climatic Hazard Case Studies

Question 1

climatic hazard in an MEDC

Answer 1

hurricane Katrina USA August 2005

Question 2

physical causes of hurricane Katrina

Answer 2

• Ocean temperature over 27°
• water greater than 60 m in depth
• more than 5° north or south of the equator

Question 3

human causes of hurricane Katrina

Answer 3

• New Orleans one of the worst affected areas was built by Lake Pontchartrain and the Mississippi river and is below sea level so has to be protected by levees, earthen and floodwalls they were designed to cope with a category three hurricane, Katrina was category five
• The US Army corps of engineers admitted that faulty design specifications and poor quality construction contributed to the damage
• levees broke which caused most of the damage
• two thirds of the flooding in the city could have been avoided if the levees had held
• The wetlands of the Mississippi Delta that is used to protect new Orleans are getting smaller because they have been drained and because they are starved of sediment because the Mississippi river so heavily embanked against flooding it stops erosion upstream which prevents deposition downstream

Question 4

primary impacts of hurricane Katrina

Answer 4

• Levees and floodwalls protecting new Orleans broke in 53 places
• over 80% of New Orleans was underwater
• most the roads were damaged and two major road bridges collapsed
• electricity supply affected
• oil rigs in the Gulf of Mexico had to shut down production
• 1836 deaths many drowned and floated in Street for days causing concerns about disease from contaminated water
• Jobs lost

Question 5

secondary impacts of hurricane Katrina

Answer 5

• insurers estimate the total cost was $25 billion
• over 3 million people were without electricity
• over 10,000 people were made homeless
• shortage of food and no clean water for survivors caused concern about disease
• loss of tourist revenue
• looting of shops

Question 6

short term response to hurricane Katrina

Answer 6

• approximately 58,000 National Guard personnel were activated to deal with the storms aftermath with troops coming from all 50 states
• Congress authorised a total of $62.3 billion in aid for victims
• FEMA provided housing assistance to more than 700,000 people and paid hotel bills for 12,000
• India sent 25 tonnes of relief supplies including blankets and hygiene kits

Question 7

future plans for management after hurricane Katrina

Answer 7

• levees will be replaced with taller and stronger ones
• tidal gates will be built that can be closed to help prevent flooding
• Mississippi river will be diverted to bring sediment to build of the course the wetlands/marshes which will absorb the energy of storm surges

Question 8

climatic hazards in an LEDC

Answer 8

cyclone Nargis May 2008 Myanmar

Question 9

physical causes of Cyclone Nargis

Answer 9

• Ocean temperature over 27°
• water greater than 60 m in depth
• more than 5° north or south of the equator

Question 10

human causes of Cyclone Nargis

Answer 10

• developments for tourist resorts shrimp farms and housing have destroyed 83% of mangrove swamp in the area
• people didn’t know, India’s meteorological department bad warned Myanmar government how severe it was going to be but Myanmar does not have a radar network that would help predict the location and height of storm surges
• The military government did not want to foreigners in the country so they were slow to accept help from aid agencies after the cyclone had struck- the death rate could have been lower

Question 11

primary impacts of Cyclone Nargis

Answer 11

• 125,000 people died and 1.5 million were affected
• many people drowned some bitten by snakes
• 95% of buildings were destroyed due to poor quality
• Farm animals drowned and fisheries destroyed
• local infrastructure destroyed; electricity lines pulled down, roads, railway lines and bridges swept away, sewerage system destroyed and leaking
• fishing boats destroyed

Question 12

Secondary impacts of Cyclone Nargis

Answer 12

• over 1 million people made homeless
• contamination of rice paddy fields and flooding by salt water caused the loss of 2008 and 2009 harvest lead to starvation and deaths
• contaminated water supplies lead to disease e.g. cholera from which many people died from
• dirty stagnant water encourage more mosquitoes to breed which caused more deaths
• lots of crops animals, fisheries and fishing boats lead to a loss of income

Question 13

short-term responses to Cyclone Nargis

Answer 13

• Thailand sent $100,000 in supplies including 30 tons of medical supplies and 12 tons of food supplies
• Italian flights were allowed to enter on 7 May to bring food supplies
• The United States donated money to the relief effort including help from the American Red Cross
• The United Kingdom gave £17 million of aid sent an international relief team to help with the coordination of the international relief effort

Question 14

long-term responses to cyclone Nargis

Answer 14

• earth embankments have been built using local labour to project villagers against some surges
• replanting mangrove forests
• money has been provided to set up self reliance groups
• grants provided to fishing families so that they can replace fishing boats and netd so that they can earn money from fishing again