Hazard examples

MEDC:
 Katrina - New Orlenas - 25th August 2005: flooding of New Orleans which lead people looting areas left behind.
USA reserves of money for national emergency & invested in tech to predict huricanes such as, an effective warning system. They have well trained military and air rescue services.

LEDC:
Mitch - El Salvador - 29th October 1998: deaths over 12,000, 700,000 homeless & a lack of clean water which meant disease.
Little money to invest in planning, preparation and prevention. Poorly built housing & towns and cities densely populated.

GLOBAL VULNERABILITY:
Areas along the equator where warm water is above 27°C = allowing latent heat to be released into atmosphere. Inland areas not at risk as hurricanes die on land. LEDCs more risk as they have less capacity to cope with the disaster.

MEDC:
Tracy - Darwin, Australia - 24th December 1974: 71 dead, 70% buildings destroyed leaving 41,000 homeless and required evacuation of over 30,000 people (most to Adelaide).
Educated on how to act in the event of a cyclone. Rescue services able to evacute civilians & government can afford to rebuild an average proportion of damaged properties.

LEDC:
Odisha - India - 29th October 1999: 15,000 dead, 1.7 millioon homeless, 1.2 million hectares of cropland destroyed.
Poorly built houses & densely populated areas. Government couldn't warn people because of low literacy rates (49%), poor access to radios & isolated nature of many villages.

GLOBAL VULNERABILITY:
Tropical areas along equator where warm water is above 27°C = allowing latent heat to be released into atmosphere. Inland areas not at risk as cyclones die on land. LECDs most at risk because they have less capacity to cope with the disaster.

MEDC:
Murray - Darling Basin Australia - 2002-2009: El Nino trade winds reversed, causing Australia to experience very high pressure and a deficiency of moist air. The basin provided 75% of Australia's water & is home to 2 million people.
Government able to set up national water management plan & new technologies were introduced to produce drought-resistant plants.

LEDC:
Ethiopia - Africa - 2011: Overall, 300,000 dead & 57 million affected as a result of the drought.
Little money to invest in water management systems, relied upon charities for aid.

GLOBAL VULNERABILITY:
Situated near the equator or have a large amount of hot, dry areas of land. Area is usally dry due to lack of rainfall & often rain that does fall is quickly absorbed into the ground so it is of no used. LEDCs more of a risk because they have less capacity to cope with the long-term effects of drought.

MEDC:
Colorado - USA - September 2013: A week of torrrental downpours left a rising death toll of 10 people. 17,994 homes have been damaged & 1,502 were destroyed along a 200-mile stretch.
Emergency services (including helicopter services) have been able to rescue people in dangerous areas. Government can afford to rebuild areas.

LEDC:
Bangladesh - India - 2004: India has monsoon climate & experiences a wet season when low pressure winds bring heavy rain to coastal regions. 36 million people made homeless & around 800 dead; they died as a result of disease as no access to clean water.
Relied upon aid, UN agencies supplied emergency supplies & conducted a 'damage and needs assessment' in affected areas. Long term respone: largely dependent on foreign aid.

GLOBAL VULNERABILITY:
Floods can occur all over the world, mainly caused by heavy rainfall (often caused by cyclones & hurricanes) and a lack of vegetation causing a surface run-off. LEDCs oftem more affected by floods because they have more farms & farming communities are attracted to fertile flood plains.

MEDC:
Loma Prieta - San Francisco USA - 17th October 1989: caused by slip along San Andreas fault, quake measured 6.9 on Richter scale. 63 dead, 13,757 injured & 6000 left homeless.
Educated about how to respond. Government was able to re-home victims & rebuild properties.

LEDC:
Haiti - Caribbean - 12th January 2010: caused North American Plate sliding past Caribbean Plate at conservative plate margin. Quake measured 7 on Richter scale. 316,000 dead & 1 million people made homeless. 250,000 homes & 30,000 other buildings destroyed/badly damaged. Large amount of bodies on the street led to an outbreak of disease such as Cholera.
Lack of immediate aid through poor planning, management & access; people rescued each other until aid was given by USA & EU.

GLOBAL VULNERABILITY:
People live directly on tectonic plate boundaries or on areas near too. LEDCs more vulnerable due to less tech to predict earthquakes, cannot afford education for people about how to respond during earthquake and do not have services or money to provide immediate aid.

MEDC:
Mount St. Helens - USA - 18th May 1980: eruption column rose 80,000 feet & deposited ash into 11 states. 57 died & hundreds of square miles reduced to wasteland.
Government evacuated 2000 people from the aream they were able to replant over 10 million trees.

LEDC:
Nevado del Ruiz - Colombia - 13th November 1985: (only 3% of amount erupted material of St. Helens) In total, 23,000 dead & 5000 homes destroyed as a result of lahars, landslides and mudflows.
Lack of preparation contributed to high death toll. US government & other foreign governments sent aid. Rescue efforts hindered by soft mud & took 12 hours for 1st survivors to be rescued.

GLOBAL VULNERABILITY:
Areas near active volcanoes. Explosive eruptions deposit ash & cause lahars. LEDCs most vulnerable as they rely on foreign aid that may not arrive immediately. Also not educated about safety before & during eruptions.

MEDC:
Val Pola - Italy - 28th July 1987: high rainfall & rapid glacier melting eroded the valley flanks, causing a rock avalanched (around 5-8 million cubic metres of debris) 22 dead.
Authorities evacuated people & prevented further damage to buildings. Projects were set up to prevent further landslides.

LEDC:
The Mameyes - Puerto Rico USA - October 1985: triggered by tropical storm that produced extremely heavy rainfall. Sewage directly discharged into ground in densely populated area & leaking water pipe at the top of the landslide; 129 dead & 120 houses destroyed.
Poor people living in hazardous area in cramped conditions. Highly inefficient local government does lttle to support poorer areas.

GLOBAL VULNERABILITY:
Loss of vegetation (often caused by deforestation) as no roots to hold soil together, areas with large amount of groundwater causes pressure to destabilise the slope. LEDCs more vulnerable as high population density in unsafe areas puts more people at risk.

MEDC:
America: already prone to natural disasters (hurricanes) due to water temperature. Thus, as rate of global warming increases, America could experience more frequent & more powerful hurricanes & floods.
Government in financial position to afford further education about natural hazards & able to recover from them quickly.

LEDC:
El Savador: predicted to lose between 10% & 28% of its coastal territories in next century as result of rising seas caused by thermal expansion.
Rising sea levels & deforestation have destroyed the crops that villagers depend on to survive.

GLOBAL VULNERABILITY:
Can put entire world in vulnerable position as unpredicted changed in weather & clime will affect almost ever regioon. LEDCs more vulnerable to effects as they are more likely to have their primary industry resources destroyed by weather changes, resulting in lack of work & food.