Tropical Storm Nicole causes floods and slides in Jamaica

Heavy rain falls in Kingston, Jamaica caused floods and mudslides in the small shanty town. Rescuers are now out searching for survivors and bodies of missing people. Currently the death toll is only at five. However, officials say that they expect these numbers to continue to rise as rescuers continue to search for survivors. Some reports of deaths were from people sleeping in shacks that have away to mudslides. There was another story of a girl who was killed from a tree branch breaking and falling through the house while the girl was in bed. According to the article many people live in illegal housing on the banks of gullies because of the lack of affordable housing. 

Clearly in this town this disaster could have been avoided. If their was affordable housing available to the people then they would not be forced to live in shanties on unstable surfaces. The government is making a good effort to reach the people after the storm hit, but clearly something needs to be done so people can live in houses that will not crumble when a storm hits.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20101001/ap_on_re_la_am_ca/cb_jamaica_floods

People displaced in Nigeria from floods

Nigeria opened two gates at swollen in dams that sent the flood down to the neighboring Jigawa state that displaced 2 million people today (Friday). The flooding has washed away many farm villages in the area. More than 34 square miles of farmland have been washed away. Water in this area is released from the dams annually so this is nothing new to the area. However, this is more water than they are used to so officials are not sure if everyone was able to get out in time and far enough way.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100924/ap_on_re_af/af_nigeria_floods;_ylt=Aib8HfV8IiVkIslfV2RHIfZoWrEF;_ylu=X3oDMTJuYXVxbjU5BGFzc2V0A2FwLzIwMTAwOTI0L2FmX25pZ2VyaWFfZmxvb2RzBHBvcwMxBHNlYwN5bl9wYWdpbmF0ZV9zdW1tYXJ5X2xpc3QEc2xrAzJtaWxsaW9ucGVvcA--

Hurricane Rita survivors felt over shadowed..

The town of Cameron, Louisiana is still recovering from hurricane Rita in 2005. The First Baptist Church just finally reopened five years after the hurricane. This is not the only town in southwest Louisiana and Texas who are still recovering from Rita. A lot of these towns were felt they were and after thought and overshadowed by hurricane Katrina. Katrina hit a month earlier than Rita, but Rita still caused much damage to many towns and cities. Although the damage of Katrina ($81 billion) was greater than Rita ($11 billion), Katrina captured the national spotlight.

To be honest, I do not remember hearing about Hurricane Rita in the news a lot. Katrina definitely caught the national spotlight. This article ties into our class discussions as of late about how the media decides which stories to report and what stories people want to hear about. This is a great example of how the public has a short attention span and can easily forget stories. The news media and the public are interested with the most rapid and most severe disasters.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/39328510/ns/us_news-life/

Hurricane Igor

(http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/graphics_at1.shtml?5-daynl)

In the image above, tracts the likely path of Hurricane Igor. When first spotted is was classified as a Category 2 storm which means wind speed between 96-110 miles per hour which can cause 'moderate' damage. The storm is expected to hit late Sunday, but some predictions have the storm reaching Bermuda late Saturday.  For the people living there, on vacation, or planning on vacationing there will need to take precautions. This is why it is important to know when storms are expected to hit so people know when and have enough time to prepare. Depending on the planned severity of the storm, evacuation might be necessary.

(http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/2010/09/18/world/international-uk-storms-atlantic.html?scp=1&sq=hurricane%20igor&st=cse)

New York City Storm - 16 September 2010

On Thursday a severe storm hit the neighborhoods of Brooklyn, Queens, and Staten Island in the New York area. The storm showed typical signs of a tornado. However, the National Weather Service had to analyze data to determine whether or not it in fact was a tornado that caused the severe damage. There were reported winds from 60 to 80 miles an hour in the area. The storm caused much damage. According to the article there were multiple reports of small fires, power failures, and reports to building from fallen tree limbs. Sadly, there was a woman who died because a tree limb fell on her car. Of course this storm and possible tornado is of great concern when it hits in such a highly populated area.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/17/nyregion/17storm.html?_r=1&scp=4&sq=new%20york%20tornado&st=cse

Welcome

Hello Everyone!

Welcome to my blog. My name is Kyle and have started this blog to report hazards that are currently happening around the world and their impact on the regions where they occur. This is part of my Environmental Hazards course at the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire. So please enjoy and I hope this is useful for you. Feel free to comment on posts and let me know what you think.

Kyle