TRS Case Studies

Case studies

Hurricane Katrina

• 29th August 2005

• Hit Florida (Category 1), New Orleans (Category 5)

• Costliest natural disaster in the history of the USA

Hurricane Katrina Social Impacts

• Redistributed over one million people across the USA (Houston, Texas, increase of 35000 people)

• Late January 2006, 200000 people living in New Orleans again, less than half pre-storm population

• Many people were traumatised

• Racial tensions were exposed and intensified, many of the victims were black African Americans

Hurricane Katrina Environmental Impacts

• Storm surge caused substantial beach erosion

• Lost breeding grounds for marine mammals, brown pelicans, turtles and fish

• Damage forced the closure of 16 National Wildlife Refuges

• Caused oil spills from 44 facilities in southeastern Louisiana (over 26 million litres of oil leaked)

Hurricane Katrina Economical Impacts

• Bush Administration sought $105 billion for repairs and reconstruction in the region (excluding the interruption of oil supply, destruction of the Gulf’s coast highway infrastructure and exports of commodities, grain)

• Damaged or destroyed 30 oil platforms and caused closure of 9 refineries

• 1.3 million acres of forest land destroyed, costing $5 billion

• Total economic impact in Louisiana and Mississippi exceeded $150 billion

• Some insurance companies stopped insuring homeowners because of the high costs from Katrina and Rita, or raised homeowners’ insurance premiums to cover their risk

Hurricane Katrina Political Impacts

• Government criticised for its response - too slow, lacked coordination

• Race and class stipulated as issues - Kanye West claiming that there was a racial reason for the slow response (most people stranded were African American)

Hurricane Matthew

• 4th October 2016

• Hit Haiti

• Category 4 (but did reach Category 5)

Hurricane Matthew Primary Impacts

• Torrential rain

• Storm surge

• 145mph winds

Hurricane Matthew Social Impacts

• 2.1 million people affected

• 546 deaths (40 in the USA)

• 1.4 million people needed humanitarian assistance

• Food insecurity and malnutrition - 30% of children show signs on stunting growth in Haiti (possibly because already in crisis?)

• Thousands homes flooded and damaged in USA

• Thousands buildings and infrastructure damaged/destroyed in Haiti (some areas 80-90% homes destroyed)

Hurricane Matthew Economic Impacts

• $1.9 million in damages

• Southwestern Haiti (the country’s top agricultural production area for staple foods and export crops) - destroyed, 5 years to restore them

Cyclone Yasi

• February 2011

• Australia

• Category 5

  Moved quickly - 35km/h

Cyclone Yasi Primary Impacts

• Strong winds

• 7m high storm surge (caused damage up to 300 km in land)

Cyclone Yasi Social Impacts

• 226000 properties left without power

• Water supply system in Townsville failed

• Few injuries

• 1 death

Cyclone Yasi Preparation

• People in low-lying areas along the coast from Cairns to Townsville told to evacuate - 29000 did

• Rigorous building standards (after 1974 cyclone killed 74 people)

• Educating public, including children

Cyclone Yasi Environmental Impacts

• Heavy rain damaged the Great Barrier Reef

• Parks and forests extensively damaged - wildlife lost its habitat and food sources :(

Superstorm Sandy

• “Frankenstorm”

• October 2012

• 1150 miles across

• Category 1 hurricane merged with a nor’easter

• New Jersey and New York (unusual to track that far north)

• 946mb pressure eye

• Wind speeds: 39-73 mph

• Storm surge

Superstorm Sandy Social Impacts

• 70 deaths in Caribbean, 150 deaths in USA

• 110 houses burnt in Breezy Point

• Subway closed for multiple days

• Closure of schools

• Mandatory evacuations (not everyone evacuated, public perception of the storm)

• Mass flooding - water damage to buildings

• Power cuts in Manhattan, 8.1 million homes without power

Superstorm Sandy Economic Impacts

• US $70 billion in damages

• Wall Street Closed

Superstorm Sandy Immediate Management

• Search and Rescue

• National Guard requested in New Jersey and New York

• Electricity restored

• Restarted subway (some parts took days)

• Rescue shelters

Superstorm Sandy Long-term Management

• Rebuilt houses and buildings

• Educating public

Typhoon Haiyan

• 2nd-9th November 2013

• Philippines

• Vietnam - 10th November 2013

• Lasted 9 days (3rd - 11th)

Typhoon Haiyan Primary Impacts

• 230km/h wind speeds

• 5m storm surge

• 400mm rainfall

Typhoon Haiyan Environmental Impacts

• Flooding

• Mangroves destroyed

Typhoon Haiyan Social Impacts

• 6300 deaths

• Transport damaged - preventing distribution of aid

• 600000 displaced

• 40000 homes destroyed

• 14 million affected by shortages of water, food and aid supplies

• Power supplies cut off (for a month in some areas)

Typhoon Haiyan Economic Impacts

• Services and buildings destroyed

• Airports and ports damaged

• 30000 fishing boats destroyed

• 6 million lost source of income

Typhoon Haiyan Political Impacts

• Looting and violence in Tacloban

Typhoon Haiyan Preparation and Planning

• 800000 evacuated

• Televised warning

• 1200 evacuation sites built

• Tacloban Stadium used for refuge

Typhoon Haiyan Immediate Management

• 250000 litres of water distributed within 2 weeks (try to limit outbreak of disease from poor sanitation)

• France, Belgium and Israel set up field hospitals

• Canada and the USA deployed military aircraft for search and rescue

Typhoon Haiyan Long-term Management

• ‘Cash for Work’ scheme - clear debris and providing income

• Fishing boats replaced by Oxfam

• UNICEF and WHO vaccinated children against diseases (measles and polio)

• ‘Build Back Better’ strategy - rebuilt 250000 homes

• Environmental organisations attempt to restore mangroves

Hurricane Harvey

• 17th August - 3rd September 2017

• Category 4

• Texas and Louisiana

• First hurricane to hit Texas coast since 2007

Hurricane Harvey Primary Impacts

• 130 mph wind speeds

• Year’s worth of rain dumped in less than a week in Houston

• Storm surge

• 27 trillion gallons of rain

• Wettest Atlantic Hurricane ever recorded

• Some parts of Houston received more than 50 inches of rainfall

Hurricane Harvey Social Impacts

• 107 confirmed deaths

• 30000 in temporary shelters

• 185000 homes damaged

Hurricane Harvey Environmental Impacts

• 1/3rd Houston completely flooded

• 8 million cubic years of rubbish in Houston alone

• Two reservoirs breached in Houston areas

Hurricane Harvey Economic Impact

• $125 billion in damages

Hurricane Harvey Management

• Response from government slow due to Hurricane Irma in Florida

• Texas state prioritised garbage clean up

Hurricane Irma

• September 2017

• Caribbean (Category 5)

• Florida (Category 4)

Hurricane Irma Primary Impacts

• 130 mph wind speeds

• 2.3m storm surge

• 274mm rainfall per hour on 5th September

Hurricane Irma Social Impacts

• 134 deaths

• 90% of all structures in Barbuda were destroyed or damaged

• 95% of houses in Sint Maarten damaged - 60% uninhabitable

• 100 escaped prisoners on the British Virgin Islands

• 6 months later, large numbers of people in Puerto Rico still had no power or electricity (including most public services)

Hurricane Irma Environmental Impacts

• Flooding in over 30 rivers in Florida alone

Hurricane Irma Economic Impacts

• $70 billion in damages

• Tourism sector damaged, continued for many months after

Hurricane Irma Management

• UK and France sent aid workers, food and medical equipment

• £57 million and 120 tonnes of aid from UK Government

• 250 Dutch troops were deployed on Sint Maarten to deliver aid and building materials

• $31 million raised by former US Presidents for victims in the USA

Hurricane Irma Preparation

• People evacuated to higher ground and storm shelters in the Caribbean

Hurricane Dorian

• September 2019

• Category 5

• Bahamas, Cape Hattera

Hurricane Dorian Primary Impacts

• 185 mph wind speeds

• Central pressure 910 mb

• Strom surges

• Heavy rainfall

Hurricane Dorian Social Impacts

• Building structures flattened or swept to sea

• 70000 left homeless

• 77 died and 245 missing (Bahamas)

Hurricane Dorian Economic Impacts

• $3.4 billion of damage

Hurricane Dorian Political Impacts

• DONALD TRUMP BEING STUPID

• “Sharpiegate”

• He believed that the Hurricane would hit Alabama and caused mass panic and guess what he was wrong

Hurricane Dorian Preparation

• Flights cancelled

• Warnings issued

• Puerto Rico’s government declared state of emergency on August 27th 2019

• Virgin Islands declared state of emergency on August 28th

• Florida declared state of emergency August 29th

Hurricane Dorian Management

• UN provided 1 million dollars for emergency aid

• The World Food Programme sent a team of 15 experts to coordinate emergency operations, provided power and 14700 ready-to-eat meals

• The Caribbean Catastrophe Risk Insurance Facility paid the Bahamas $10.9 million on September 6th

• The Pan American Health Organisation launched a $3.5 million appeal to cover healthcare

• The International Organisation for Migration provided 1000 tarpaulins

Hurricane Dorian Environmental Impacts

• Caused landfalls, mass movements