the snow. This storm also came with hurricane-like winds, which sent herds of cattle running for cover miles from home before ranchers could secure them.

As if this wasn't enough, the recent government shutdown is adding on to the situation as another sort of "hazard." Since Congress hasn't been in session, no new farm bill has been passed that would subsidize these farmers and ranchers. Now all they can do is scramble to dispose of all the dead carcasses to avoid yet another hazard. Widespread disease is a big concern not only for the surviving animals, but for the people of South Dakota as well.

The Cattlemen's Association of South Dakota believes that the effects from this situation will reach far beyond just this year, as thousands of calves were lost in this storm as well as more mature cows that would have given birth in the coming years. Steve Schell, who is a rancher who lives near Mount Rushmore, put it best: "This is absolutely, totally devastating. This is horrendous. The death loss of these cows in this county is unbelieveable."

This particular situation certainly has gone from bad to worse and is a good example of where one might use the "swiss cheese" model to describe what is happening. Literally everything that could have gone wrong, did go wrong, including a danger that no one could predict. The government shutdown is delaying aid, both in terms of man power and money, to the people who need it most. This is something that would be very hard to plan for. The fact that it occurred at a time when there was a major natural hazard happening is just compounding the matter. Not only were these people hit very hard by a fluke early storm, but they are being denied the help of the government.