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PAD4380.su21 Disasters: From Shock to Recovery

1. Background Information 10

The United States emergency management system has served as a model for the rest of

the world. This can be attributed to the vast experience in handling various disasters.

Nevertheless, the country still faces considerable challenges, both similar and unique to other

nations, despite advancement in this burgeoning field. Furthermore, the United States have faced

disappointing mistakes and numerous setbacks that the country can learn from. The diversity in

natural hazards makes the United States the most hazard-prone nation on the globe.

Nevertheless, the country is categorized among the most geographically diverse countries on the

continent. Notably, the US's climate runs from tropical to temperate. Therefore, the weather

system is characterized by an influx of moist, warm air emanating from the South and colliding

with the North's cold and dry air. The United States are also affected by numerous

meteorological hazards, including monsoonal precipitation and winter weather (National

Research Councill, 2012). Including other disasters such as deadly crashes by airplanes, road

accidents, fires, et cetera, the picture is very distressing.

Even though the specific hazards are more prone in some areas than others, their patterns

are sometimes difficult to predict. Furthermore, it is even more challenging to establish the

vulnerability of the United States to disasters due to the sporadic distribution in geographic and

social space. Most scholars have attributed the vulnerability of the US to disasters to the

economic and social structure. The areas that have low incomes are less prepared to handle

disasters. Special populations, including the elderly, women, and minorities, are also most

vulnerable to disasters. Culture is also regarded as another factor that exposes most populations
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to disasters (Bakkensen & Mendelsohn, 2016). Most Americans tend to disapprove of

government warnings and guidelines. Therefore, this study explores hurricanes in the US Gulf

Coast, including the states of Texas, Mississippi, Louisiana, Florida, and Alabama.

2. Disaster History 15

Type of hazard – hurricanes

Throughout the history of the United States, several storms have threatened the trajectory

of the nation. The history of Hurricanes begins almost 500 years ago, where a massive storm in

1502 in the Caribbean sank 24 Christopher Columbus' fleet of 24 ships. A century later, another

hurricane in 1609 collapsed a Jamestown settlement in Virginia. During the times. The science

could not warn the communities to avoid the imminent disasters that were created by the

hurricanes. Therefore, the magnitude of the destruction and deaths caused by hurricanes,

especially before the 19th century, is not apparent, but it is undoubtedly high. For instance, the

giant Galveston hurricane killed thousands of Americans in a summer season packed by tourists

(Cutter, 2016). As demonstrated by Dolin, the disaster in Texas was entirely avoidable if the

country had identified the storm's developments in the Gulf of Mexico.

year total hurricanes deaths

2000 8 4
2005 15 1518
2006 5 0
2007 6 1
2008 8 41
2009 3 6
2010 12 11
2011 7 44
2012 10 83
2013 2 1
2014 6 2
2015 4 3
2016 7 36
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2017 10 147
2018 8 48
2019 6 15
2020 13 47

Physical, environmental, social and economic vulnerabilities

Physical exposure to hurricanes includes exposure to natural and the built environment.

Some of the factors that influence the exposure of the US Gulf Coast built environment includes

housing and population density. Road density and the size of urbanized land. The factors that

influence the exposure of the natural environment include the per cent of land categorized as

high-risk zone and storm surge inundation zone. The US gulf coast is linked to a high potential

for losses in the event of a hurricane. However, the development patterns indicate that the region

has reduced its susceptibility to losses. Some of the factors that influence social vulnerability

include the structure of families, level of awareness, and education levels. The demographic

aspects include age, ethnicity, and race. Lastly, poverty is the most common economic

vulnerability in the US gulf coast. Households with low incomes are most affected by hurricanes

(Bakkensen & Larson, 2014). However, the profile of the US gulf coast concerning vulnerability

has significantly improved in the last decade.

Past experiences

The US Gulf Coast has always been categorized as a storm-battered area. The National

Hurricane Center has consistently warned that the region is always braced for life-threatening

storm surges. In some instances, the area faces a new storm while recovering from the previous

one. Nevertheless, the recent experiences in more destructive and frequent hurricanes have been

caused by recent weather changes. So far, the Galveston hurricane of 1900 is still the deadliest

disaster to hit the US Gulf Coast. Other major hurricanes include the Atlantic-Gulf Hurricane
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1919, Great Miami Hurricane 1926, New England Hurricane 1938, Hurricanes Carol and Edna

1954, et cetera.

total hurricanes
2020
2018
2016
2014
Year

2012
2010
2008
2006
2000
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16

Number of Hurricanes

Summary table

Rank Hurricane Year Estimate Insured Loss

1 Hurricane Katrina 200 $86,570

2 Hurricane Sandy 201 33,930

3 Hurricane Harvey 201 31,960

4 Hurricane Irma 201 31850

5 Hurricane Maria 201 31270

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6 Huricane Andrew 199 29700

7 Hurricane Ike 200 21760

8 Huricane Wilma 200 14010

9 Hurricane Michael 201 13710

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3. Emergency Management 15 points

EM national agency

The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) is the emergency management

national agency responsible for jurisdictions for areas hit by disasters. The National Response

Framework is responsible for organizing response actions. FEMA, therefore, organizes the

response to and recovery from disasters. The recovery process includes introducing activities to

restore, redevelop, and revitalize the respective communities affected by the hurricanes. The

National Recovery Support Functions is responsible for ensuring technical support for the

community. The RSF also helps integrate interagency resources to help the communities recover

by ensuring access to the necessary resources (Jafari, Chen, & Cadigan, 2020). However, the

most vital activity by these bodies to ensure coordination by the Insular Area Partners, territorial,

tribal, private, nongovernmental, State, and Local partners.

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Mitigation and preparedness practices

In collaboration with other federal partners, FEMA constantly urges the US Gulf Coast to

follow the guidance of the local officials closely. The agency participates in active monitoring of

hurricanes. The FEMA liaison officers are usually deployed to various areas in the region to help

with emergency operations and preparedness. Some of the operations centers include Georgia,

Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, and Florida. The centers help coordinate any help required

from the federal government (Jafari, Chen, & Cadigan, 2020). The first responders in a storm

include the public and local work emergency personnel, humanitarian organizations, volunteers,

and private interest groups.

As aforementioned, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) is responsible

for ensuring the resilience of the US Gulf Coast to disasters. The agency has established a FEMA

app to guide the locals in countering the effects of storms (Straser et al. 2020). The app provides

a customizable checklist for any required emergency supplies, recovery centers, directions to

shelters, weather tips, and tips for disaster survival. Both visitors and residents are urged to heed

instructions on preparedness. The mission of the Federal Emergency Management Agency is to

ensure support and unity by all the parties affected by the hurricanes in the vulnerable areas. Its

main task is to build the capacity to prepare, respond to, and mitigate the respective climate

hazards.

The resilience of the US Gulf Coast to Hurricanes

Resilience includes the capacity of the area to anticipate, prepare, mitigate, and adapt to

the various conditions, coupled with the ability to withstand and rapidly recover from the losses.

As established by Stein et al. (2014), resilience defines how much a given system can absorb any
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magnitude of disruption caused. Congress passed an Act to help regions affected by disasters to

recover. The Act promotes the traditional funding of the respective regions by ensuring cleanup

and rebuilding of the affected areas, depending on the magnitude of the damage. The US Gulf

Coast has promoted a collaboration to utilizing resilience funds towards monitoring, rebuilding

infrastructure, mapping and mapping, forecasting, and assessing the effect of hurricanes in the

region (Arkena et al., 2019). Notably, the US Gulf Coast region has been subject to numerous

researches to collect long term data and relevant information on improving the area's resilience.

This is significant in establishing reliable facilities for response purposes.

1600
1400
1200
Number of Deaths

1000
800
600
400
200
0
1995 2000 2005 2010 2015 2020 2025
Year

deaths Logarithmic (deaths )

1. The event

Hurricane Laura

Hurricane Laura is one of the most recent storms to have caused significant damage in

the US Gulf Coast. The storm affected about 1.5 million and caused massive evacuation orders

in the region. At least 910,000 people lost electricity. Hurricane Laura was categorized among

the fastest intensifying storms in the region. The Gulf Coast incurred damages amounting to
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more than $30 million in infrastructure. The category 4 hurricane was characterized by

catastrophic flash flooding, extreme winds, and storm surges. Louisiana was the most affected

area, with most homes and businesses tremendously destroyed. According to an analysis, more

than 20 million people were found in the path of the Hurricane (Straser et al. 2020). Some areas

with a mandatory evacuation order included Port Arthur, Galveston, and Louisiana's Cameron.

However, the Hurricane had wreaked havoc in Puerto Rico, Dominican Republic, and Haiti

before advancing the US Gulf Coast.

As Persaud (2020) mentioned, the contemporary COVID19 pandemic concerns amplified

the complications in the evacuation process. At least 40,000 people were categorized as unable to

afford hotel accommodation. The category 4 hurricane recorded a speed of 150 mph, reaching at

least 30 miles inland in southeast Texas and southwest Louisiana. The Hurricane began on

Africa's west coast on August 16th and moved across the Atlantic for days. Laura's eye and

eyewall traversed the lake Charles metropolitan area. About 50 portable weather stations were

deployed by Texas tech university to help in countering the effects of the Hurricane. The disaster

attracted global partners in helping the survivors access food and shelter and related services.

The GlobalGiving Partners collaborated with the local agencies in establishing a community-led

recovery process. Some of the services initiated after the disaster included medical care, financial

assistance and psychological support for the affected communities.

Timeline of Hurricane Laura

Hurricane Laura formed on August 20th, 2020, and dissipated on August 29th, 2020. The

Hurricane started as a massive tropical wave on August 16th on the coast of Africa. The 5-day

development chance was approximated at 20% after the development of more favorable

conditions. The National Hurricane Center identified the likelihood of the storm during the first
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day. The storm formed a low-pressure area within a week to increase its potential to 90%. By

August 20th, 00:00 UTC, the hurricanes had adequately formed, and advisories were developed

to counter the potential Hurricane. Within five days, the storm had developed into a significant

hurricane (Zhou et al., 2021). however, the results of intensification were still unclear.

Between August 20th and August 21st, aircraft reconnaissance indicated a poorly

organized system. The Hurricane's depression struggles due to mid-level dry air and wind shear

and fast forward of more than 20 mph. The storm developed into a tropical storm by August 21st

at 12:00 UTC (Zhou et al., 2021). At the time, the Hurricane was identified to be about 230 miles

from leeward islands with a speed of 45 mph. Despite the increasing intensity, the Hurricane was

still disorganized, and its convention moved east and north of the circulation. As the storm

approached Puerto Rico, it becomes more strengthened and organized, and its center elongated.

Hurricane Laura made landfall near the Dominican Republic on August 23rd with a

corresponding pressure of 1004 mbars. The Hurricane less or more become intensified as it

approached Louisiana. The Hurricane made its last landfall in Louisiana with a 150-mph wind at

about 06:00 UTC. Finally, it achieved its low on August 29th, near Great Lakes, at about 12:00

UTC (Zhou et al., 2021).

Government response

Hurricane Laura prompted significant attention from local and global partners. Governor

Abbott made a disaster declaration statement immediately after the event. The Texas

Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) issued the first response to the disaster by

providing guidelines to the residents. FEMA provided the localities with resources to help

counter the consequences of the disaster. The Federal Emergency Declaration allowed Texas to

declare hurricane Laura on August 24th. Initially, the government had authorized FEMA to
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organize for assistance to the areas likely to be affected as part of the preparation. This included

mass evacuations, care, and shelter. The declaration by the president enabled FEMA to provide

grants to households and individuals.

Detailed disaster consequences (economic, social, physical, and environmental)

Hurricane Laura caused damage of approximately $15.billion. Louisiana was the most

affected area on the US Gulf Coast. The storm killed about 33 people in Louisiana. Its extremely

massive winds caused damages to properties. They contributed to a storm surge of about 18 feet

in areas near Cameron Parish. Hurricane Laura release massive toxic pollution in the

environment, which increased health concerns. More than 500,000 insured commercial and

residential properties were damaged. Hurricane Laura left hundreds of thousands of Americans

with access to jobs or their homes. Most individuals were separated from their families. Hence,

contributing to massive mental and physical distress on the survivors.

2. Recovery

Responsible agencies

Some of the agencies that facilitated the recovery and reconstruction of the affected areas

include FEMA, Louisiana Housing Corporation, Louisiana Fair Housing Action Center, and

GlobalGiving Partners. International and local donors also supported these governments. Before

the landfall of the Hurricane, the National Emergency Management had established a

preparedness and recovery plan. The FEMA relief program covered most of the Louisiana

Parishes. The federal government introduced a credit program to help the residents re-establish

their homes (Jafari, Chen, & Cadigan, 2020).

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The primary recovery program was initiated immediately after the Hurricane's landfall.

Entergy Corporation organized a workforce of about 7,400 people to help the residents respond

to the Hurricane. Direct relief was witnessed in the affected area after the first day. NASA

Disaster Team helped the region with regular updates on the development of the Hurricane.

Some of the needs addressed urgently included food and shelter amid massive evacuations. As

the floods receded, a massive recovery of the destroyed properties was initiated. After the

Hurricane, the government initiated a research program to evaluate the effects of the Hurricane

and the mitigations it had breached. The US Gulf Coast never recovered entirely from the

damages caused by the Hurricane due to the effects caused by COVID19 (Persaud, 2020). The

Hurricane's economic, psychological, and social impact is still fresh months after the ordeal,

threatening other imminent storms. However, FEMA has introduced programs that spur

collaboration between all the stakeholders involved.

3. Lessons Learned 10

Changes and practices

Atallah and Hoban (2017) mentioned that areas susceptible to hurricanes need to

establish frameworks that speed funding, help the respective residents embrace resilience, and

promote collaboration. However, there is a need to enhance the communication alerts. Since the

US Gulf Coast is prone to hurricanes, the responsible agencies need to establish more robust

housing solutions for the people displaced, promote mass awareness of the impacts of hurricanes

on the mental, physical, and physical health of the young populations, and initiate programs that

rebuild the affected areas inclusively. Therefore, it is about the preparedness for a hurricane and

planning, designing, and implementing reliable frameworks. Babson et al. (2016) note that

Hurricane Sandy provided numerous lessons that should have helped the Gulf Coast survive
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hurricane Laura’s torments (Larson et al., 2021; National Research Council, 2012). Nevertheless,

hurricane Laura demonstrated the significance of institutionalizing regional efforts in enhancing

the resilience of the US Gulf Coast.

Takeaways

The experience highlights the need for any projects to enhance resilience by;

1) Communicate every project initiated with the public to promote its acceptance

and collaboration.

2) Establish projects for the future to mitigate events such as increase storm intensity

and changes in sea levels

3) Conduct researches and establish prior plans to identify necessary regional efforts

to initiate.

4) Designing baseline conditions

5) Establishing extensive monitoring plans to evaluate the performance of projects

6) Employing socio-economic and ecological metrics to examine the effectiveness of

every project

7) Ensuring ready funding to promote data management, analysis and

implementation to promote projects

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4. References

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Mechanisms for Coastal Resilience and Climate Adaptation. In Green Growth That

Works (pp. 213-236). Island Press, Washington, DC.

Babson, A. L., Bennett, R. O., Adamowicz, S., & Stevens, S. (2020). Coastal Impacts, Recovery,

and Resilience Post-Hurricane Sandy in the Northeastern US. Estuaries and

Coasts, 43(7), 1603-1609.

Bakkensen, L. A., & Larson, W. (2014). Population matters when modeling hurricane

fatalities. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 111(50), E5331-E5332.

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Bakkensen, L. A., & Mendelsohn, R. O. (2016). Risk and adaptation: Evidence from global

hurricane damages and fatalities. Journal of the Association of Environmental and

Resource Economists, 3(3), 555-587.

Beavers, R. L., Babson, A. L., & Schupp, C. A. (2016). Coastal adaptation strategies

handbook. NPS, 999, 134090.

Buxton, H. T., Andersen, M. E., Focazio, M. J., Haines, J. W., Hainly, R. A., Hippe, D. J., &

Sugarbaker, L. J. (2013). Meeting the Science Needs of the Nation in the Wake of

Hurricane Sandy--A US Geological Survey Science Plan for Support of Restoration and

Recovery (No. 1390). US Geological Survey.

Cutter, S. L. (2016). The landscape of disaster resilience indicators in the USA. Natural

hazards, 80(2), 741-758.

Jafari, N. H., Chen, Q., & Cadigan, J. (2020). Rapid deployment and post-storm reconnaissance

of hurricane Laura. Coastal Engineering Proceedings, (36v), 60-60.

Larson, K. M., Lay, T., Yamazaki, Y., Cheung, K. F., Ye, L., Williams, S. D., & Davis, J. L.

(2021). Dynamic sea level variation from GNSS: 2020 Shumagin earthquake-tsunami

resonance and Hurricane Laura. Geophysical Research Letters, 48(4), e2020GL091378.

National Research Council. (2012). Disaster resilience: A national imperative.

Persaud, S. (2020). The Challenge of Hurricane Response Amid the COVID-19 Pandemic.

Straser, V., Cataldi, D., Cataldi, G., Giuliani, G. G., & Wright, J. R. (2020). Effects Of Hurricane

Laura On The New Madrid Fault Area-Results Of Electromagnetic Monitoring Through

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The RDF Network-Radio Direction Finding-And Arkansas Electromagnetic Monitoring

Station. New Concepts in Global Tectonics Journal, 8(3), 187-218.

Zhou, S., Kan, P., Huang, Q., & Silbernagel, J. (2021). A guided latent Dirichlet allocation

approach to investigate real-time latent topics of Twitter data during Hurricane

Laura. Journal of Information Science, 01655515211007724.