Rapid City’s Flood destroyed buildings, and even ruined half of the population, just like any other flood, Rapid City’s had many common details, and caused damage and destruction to property and lives that affected the region. But the area has recovered in its aftermath.…
“The solution to corralling all of this rain that happens periodically is to build an earthbound levee while diverting Eagle and Lye Creeks. The flood proposal of 1962 suggested exactly these measures when it was submitted to the City Council. The proposal was even voted in by the council and sent to Congress in October of 1963.”(Fuller, para.9). Fuller went on to say “The earth levee proposed in 1962 was to be built near the reservoir. The levee was to stand 3 to 4 feet higher than the level of the 1913 flood. The levee would be able to hold water running at 32,000 cubic feet per second. This is the best solution for taking care of the rain as the levee would keep the city from filling with water should another major flood occur.”(para. 12). Then Fuller added, “Diverting Eagle and Lye Creeks would begin to the south of Findlay, taking Eagle Creek to the east where it would meet up with Lye Creek. The channel would then turn north and be able to hold water running at 8,500 cubic feet per second. A weir would be constructed downstream from Eagle Creek allowing for a gated conduit in the levee barrier. A second gate would be placed where Eagle Creek merges with the Blanchard River. The gates would allow for run off to flow into the river.”(para. 13). This is a very logical solution because most of the equiptment is already in place, it is a costly…
Frequent flooding of the Mississippi River in the 1960’s significantly drove up the federal disaster-relief programs costs. The National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) was introduced by Congress to provide flood insurance to the public to communities which adhere to specific city planning set forth by FEMA. The program was successful at providing flood insurance at reasonable rates but it was criticized by many who believed that the program encouraged imprudent building in flood zones. We have learned that subsidies destroy wealth by allowing lower-valued consumers to buy higher valued assets. The environmental costs of building in such areas when added to the actual cost of subsidization are far greater than the gains of the subsidy. Furthermore, without these subsidies tax money would have been spent on higher valued uses. Congress has typically set the flood insurance rate too low effectually subsidizing building in flood areas at taxpayers expense. Hurricane Katrina and other storms have put the program in debt by $19 billion dollars. FEMA has recently redrawn their flood maps. People who previously thought they were outside of the flood zone are now learning that they are in flood prone areas. Mortgages typically require homes in high risk flood zones to have mandatory flood insurance. A home may have been grandfathered in to be exempt of the new zoning but this will become a nightmare if you decide to sell. What may have previously cost you several hundred dollars a year may cost a new buyer several thousand a year. One a potential buyer hears that news they may bail out on the sale which can have a domino effect and potentially decrease market values for neighboring homes which is tremendously inefficient.…
One of the best known examples of investment in disaster mitigation is the Red River Floodway. The building of the Floodway was a joint provincial/federal undertaking to protect the City of Winnipeg and reduce the impact of flooding in the Red River Basin. It cost $60 million to build in the 1960s. Since then, the floodway has been used over 20 times. Its use during the 1997 Red River Flood alone saved an estimated $6 billion. The Floodway was expanded in 2006 as a joint provincial/federal initiative.…
preparedness of our country in general, FEMA developed a program called “Project Impact”. The role of Project Impact was to build disaster resistant communities and was designed to create an efficient and effective emergency management program within every community across the entire United States. FEMA had now developed in to a highly effective program.…
Chapter Twenty focuses on coastlines and ocean basins. While learning about tides, surf zones, and waves, the “Earth Policy” on page 562 was eye-catching. The Great New Orleans Flood occurred after Hurricane Katrina in 2005. Even though New Orleans had been struck by Hurricane Katrina, the damage and fatalities were adding up.…
In 1979, President Jimmy Carter formed the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) by consolidating several government organizations. That same year Congress appropriated funds to transfer the Civil Defense Staff College (CDSC) and United States Fire Administration (USFA) and National Fire Academy (NFA) into FEMA.…
on the ground. It was amateur hour at its finest and blame was spread throughout with the Federal Governments head relief agency FEMA, bearing the brunt for failure.…
They installed even more levees, spillways, and damns to ‘prevent’ flood losses, but by doing this they encouraged more people to move into a place that was not safe to inhabit. This issue became to be known as the ‘levee effect.’ The project was supposed to be a 13 year and 85 million dollar deal, but when Katrina hit 740 million dollars had been spent, and the project was still 10 years from being finished. There were a vast number of problems in the system that was being created. In 1984, a storm-surge modeler at the National Weather Service named Wilson Shaffer told the officials in charge of the project that the hypothetical storm that was used to test levee designs was too small to correspond with the threat that would be…
The flood control act of control act of 1965 gave authorization to U.S Army Crop of Engineers (USACE) to design and construct a flood protection system to protect south Louisiana from hurricanes. It was called the Lake Pontchartrain and Vicinity Hurricane Protection Project, the reason for this project was prior to 1965. The state of Louisiana design and built its own flood protection, but on September 9, 1965 hurricane Betsy a category five, hit the city of New Orleans. Betsy drove strong storm surge waters into the city of New Orleans from Lake Pontchartrain causing the in the industrial canal fail on both side. It took more than ten days for the water level in New Orleans to go down, and people could return to their homes. After hurricane Betsy the 89th congress enacted the flood control act of on October 27, 1965.…
Local, state, and federal government may be called upon to provide relief in times of distress. The US Federal Government has formed agencies designed to anticipate potential dangers posed to the public, evaluate the resources needed to provide relief, allocate funds to those in need, and both coordinate and provide emergency services when necessary. Federalism successfully provides aid through multiple layers of government based on years of experience dealing with numerous natural disasters. Federalism is a strong system for establishing emergency response because of its coordination through the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), past success, and reflection after a disaster.…
Flooding has been a continual issue since the first settlers arrived in America. Using methods to deter and/or collect water protects the communities living in that area, but proper maintenance to those barriers must be ensured. Without proper maintenance to these infrastructures, levees can break, dams can crack or collapse leaving disaster behind. Hurricane Katrina’s faulty levees reveal the extreme consequences of neglecting these protectors in places where people depend on them (Wenger, 247). There were many devastating disasters that prompted new analysis and evaluation on flooding conditions and methods to reduce damage and cost. Flood insurance was established for areas that are located within the floodplain (302), as well as the…
Hurricane Katrina left in its wake an estimated 300,00 homes either destroyed or made uninhabitable, and somewhere between $96 - $125 billion dollars in damages (Kimberly Armadeo). New Orleans is surrounded by water and in many cases, below sea level. Although there are many protective levees and barriers in place to protect residents from storms, a powerful storm surge like the one brought in from Hurricane Katrina, can easily top the walls and leave the city trapped in a flood for weeks. Emergency officials agree that many of the buildings in these areas would not survive the winds of a high category storm in this situation (McQuaid and Schleifstein, 2002). Billions of dollars have been invested in levees, sea walls, pumping systems and satellite hurricane tracking that has saved thousands over the years (McQuaid and Schleifstein, 2002). Despite these new tools, Hurricane Katrina still managed to catch New Orleans off guard with the magnitude of destruction it brought leaving a death toll of more than 1,200 and putting tens of thousands out of their homes (Michael L. Dolfman, Solidelle Fortier, and Bruce Bergman, 2007).…
Cited: Association of State Floodplain Managers. National Flood Policy Challenges Levees: The Double-edged Sword. ASFPM White Paper. 2007. Print.…
FEMA is an integral part of America’s society as it helps us not only to recover from disasters, but to prepare for them. FEMA is has released many disaster preparedness guides that inform citizens how they can prepare for several types of disasters. The agency is involved with projects to reinforce building foundations in areas susceptible to earthquakes. FEMA has worked to ensure affordable flood insurance for those who live in flood plains. Any well-organized government must have protocols in place to deal with natural disasters, and FEMA is an integral part of American society. In the event of a tragedy, American citizens know that they won’t be alone. Unfortunately, we will always have disasters. For the foreseeable future, however, FEMA will be there to help us prepare and recover.…