The 2010-11 Queensland Floods had significant impact on Queensland with their massive economic cost and loss of life. The floods occurred following prolonged periods of heavy rainfall between December 2010 and January 2011. They resulted in much of the state being inundated with water and had a massive impact on many people. These impacts included the deaths of 30 people, 78% of the state being declared a disaster zone, and over $5 billion in reconstruction costs—the most expensive natural disaster in Australia’s history (Queensland Flood…
Why does the flood happen? The flood happens because the counselor Enlil wanted to kill off all humans that lived in Shuruppak. He wanted to punish all of the humans for their sins and crimes they have committed. “It is right to punish the sinner for his sins, to punish the criminal for his crime”(pg 189-190 book xi. ) Five of the Gods in secret agreed to flood Shuruppak “ Five gods decided, and took an oath to keep the plan secret”(pg. 181 book xi.19o)…
Edward J. Larson is the author of the book, “A Magnificent Catastrophe”. Which discloses all of the drama leading up to the 1800 Presidential Election. A magnificent catastrophe is exactly what the 1800 Presidential Election was. It was the start of many of today's outrageous and vile campaign tactics. Along with the dismantle of a political friendship, John Adams and Thomas Jefferson.…
Imagine everything you own is wet. Do you remember the flood here in 2010? Did you or someone you love suffer as a result of it? Of the two pictures above, they both illustrate some of the devastating effects of flooding but only one picture is of the Nashville flood.…
The landscape of America was shaped by religious and cultural differences long before the arrival and subsequent settlement of Europeans. In this "new world", the indigenous people were naturally separated in their language, landscape, cultural myths, and religious practices with no outside influence. As the Europeans arrived in the Americas, they thought little about the cultural and religious traditions of the peoples they encountered. In fact, the common belief during this period was that the indigenous communities had no culture or religion at all. During this "Age of Discovery", the first to arrive were the Spanish and French. Spanish conquistadors and French fur traders fought for land and wealth, while their missionaries competed to "save the souls" of the natives. It was during this period that the Spanish first encountered the Akimel…
A Magnificent Catastrophe The Tumultuous Election of 1800, America’s First Presidential Campaign With the recent election of 2016, I have began to wonder if the political process of electing the nation’s president has always been so divided, ugly, and absolutely chaotic. I wondered if politicians have always been so corrupt and belligerent, and I wondered if there have been more elections where our nation has been forced to pick the lesser of two evils (unless, of course, you felt strongly for one candidate or the other which can be very troubling to imagine when presented with the character and decisions of the last two candidates). Author of A Magnificent Catastrophe, Edward J. Larson, winner of the Pulitzer Prize, wildly illustrates…
Ulysses S. Grant was a war hero and the 18th president of the United States. During his two year term he was criticized for a number of things. One major thing that negatively affected his political career was that he trusted too easily. As a result of this, members of his cabinet, and lower administration got away with everything from financial mismanagement to theft. Once word of this got out he lost support within his own party. Despite immense efforts, Grant failed to apply congressional policies during the years of reconstruction. An example of this would be Grants desire to leave the south with blacks having full rights, he obviously fell short of his goal.…
Keegan Byre, a resident whose home was in the danger area said of hearing the sirens, “It was devastating. We knew it was going to happen, but to hear the siren and know that your home was going to be under water, it was tough.” With water levels about to surpass the historic flood in 1969, residents knew that this was a once in a lifetime flood. My grandfather, Dale Davy, who lived in Minot during the 1969 flood, said, “Scientists said that the 1969 flood was a once in a hundred-year flood. I never thought that I would see a flood that would be worse than the one in 1969.” The flood had even exceeded record breaking flood levels from the flood in 1881, and the US Army Corps of Engineers estimated the flood to have a recurrence interval between 200 and 500-years. By the time the water had finally quit rising, there were areas of the city where all a person could see was the roofs of houses. Many houses and building were completely submerged under…
It is apparent in our class readings, that when the gods are angry at the humans they created, these gods unleash unforgiving rains to flood the earth, and kill the human race. Over the years, there have been various texts about these floods. While the occurrences of the floods themselves are continuous throughout these texts, they have varying reasons for the cause of the floods and different aftermaths or consequences. Three of these texts in particular which tell the story of these floods, are Gilgamesh translated by Stephen Mitchell, Metamorphoses by Ovid and Genesis. The main factor in these floods was of course the god or gods who created it. Therefore, the floods in each of these three texts were different, because the gods who created the floods were different. Even though a flood occurs in all of the three texts, the cause, the flood itself and the aftermaths of the floods are different.…
The Great Mississippi Flood of 1927 was of the most powerful natural disasters of the 1900’s in 11 states along the Mississippi River from Illinois to Louisiana. The flood lasted from the beginning of April, through May, June and July and finally ended in August. During the flood, the river got to be as wide as 80 miles in some places and submerged residential areas in as much as 30 feet of water. The flood affected multiple states and the country in countless ways. Some of the ways it changed the country was in a social and political way. It brought the continuous mistreatment of African Americans once again apparent. It also devastated many states in economic and personal ways. Homes and businesses were destroyed, loved ones were lost and whole towns were devastated. Nearly 200 flood related deaths were reported and close to 5 billion dollars of property damage was caused. Two of the main states affected by the flood were Arkansas and Mississippi, especially in Washington County.…
“The Year of the Flood” is an epic, sprawling novel that moves back and forth between past, present and future effortlessly. Though it is told from Ren and Toby’s point of view, the novel is really about the story of three women (Ren, Toby, and Amanda) and their will to survive in a cruel and harsh world. It is a story of hope, despite all odds and a story of the power of love.…
A threat to Human society is the next pandemic. What will this Pandemic bring? How will the Human society prepare, or eventually do to prevent the Pandemic. The Gardeners from Margaret Atwood’s novel “The Year of the Flood” are a group of eco-subversives that prepare for a Pandemic. The Gardeners use different religions to make up their beliefs. In both “ The Year of The Flood” and the article by David Shenk “ How to Survive the Avian Flu, Smallpox, or Plague” tell the reader to grow food, stock pile food, and live an isolated life. In the article by Jared Diamond “ The Ends of the World as We Know Them” summarizes that: the people themselves have influenced all the past fallen Human societies. The Gardeners in Margret Atwood’s novel “ The Year of The Flood” are using their beliefs and putting them to use to help prevent a pandemic.…
The Johnstown flood is tragic story. Almost a myth these days, thousands of lives were lost only hundreds saved. David McCullough artfully tells the story of the dam that broke, because of ignorance and neglect, and the individual lives that it affected, he crafts together the facts of the disaster with the emotion making you see and feel the pain and hurt. When the huge dam broke and hundreds of thousands of gallons of water went rushing down into the valley there was nothing anyone could do to save the lives of those caught in its path. There were many lucky ones who managed to get to high ground out of reach of the, “wall of rubbish”, but there were an unbelievable number of victims who were crushed, drowned, injured fatally or burned alive. McCullough’s thorough investigation of the flood leaves him with the ability to write from the perspective of the survivors. He easily creates a way for us to connect with the story by not making it all just statistical facts, but also journalistic facts.…
The purpose of a descriptive essay is to describe a person, place, or thing in much detail. The author’s purpose is to recreate their experience in a way in which the reader can visualize the actual event. An essayist and poet known for writing these types of descriptive essays is Annie Dillard. Her essays consist of various types of imagery, which applies to all the senses, like sight, sounds, smell etc. These words aid the reader in visualizing and experiencing what the author is describing about. Two examples of Dillard’s descriptive essays are “Flood” and “Flying,” which are similar, but different in many ways by recreating events in the reader’s mind, providing objective and subjective details, and developing themes.…
'You know the city Shurrupak, it stands on the banks of Euphrates? That city grew old and the gods that were in it were old. There was Anu,-lord of the firmament, their father, and warrior Enlil their counsellor, Ninurta the helper, and Ennugi watcher over canals; and with them also was Ea. In those days the world teemed, the people multiplied, the world bellowed like a wild bull, and the great god was aroused by the clamour. Enlil heard the clamour and he said to the gods in council, "The uproar of mankind is intolerable and sleep is no longer possible by reason of the babel." So the gods agreed to exterminate mankind. Enlil did this, but Ea because of his oath warned me in a dream. He whispered their words to my house of reeds, "Reed-house, reedhouse! Wall, O wall, hearken reed-house, wall reflect; O man of Shurrupak, son of Ubara-Tutu; tear down your house and build a boat, abandon possessions and look for life, despise worldly goods and save your soul alive. Tear down your house, I say, and build a boat. These are the measurements of the barque as you shall build her: let hex beam equal her length, let her deck be roofed like the vault that covers the abyss; then take up into the boat the seed of all living creatures.”. . . . . 'In the first light of dawn all my household gathered round me, the children brought pitch and the men whatever was necessary. On the fifth day I laid the keel and the ribs, then I made fast the planking. The ground-space was one acre, each side of the deck measured one hundred and twenty cubits, making a square. I built six decks below, seven in all, I divided them into nine sections with bulkheads between. I drove in wedges where needed, I saw to the punt poles, and laid in supplies. The carriers brought oil in baskets, I poured pitch into the furnace and asphalt and oil; more oil was consumed in caulking, and more again the master of the boat took into his stores. I slaughtered bullocks…