Hurricane Package
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Resilience Potential: Assessing Jamaica's “Bounce-Back” from Hurricane Dean
Resilience Potential: Assessing Jamaica’s “Bounce-Back” from Hurricane Dean CaPRI is a Caribbean think tank that promotes evidence- based policymaking in the region. CaPRI espouses a methodology which is built on the values of multi- disciplinary work, team work and the utilization of the diaspora in our search for evidence. Committed to the region’s development, CaPRI has strong linkages with the academic community, the private sector and civil society. For information and feedback, please contact: Caribbean Policy Research Institute GUANGO TREE HOUSE, 29 MUNROE ROAD, KINGSTON 6 JAMAICA, W.I. TEL: (876) 970-3447 (876) 970-2910 FAX: (876) 970-4544 E-mail: [email protected] WEBSITE: http://www.takingresponsibility.org 2 Table of Contents Pages List of Figures, Tables and Boxes .............................................................4 Preface......................................................................................................5 Executive Summary .................................................................................6-7 Introduction: Resilience Potential ...........................................................8-9 1. Natural Disasters: The Global Context................................................10-13 2. Natural Disasters in the Caribbean .....................................................14-18 3. Changing Practices in Disaster Management…………………………19-20 4. Disaster Management in Jamaica .....................................................21 4.1 National Disaster Plan…………………………………………….21 -
Significant Loss Report
NATIONAL FLOOD INSURANCE PROGRAM Bureau and Statistical Agent W-01049 3019-01 MEMORANDUM TO: Write Your Own (WYO) Principal Coordinators and NFIP Servicing Agent FROM: WYO Clearinghouse DATE: July 18, 2001 SUBJECT: Significant Loss Report Enclosed is a listing of significant flooding events that occurred between February 1978 and October 2000. Only those events that had more than 1500 losses are included on the list. These data were compiled for WYO Companies and others to use to remind their customers of the impact of past flooding events. Please use this information in your marketing efforts as you feel it is appropriate. If you have any questions, please contact your WYO Program Coordinator. Enclosure cc: Vendors, IBHS, FIPNC, WYO Standards Committee, WYO Marketing Committee, ARCHIVEDGovernment Technical Representative APRIL 2018 Suggested Routing: Claims, Marketing, Underwriting 7700 HUBBLE DRIVE • LANHAM, MD 20706 • (301) 731-5300 COMPUTER SCIENCES CORPORATION, under contract to the FEDERAL EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT AGENCY, is the Bureau and Statistical Agent for the National Flood Insurance Program NATIONAL FLOOD INSURANCE PROGRAM SIGNIFICANT FLOOD EVENTS REPORT EVENT YEAR # PD LOSSES AMOUNT PD ($) AVG PD LOSS Massachusetts Flood Feb. 1978 Feb-78 2,195 $20,081,479 $9,149 Louisiana Flood May 1978 May-78 7,284 $43,288,709 $5,943 WV, IN, KY, OH Floods Dec 1978 Dec-78 1,879 $11,934,512 $6,352 PA, CT, MA, NJ, NY, RI Floods Jan-79 8,826 $31,487,015 $3,568 Texas Flood April 1979 Apr-79 1,897 $19,817,668 $10,447 Florida Flood April 1979 Apr-79 -
Puerto Rico Post-2017 Hurricane Season: Initial Insights & Outlook November 2017
Puerto Rico Post-2017 Hurricane Season: Initial Insights & Outlook November 2017 First Thoughts April 2006 to August 2017, representing a loss of roughly 300,000 private and public-sector jobs, the unemployment rate has remained in double-digits for decades, and the labor force participation rate is In the aftermath of a catastrophic natural disaster like the one below 40%.3 A largely obsolete economic model, an underperforming experienced in Puerto Rico during September 2017, an acute public sector with weak public institutions, loss of competitiveness sense of uncertainty often takes hold of the affected people and in an increasingly globalized marketplace, burdensome costs of organizations. Households, business firms, nonprofit entities, and doing business, and poor regulatory quality that hamper growth and the public sector need timely, objective, accurate and reliable productivity, are some of the main factors that explain Puerto Rico’s information and insights to better inform their strategic planning economic stagnation.4 and other decision-making processes. This special V2A issue, the first of a series of issues, seeks to narrow this information gap Further intensifying Puerto Rico’s economic and humanitarian by providing a preliminary assessment and outlook under this woes is the government’s poor fiscal health and liquidity risks, new Post-Hurricane María reality. It also serves as a succinct, yet which limit the implementation of traditional countercyclical fiscal comprehensive one-stop read containing up-to-date and relevant measures. Overburdened by an over $70 billion debt load and an information from a variety of sources. additional $50 billion in unfunded pension liabilities, Puerto Rico filed for bankruptcy protection on May 1, 2017 under Title III of While the challenges ahead for Puerto Rico cannot be overstated the Puerto Rico Oversight, Management and Economic Stability and the post-disaster recovery and reconstruction process will likely Act (PROMESA) enacted on June 30, 2016. -
Aerial Rapid Assessment of Hurricane Damages to Northern Gulf Coastal Habitats
8786 ReportScience Title and the Storms: the USGS Response to the Hurricanes of 2005 Chapter Five: Landscape5 Changes The hurricanes of 2005 greatly changed the landscape of the Gulf Coast. The following articles document the initial damage assessment from coastal Alabama to Texas; the change of 217 mi2 of coastal Louisiana to water after Katrina and Rita; estuarine damage to barrier islands of the central Gulf Coast, especially Dauphin Island, Ala., and the Chandeleur Islands, La.; erosion of beaches of western Louisiana after Rita; and the damages and loss of floodplain forest of the Pearl River Basin. Aerial Rapid Assessment of Hurricane Damages to Northern Gulf Coastal Habitats By Thomas C. Michot, Christopher J. Wells, and Paul C. Chadwick Hurricane Katrina made landfall in southeast Louisiana on August 29, 2005, and Hurricane Rita made landfall in southwest Louisiana on September 24, 2005. Scientists from the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) flew aerial surveys to assess damages to natural resources and to lands owned and managed by the U.S. Department of the Interior and other agencies. Flights were made on eight dates from August Introduction 27 through October 4, including one pre-Katrina, three post-Katrina, The USGS National Wetlands and four post-Rita surveys. The Research Center (NWRC) has a geographic area surveyed history of conducting aerial rapid- extended from Galveston, response surveys to assess Tex., to Gulf Shores, hurricane damages along the Ala., and from the Gulf coastal areas of the Gulf of of Mexico shoreline Mexico and Caribbean inland 5–75 mi Sea. Posthurricane (8–121 km). -
Background Hurricane Katrina
PARTPART 33 IMPACTIMPACT OFOF HURRICANESHURRICANES ONON NEWNEW ORLEANSORLEANS ANDAND THETHE GULFGULF COASTCOAST 19001900--19981998 HURRICANEHURRICANE--CAUSEDCAUSED FLOODINGFLOODING OFOF NEWNEW ORLEANSORLEANS •• SinceSince 1559,1559, 172172 hurricaneshurricanes havehave struckstruck southernsouthern LouisianaLouisiana ((ShallatShallat,, 2000).2000). •• OfOf these,these, 3838 havehave causedcaused floodingflooding inin NewNew thethe OrleansOrleans area,area, usuallyusually viavia LakeLake PonchartrainPonchartrain.. •• SomeSome ofof thethe moremore notablenotable eventsevents havehave included:included: SomeSome ofof thethe moremore notablenotable eventsevents havehave included:included: 1812,1812, 1831,1831, 1860,1860, 1915,1915, 1947,1947, 1965,1965, 1969,1969, andand 20052005.. IsaacIsaac MonroeMonroe ClineCline USWS meteorologist Isaac Monroe Cline pioneered the study of tropical cyclones and hurricanes in the early 20th Century, by recording barometric pressures, storm surges, and wind velocities. •• Cline charted barometric gradients (right) and tracked the eyes of hurricanes as they approached landfall. This shows the event of Sept 29, 1915 hitting the New Orleans area. • Storm or tidal surges are caused by lifting of the oceanic surface by abnormal low atmospheric pressure beneath the eye of a hurricane. The faster the winds, the lower the pressure; and the greater the storm surge. At its peak, Hurricane Katrina caused a surge 53 feet high under its eye as it approached the Louisiana coast, triggering a storm surge advisory of 18 to 28 feet in New Orleans (image from USA Today). StormStorm SurgeSurge •• The surge effect is minimal in the open ocean, because the water falls back on itself •• As the storm makes landfall, water is lifted onto the continent, locally elevating the sea level, much like a tsunami, but with much higher winds Images from USA Today •• Cline showed that it was then northeast quadrant of a cyclonic event that produced the greatest storm surge, in accordance with the drop in barometric pressure. -
© Mitigation of Cyclonic Activity Lawrence Sirovich, Rockefeller University Abstract Under Realistic Estimates of Geophysical
Management of Cyclonic Activity Lawrence Sirovich, Rockefeller University Abstract Based on realistic estimates of geophysical conditions, we demonstrate that the intensity of a hurricane may be diminished before reaching landfall, and under other circumstances, might be quenched in an incipient stage. It will be shown that with present-day technology, it is possible to mix the cold deep ocean with the warm surface layer sufficiently, and in a timely manner, in order to decrease cyclonic intensity. Two strategies will be presented: (1) In a manner similar to hurricane weakening by landfall, a virtual early landfall is created on the hurricane path, before true landfall; (2) An identified tropical depression might be quenched, by cyclonic or anti- cyclonic means, and timely intervention. Estimates of the power needed to perform the needed ocean mixing, in a timely manner, show that this might be accomplished by employing a sufficient number of high-performance submarines. The achievement of this goal is made possible by an unusually high coefficient of performance, O(10^4). The destructive power of the hurricane is a function of a hurricane’s maximal wind speed, Vm. It will be shown that even a 20% reduction in this wind speed produces a ~50% reduction in destructive costs. On the flip side of these considerations, there is the possibility of using such means, under favorable circumstances, to initiate rainfall for relief of drought areas. Novel vessel modifications are introduced to achieve the mixing process It is the contention of this paper that a practical framework now exists for sensibly exploring means by which to reduce the tragedy and devastation caused by hurricanes. -
Persistent Hydrological Consequences of Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico
RESEARCH LETTER Persistent Hydrological Consequences of Hurricane 10.1029/2018GL081591 Maria in Puerto Rico Special Section: P. W. Miller1,2 , A. Kumar1, T. L. Mote1 , F. D. S. Moraes1 , and D. R. Mishra1 The Three Major Hurricanes of 2017: Harvey, Irma and Maria 1Department of Geography, University of Georgia, Athens, GA, USA, 2Now at Department of Oceanography and Coastal Sciences, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, LA, USA Key Points: • Landscape vegetation metrics for Puerto Rico remained depressed Abstract In September 2017, Hurricane Maria severely defoliated Puerto Rico's landscape, coinciding below pre‐Maria values for with a series of persistent hydrological consequences involving the atmospheric, terrestrial, and marine approximately two months after components of the water cycle. During the defoliated period, the atmosphere's thermodynamic structure landfall 2 2 2 • Cloud and precipitation activity more strongly explained daily cloud activity (R PRE = 0.02; R POST = 0.40) and precipitation (R PRE = 0.19; demonstrated a stronger 2 R POST = 0.33) than before landfall, indicating that post‐Maria land‐atmosphere interactions were relationship to the atmospheric comparatively muted, with similar precipitation patterns also found following Hurricanes Hugo (1989) and thermodynamic profile during the defoliated period Georges (1998). Meanwhile, modeled post‐Maria runoff exceeded statistical expectations given the magnitude • Subsurface runoff responses to of contemporaneous precipitation. Enhanced runoff also coincided with greater sediment loads in nearshore rainfall and coastal suspended waters, increasing sediment content greater than twofold. This study offers a holistic narrative of sediment values remained elevated for two and four months, hydrospheric disturbance and recovery, whereby the instantaneous, large‐scale removal of vegetation is respectively accompanied by hydrologic changes “upstream” in the atmosphere and “downstream” in rivers and estuaries. -
Richmond, VA Hurricanes
Hurricanes Influencing the Richmond Area Why should residents of the Middle Atlantic states be concerned about hurricanes during the coming hurricane season, which officially begins on June 1 and ends November 30? After all, the big ones don't seem to affect the region anymore. Consider the following: The last Category 2 hurricane to make landfall along the U.S. East Coast, north of Florida, was Isabel in 2003. The last Category 3 was Fran in 1996, and the last Category 4 was Hugo in 1989. Meanwhile, ten Category 2 or stronger storms have made landfall along the Gulf Coast between 2004 and 2008. Hurricane history suggests that the Mid-Atlantic's seeming immunity will change as soon as 2009. Hurricane Alley shifts. Past active hurricane cycles, typically lasting 25 to 30 years, have brought many destructive storms to the region, particularly to shore areas. Never before have so many people and so much property been at risk. Extensive coastal development and a rising sea make for increased vulnerability. A storm like the Great Atlantic Hurricane of 1944, a powerful Category 3, would savage shorelines from North Carolina to New England. History suggests that such an event is due. Hurricane Hazel in 1954 came ashore in North Carolina as a Category 4 to directly slam the Mid-Atlantic region. It swirled hurricane-force winds along an interior track of 700 miles, through the Northeast and into Canada. More than 100 people died. Hazel-type wind events occur about every 50 years. Areas north of Florida are particularly susceptible to wind damage. -
Geographical and Historical Variation in Hurricanes Across the Yucatán Peninsula
Chapter 27 Geographical and Historical Variation in Hurricanes Across the Yucatán Peninsula Emery R. Boose David R. Foster Audrey Barker Plotkin Brian Hall INTRODUCTION Disturbance is a continual though varying theme in the history of the Yucatán Peninsula. Ancient Maya civilizations cleared and modified much of the forested landscape for millennia, and then abruptly abandoned large areas nearly 1,000 years ago, allowing forests of native species to reestablish and mature (Turner 1974; Hodell, Curtis, and Brenner 1995). More recently, late twentieth century population growth has fueled a resurgence of land-use activity including logging, slash-and-burn agriculture, large mechanized agricultural projects, tourism, and urban expansion (Turner et al. 2001; Turner, Geoghegan, and Foster 2002). Throughout this lengthy history, fires have affected the region—ignited purposefully or accidentally by humans, and occasionally by lightning (Lundell 1940; Snook 1998). And, as indicated by ancient Maya records, historical accounts, and contemporary observations, intense winds associated with hurricanes have repeatedly damaged forests and human settlements (Wilson 1980; Morales 1993). Despite the generally acknowledged importance of natural and human disturbance in the Yucatán Peninsula, there has been little attempt to quantify This research was supported by grants from the National Aeronautics and Space Agency (Land Cover Land-Use Change Program), the National Science Foundation (DEB-9318552, DEB-9411975), and the A. W. Mellon Foundation, and is a contribution from the Harvard Forest Long-Term Ecological Research Program. 495 496 THE LOWLAND MAYA AREA the spatial and temporal distribution of this activity, or to interpret its relationship to modern vegetation patterns (cf. Lundell 1937, 1938; Cairns et al. -
Revista 224.Indd
U CARIBBEAn TROPICAL STORMS Ecological Implications for Pre-Hispanic and Contemporary Maya Subsistence on the Yucatan Peninsula Herman W. Konrad ABSTRACT The ecological stress factor of hurricanes is examined as a dimension of pre-Hispanic Maya adaptation to a tropical forest habitat in the Yucatan peninsula. Pre-Hispanic, colonial and contemporary texts as well as climatic data from the Caribbean region support the thesis that the hurricane was an integral feature of the pre-Hispanic Maya cosmology and ecological paradigm. The author argues that destruction of forests by tropical storms and subsequent succession cycles mimic not only swidden —"slash- and-burn"— agriculture, but also slower, natural succession cycles. With varying degrees of success, flora and fauna adapt to periodic, radical ecosystem disruption in the most frequently hard-hit areas. While not ignoring more widely-discussed issues surrounding the longevity and decline of pre-Hispanic Maya civilization, such as political development, settlement patterns, migration, demographic stability, warfare and trade, the author suggests that effective adaptation to the ecological effects of tropical storms helped determine the success of pre-Hispanic Herman W. Konrad. university Maya subsistence strategies. of Calgary. Email: [email protected] gary.ca NÚMERO 224 • PRIMER TRIMESTRE DE 2003 • 99 Herman W. Konrad RESuMEn Los efectos ecológicos causados por los huracanes se analizan en el contexto de la adaptación de los mayas prehispánicos a la selva de la península de Yucatán. Textos prehispánicos, coloniales y contemporáneos, así como información climática sobre el Caribe en general, apoyan la hipótesis de que el huracán era un elemento central en la cosmovisión y el paradigma ecológico prehispánico. -
ANNUAL SUMMARY Atlantic Hurricane Season of 2005
MARCH 2008 ANNUAL SUMMARY 1109 ANNUAL SUMMARY Atlantic Hurricane Season of 2005 JOHN L. BEVEN II, LIXION A. AVILA,ERIC S. BLAKE,DANIEL P. BROWN,JAMES L. FRANKLIN, RICHARD D. KNABB,RICHARD J. PASCH,JAMIE R. RHOME, AND STACY R. STEWART Tropical Prediction Center, NOAA/NWS/National Hurricane Center, Miami, Florida (Manuscript received 2 November 2006, in final form 30 April 2007) ABSTRACT The 2005 Atlantic hurricane season was the most active of record. Twenty-eight storms occurred, includ- ing 27 tropical storms and one subtropical storm. Fifteen of the storms became hurricanes, and seven of these became major hurricanes. Additionally, there were two tropical depressions and one subtropical depression. Numerous records for single-season activity were set, including most storms, most hurricanes, and highest accumulated cyclone energy index. Five hurricanes and two tropical storms made landfall in the United States, including four major hurricanes. Eight other cyclones made landfall elsewhere in the basin, and five systems that did not make landfall nonetheless impacted land areas. The 2005 storms directly caused nearly 1700 deaths. This includes approximately 1500 in the United States from Hurricane Katrina— the deadliest U.S. hurricane since 1928. The storms also caused well over $100 billion in damages in the United States alone, making 2005 the costliest hurricane season of record. 1. Introduction intervals for all tropical and subtropical cyclones with intensities of 34 kt or greater; Bell et al. 2000), the 2005 By almost all standards of measure, the 2005 Atlantic season had a record value of about 256% of the long- hurricane season was the most active of record. -
Florida Hurricanes and Tropical Storms
FLORIDA HURRICANES AND TROPICAL STORMS 1871-1995: An Historical Survey Fred Doehring, Iver W. Duedall, and John M. Williams '+wcCopy~~ I~BN 0-912747-08-0 Florida SeaGrant College is supported by award of the Office of Sea Grant, NationalOceanic and Atmospheric Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce,grant number NA 36RG-0070, under provisions of the NationalSea Grant College and Programs Act of 1966. This information is published by the Sea Grant Extension Program which functionsas a coinponentof the Florida Cooperative Extension Service, John T. Woeste, Dean, in conducting Cooperative Extensionwork in Agriculture, Home Economics, and Marine Sciences,State of Florida, U.S. Departmentof Agriculture, U.S. Departmentof Commerce, and Boards of County Commissioners, cooperating.Printed and distributed in furtherance af the Actsof Congressof May 8 andJune 14, 1914.The Florida Sea Grant Collegeis an Equal Opportunity-AffirmativeAction employer authorizedto provide research, educational information and other servicesonly to individuals and institutions that function without regardto race,color, sex, age,handicap or nationalorigin. Coverphoto: Hank Brandli & Rob Downey LOANCOPY ONLY Florida Hurricanes and Tropical Storms 1871-1995: An Historical survey Fred Doehring, Iver W. Duedall, and John M. Williams Division of Marine and Environmental Systems, Florida Institute of Technology Melbourne, FL 32901 Technical Paper - 71 June 1994 $5.00 Copies may be obtained from: Florida Sea Grant College Program University of Florida Building 803 P.O. Box 110409 Gainesville, FL 32611-0409 904-392-2801 II Our friend andcolleague, Fred Doehringpictured below, died on January 5, 1993, before this manuscript was completed. Until his death, Fred had spent the last 18 months painstakingly researchingdata for this book.