Hurricane Harvey - Case Study
- Created by: rhiannamann
- Created on: 27-03-19 16:14
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- Hurricane Harvey
- Facts about Texas/USA
- Population: 326.17m (USA), 28M (TX)
- Life Expectancy: USA: Male - 76.3, Female - 81.3 Texas: Male - 76, Female - 80.8
- Number of doctors per 1000: 2.57
- GDP per Capita: $53,129 (TX)
- Date: 25th August 2017
- Time: 4:30am
- Magnitude: Category 4 Storm
- Location
- Made landfall over San Jose Island > Rockport > Houston > Louisiana > Tennessee > Kentucky
- Factors making the area vulnerable to Hurricanes
- Low lying coastal areas
- Urbanisation/Over-development of Houston
- Texas lies to the west of the Trade Winds
- Next to the Gulf of Mexico: warm, humid air prone to hurricanes
- Fast population growth
- Primary effects
- $125bn damage
- 300,000 structures were destroyed
- Over 800 Houston area flights were cancelled
- 103 people died
- 500,000 vehicles were damaged
- Rare species of the Prairie Chicken was reduced to a population of 10 in the wild
- Secondary effects
- Several dozen schools remained closed more than a month into the school year
- The number of Americans filing for unemployment benefits jumper to a more than 2 year high
- Created 8 million cubic yards of garbage in Houston alone
- Gas prices rose - 25% of oil & gas production closed
- Long term economic investment was reduced due to the destruction
- Emigration from the area increased whilst immigration decreased - causing an unsustainable flow of people
- Houston sank 2cm from the weight of the precipitation
- Questioning of Donald Trump's decision to leave the Paris Agreement
- Immediate respomses
- The Emergency Management Agency paid out $378 million in direct payments
- Delivered 80 trailer loads of emergency supplies (cots, blankets, meals)
- Federal forces rescued 10,000 people who were trapped in their homes and highways
- FEMA positioned supplies and 30,000 personnel in the state and supplied 3 million meals and 3 million litres of water to Texas
- The NGO DirectRelief distributed $4.6 million in medical assistance to 40 medical centres across Texas
- The Emergency Management Agency paid out $378 million in direct payments
- Long term responses
- FEMA moved 14,900 people to temporary housing
- 37,000 people moved to shelters in Texas
- The Department of Energy released 500,000 barrels of oil
- Houston received $91m to pay for debris removal
- The Red Cross provided emergency relief. $493.5m raised
- Served more than 4.5 million meals and snacks
- Provided 127,000 health and mental health contacts
- Offered financial assistance to more than 575,000 affected households
- Success of long term responses
- Still exists a lack of zoning which makes Houston still vulnerable to hurricane flooding.
- Effective land use zoning would allow people in damaged areas to lead happier and healthier lives
- Direct Relief's provision of $4.9m cash grants has provided repair and replacement of storm damaged roofs to help them become more resilient for the upcoming season
- Still exists a lack of zoning which makes Houston still vulnerable to hurricane flooding.
- Facts about Texas/USA
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