"The main
hazard associated with Tropical Low Pressure Systems is the Storm Surge
- and the risk from this is mainly to low-lying gently sloping coastal
regions".
Case Study of a Tropical Low Pressure
Hazard showing its short and long term effects.
Hurricane Katrina 2005.
Essay:
Assess the short-term
and long-term effects of the hazards associated with low pressure
systems in either Tropical or Temperate regions.
Adapted from Legacy paper Jan 2006.
Examine the short-term
and long-term effects of the hazards associated with low pressure
systems [25] Specimen Paper 2009
Candidates should:
i) show knowledge of the short term effects of low
pressure hazards;
ii) show knowledge of long term effects
iii) give an assessment of both time scales
There may be reference to the human effects
such as:
Demographic effects at both time scales such as deaths and long term
migration.
Economic effects may analyse losses in the short term such as cessation
of production and costs of damage in the long term, such as the effects
on economic activity and infrastructure.
Social effects may include observations on health, homelessness and
bereavement.
There may also be consideration of the effects on the physical
environment such as landslides, deforestation and salinisation.
Evaluation may take a number of
approaches, an assessment of which effects are the most important,
demographic, social, economic or environmental; an assessment of whether
short or long term effects are most significant or an evaluation in
different areas, MEDC / LEDC.
In order to reach the 'GOOD' band (16+
out of 25), in addition to factual content of the impacts associated
with low pressure systems, there needs to be some critical assessment of
these. Full mark scheme criteria here.
You can research any
ONE major TROPICAL low pressure event (hurricane or cyclone or typhoon).
The notes below refer to Hurricane Katrina USA 2005.
2. The density and distribution of the people and density
and types of human activity in the areas affected.
New Orleans (population pre-Katrina
c.500,000; post-Katrina c.250,000) is home to one of the largest and
busiest ports in the world, and
metropolitan New Orleans is a centre of maritime industry. The New
Orleans region also accounts for a significant portion of the nation's
oil refining and petrochemical production,
and serves as a white collar corporate base for
onshore and offshore petroleum and natural gas production. New
Orleans is a centre for higher learning, with over
50,000 students enrolled in the region's eleven two- and
four-year degree granting institutions. A top 50 research university,
Tulane University, is located in New Orleans' Uptown neighbourhood.
Metropolitan New Orleans is a major regional hub
for the health care industry and boasts a
small, globally-competitive manufacturing sector. The city centre
possesses a rapidly growing, entrepreneurial
creative industries sector, and is, of course, renowned for its
cultural tourism.
Source:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Orleans
2. The density and distribution of the people and density
and types of human activity in the areas affected.
The city is located in the Mississippi
River Delta on the east and west banks of the Mississippi River and
south of Lake Pontchartrain. The area along the river is characterized
by ridges and hollows. Much is below sea-level and protected by levees.
3. The preparedness and capacity of the authorities and
people to cope with the impact of the event.
By the time Hurricane Katrina approached
the city at the end of August 2005, most residents had evacuated. As the
hurricane passed through the Gulf Coast region, the city's federal flood
protection system failed, resulting in the worst civil engineering
disaster in American history. Floodwalls and levees constructed by the
United States Army Corps of Engineers failed below design specifications
and 80% of the city flooded. Tens of thousands of residents who had
remained in the city were rescued or otherwise made their way to
shelters of last resort at the Louisiana Superdome or the New Orleans
Morial Convention Center. Over 1,500 people died in Louisiana and some
are still unaccounted for. Many of the those most badly affected were
the poorest and often from ethnic minority populations.
3. The preparedness and capacity of the authorities and
people to cope with the impact of the event.
The USA is the wealthiest and most
powerful nation in the world! How would it cope?
The disaster recovery response to Hurricane
Katrina included federal government agencies like Federal Emergency
Management Agency (FEMA), state and local-level agencies, federal and
National Guard soldiers, non-governmental charities, and private
individuals. Tens of thousands of volunteers and troops responded or
were deployed to the disaster - most in the affected area but also
throughout the U.S. at shelters set up in at least 19 states.
Monetary donations broke records set by the tsunami and 9/11 relief
efforts in the U.S. In a reversal of usual positions, the U.S. received
international aid and assistance from numerous countries.
Many had been critical of the slow
response, with many people (particularly in New Orleans) left without
water and food for three to five days after the storm. Among the first
to express criticism of the management of the crisis had been The
Pentagon, who complained only a day after Katrina hit that bureaucratic
red tape from the Bush administration and the FEMA, had caused the delay
of a scheduled and authorized military hospital ship from Norfolk,
Virginia, among other related and prepared active military crisis
response procedures.
Katrina Impacts:
Look at the NGflL section on the Impacts of
Katrina.
