Good Example Of Case Study On Hurricane Rita, 2005

Summary of the Hurricane Rita Disaster

Hurricane Rita was the fourth-most intense Atlantic hurricane that was ever recorded. It was intense tropical cyclone ever observed in the Gulf of Mexico. Part of the recording was done in the year 2005. The Atlantic Hurricane season included three of the six most intense Atlantic hurricanes that have ever been recorded. Rita was a stormed which was named the eighteenth. It was also recorded as the major Hurricane of the year 2005 season. Rita is recorded to have formed near the Bahamas from the tropical wave on September the 18th, 2005. It initially developed off the Coast of West Africa (Czerwinski 23). It is recorded that the Hurricane moved westwards and after passing through the Florida Straits, it entered an environment abnormally warm waters. It later intensified to reach the peak of 180 mph which is approximately 285 km/h. On September the 21st of the year 2005. It gradually curves to the northwest after gradually weakening and finally made landfall on the Sabine Pass, Texas. The landing speed was 120 mph that was 195 km/h on 24th of September 2005. On 26th, it weakened over and degenerated into a massive low-pressure area and lowered into Mississippi Valley.
Furthermore, it is recorded that in Louisiana the storm surge from Rita inundated low-lying communities near to the coast. This worsened the effects that were caused by Hurricane Katrina a month before the Hurricane Rita happened. The surge was destructive as it topped the levees thus allowing the water to surge further the coast and islands. The most affected lake was Lake Charles that suffered from severe flooding. Furthermore, areas in Texas suffered from extensive wind damage. According to the report, gave out by the Disaster Center on 25th of October,2005 about 4526 single families who were dwelling along the Jefferson and Orange counties were destroyed by the Hurricane (McGee 37). The counties were located in the South Texas. It is also recorded that about 14,256 single family dwelling in the region sustained severe injuries. Another 26,211 individual families dwelling in the lower Texas sustained minor injuries.
The October report indicated that about nine counties in the state were affected by the Hurricane. The government declared such counties disaster areas after the storm. The storm also disrupted electric service in these areas. In some areas, Texas and Louisiana had their electric services disrupted for several weeks. The deaths that were reported in the Texas as a result of the Hurricane were 113. There was also moderate to severe damage to the lower parts of Mississippi valley. The rainfall from the storm and its associated effects and remnants also extended from Louisiana to Michigan. As a result of the Hurricane, rainfall peaked at 16.0 which were 406mm in the central Louisiana (Homeland Security 31).
There were devastating effects of Hurricane Rita than was anticipated. For example, in Galveston and Houston, the storm struck farther East as it is believed that it was the center of the storm. The winds flowing ashore at the Louisiana border and offshore in Texas also swept away many people and houses. The pressure on the affected areas became low, and it affected many people as it was extremely cold during that time (McGee 67). In the Cameroon Parish, the communities that lived in this region were destroyed, and those who survived were severely affected by the Hurricane. The Hurricane Rita was a storm whose effects were devastating to the economy of many countries.

Role of transportation before and after the Hurricane

The transportation department had issued an evacuation advice before the hurricane Rita occurred. Some of the residents who were displaced by Hurricane Rita were offered up to 60 days of hotel rooms, chainsaws, generators and mandatory assistance by FEMA. The "Golden Triangle" area was spared a more devastating storm surge by Hurricane Rita. It placed most of the coastal community to the left of the eye in the storms damaging quadrant. Some of those who were evacuated from the disaster areas were lucky as they were not affected by the storm. The signs of Hurricane Rita happening had necessitated the transportation department to carry an evacuation exercise (Czerwinski 121). It was explained that most of the people refused to be evacuated from the disaster areas. Even though Hurricane Katrina had affected the areas before, most of the people had not taken the effects of the Katrina seriously. This is because the effects of Katrina were not serious.
The aftermath of the Hurricane Katrina saw the soldiers being used to evacuate the people from the disaster affected areas. The transportation also expected that the same would be used to evacuate people from the disaster prone areas before the happening of the Hurricane Rita. The transportation department had advised the government to use the military to evacuate people prior to the happening of Hurricane Rita (Homeland Security 45). This was because the report indicated that the Hurricane Rita was fast coming, and its effects could be devastating as compared to the Hurricane Katrina that had happened a month earlier. However, the government was reluctant enough to provide the necessary support to the department of transportation.
The aftermath of Hurricane saw the officials of the Louisiana transportation department developing a contingency plan to respond to the effects of the storm. The contingency plan resulted in an evacuation of 13,000 residents. The residents that were residing Orleans were evacuated from the disaster area and thus were saved from the effects of the hurricane. As a result of the large number of residents to be evacuated, the Orleans transportation officials requested for additional 300 buses to aid in the evacuation of the affected people. On the other hand, U.S Army Corps of Engineers worked in order to shore up the areas of the levee. The engineers from the U.S military created breaches in the affected areas in order to make the evacuation exercise easy.Due to the concerted efforts of the department of transportation and the U.S military, the evacuation exercise was carried out easily. The evacuation exercise was carried out the successfully aftermath of the hurricane Rita.
There was also was an emergency response teams and supplies of evacuation equipment from different departments that worked tirelessly to evacuate the affected residents. The emergency response teams and equipment were continuously deployed to the disaster affected areas. The Gulf Coast region that was affected majorly was the Gulf Coast areas. The area received important evacuation equipment, which assisted in evacuating the people who were affected by the disaster. The PEMA, for example, deployed 11 National Disaster Medical System team and other 11 Urban Search & Rescue teams in the Texas (Homeland Security 147). Furthermore, PEMA also coordinated with the Department of Defense to pre-stage large quantities of necessary commodities such as water, food, ice, tarps and generators in the location in both Texas and Louisiana.
In Texas, the transportation officials further issued mandatory evacuation orders for several Texas coastal counties. The Buses that were used for evacuation were identified in addition to shelters and evacuation routes. The officials of Texas Department of Transportation officials were evacuated tasked with the responsibility of ensuring that the evacuation routes remained clear and flowing. The Texas Department of Public Safety assets was also expected to assist with the efforts of evacuation (McGee 101). Because the affected residents were many in Texas, the authority of Texas requested the return of evacuation personnel and assets that were deployed to Louisiana. On the other hand, the U.S security of Homeland Security Secretary Chertoff designated Rear Admiral Larry Hereth, who served as the Principle Federal Official (PFO) was responsible for the management of the Hurricane Rita.

Preparedness

Although the government was anticipating the Hurricane Rita to occur, it did prepare itself fully to counteract the disaster. The disaster management department has warned earlier that a worse hurricane could happen in the U.S. The government took the advice as if it was normal. However, the department of transportation was prepared adequately to evacuate the affected residents from the disaster areas. The department had equipped itself with tools and equipment that were used for the evacuation of the people from the disaster areas. It engaged itself in advising people on the disaster prone areas to relocate before the occurrence of the hurricane Rita. The Hurricane Katrina which mild effects as compared to Hurricane Rita had made people get prepared well to counteract any disaster that would occur on the way. Those who were prepared adequately had the tactics of evading the disaster and thus were not affected seriously as those who were not well prepared.

Works Cited

Czerwinski, Stanley J, Peter D. Toro, Michelle Sager, Jyogi Gupta, Kathleen Drennan, Anthony Patterson, and Jessica Thomsen. Hurricane Recovery: Federal Government Provided a Range of Assistance to Nonprofits Following Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. Washington: U.S. Govt. Accountability Office, 2010.
"Hurricane Rita (2005)." GlobalSecurity.org - Reliable Security Information. N.p., n.d. Web. 25 Apr. 2015.
Homeland Security. Hurricane Season 2005: Rita." NASA. N.p., n.d. Web. 25 Apr. 2015.
McGee, Benton D. Hurricane Rita Surge Data, Southwestern Louisiana and Southeastern Texas, September to November 2005. Reston: U.S. Dept. of the Interior, U.S. Geological Survey, 2006.
McGee, Benton D, RolW. Tollett, and And Robert R. Mason. Monitoring Inland Storm Surge and Flooding from Hurricane Rita. Reston: U.S. Dept. of the Interior, U.S. Geological Survey, 2006.