American Dust Bowl and Hurricane Katrina
Introduction
The United States of America can be considered as one of the countries which experience many natural disasters. Historically, the Americans have faced much devastation caused mainly by the changes of the environment. In the 1930s, the Americans have experienced one of the worst climatic incidents in the US history and this is the so-called “Dust Bowl”. And in 2005, other devastating events occurred in the United States which has caused traumatic experience among the people, and this is the “Hurricane Katrina”. Primarily, the goal of this paper is to compare and contrast the Dust Bowl in 1930s and the Hurricane Katrina in 2005. The discussion will focus on the role of the environment, people and economics in creating such disasters, the response of the Federal Government and how each victim have coped with this traumatic experience as well as the perception of the public regarding the disasters.
Dust Bowl and Hurricane Katrina
The Dust Bowl is known to be one of the worst climatic events that happened in the United States of America in the 1930s. Such phenomenon was occurs when fragile and frail grasslands were made vulnerable by over cultivation of wheat and lack of effective land management. Dust bowl was cleared of topsoil through the combination of heavy winds and drought which results on severe dust storms. This even swept the US Great Plains. On the other hand, Hurricane Katrina which happened in 2005 has affected different states of the United Stated including, Alabama, Florida, Louisiana and Mississippi. Hurricane is a kind of tropical cyclone, the generic terms for a low pressure system which generally forms in the tropics. This devastating event has affected many lives of Americans.
Some believes that events such as Dust Bowl and Hurricane Katrina are one of the ways to remind people about their wrongdoings. Although, Dust Bowl and Hurricane Katrina is a natural phenomenon, many could not ignore the fact that each and every individual is responsible for these incidents. For example, in the Dust Bowl drought, it is said that one of the causes of such occurrence is the poor and lack of land management in the area. According to (2005), environment, people and the economic aspects of United States caused the Dust Bowl drought. He states that such event resulted from a terrible collision of weather, the great depression, deficient farming and a desperate rural population finding the American dream in the worst homestead country and the harsh no-man’s land of the high plains in the states of Kansas, Oklahoma and Kansas. In line with Hurricane Katrina, scientists believed that the natural environmental cycle is the main cause of the occurrence of such string hurricane and not any human-induced changed. Although, some cited that global warming is also a cause for Hurricane Katrina to occur, scientists still finds this fact as premature.
Having been able to realize the devastating effect of Dust Bowl in the 1930s, the federal government of America under the reign of President Franklin Roosevelt had initiated governmental programs to restore the ecologic balance which has been destroyed by the Dust Bowl drought. The US Government had established the Soil Conservation which is now called Natural Conservation Services. This is to ensure that proper management of natural resources is implemented so as to prevent the occurrence of another Dust Bowl drought in the States. In Hurricane Katrina, the Federal Government and the Federal Emergency Management Agency has been able to provide disaster recovery response to Katrina even before the storm occurred. Herein, different volunteers began rendering aids and assistance to affected residents both local and emerging residents from New Orleans. In addition, the US Northern Command has also established Joint Task Force Katrina to act as the military’s on scene command. In addition, FEMA has also provided housing assistance to the victims. Other government agencies also provided assistance to all the victims of such calamity.
Both disasters have affected the lives of many Americans. In the Dust Bowl event, the crops of the farmers were ruined, lands became dry and infertile and homes foreclosed because of unpayable debts. With this farm families gave up and left and tried to find a new place where they can begin their lives again and cope with the traumatic experience that they had. Just like Dust Blow, Hurricane Katrina also affects many lives of the victims, many have become homeless and some of the members of the family have died. But just like any other disasters, Americans are willing to cope and eager to continue their life no matter how much pain it caused them.
Reference
Credit:ivythesis.typepad.com
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