Im Jahre 2005 verzeichnete New Orleans mit dem Wirbelsturm Katrina eine der folgenreichsten Naturkatastrophen seiner Geschichte, bei der sich auch die Unzulänglichkeit einiger Hochwasserschutzvorkehrungen gezeigt hat. Es waren zahlreiche Tote zu beklagen und die materiellen Schäden waren unübersehbar. Nach dem Ereignis wurde der Hochwasserschutz weiträumig und aufwändig verbessert. Der nachfolgende Beitrag gibt eine Übersicht über den derzeitigen Stand.

Towards advancing the indices of hurricane energetics that are associated with potential damage, we develop a new methodology for calculating integrated kinetic energy (IKE) climatology. A simple, observation and dynamical - based radial wind speed model is used with the Extended Best Track Data Set to calculate IKE for North Atlantic Hurricanes from 1988 to 2008. The method is evaluated against previous methods of tropical cyclone intensity analysis, and the results are compared to traditional indices in terms of characterizing storm energetics and relating to storm surge. It is shown that the traditional indices are inaccurate measurements of hurricane energetics, and the assumptions that they are based on are not valid. Furthermore, in analyzing storm surge, it is possible that tropical cyclone damage is more strongly correlated with IKE rather than maximum wind speed.

Thesis (MMAS)--Command and General Staff College (CGSC), 2006. / AD-A452 186.

Harrisburg, Chernobyl and Fukushima have changed the world’s view of the probability that a nuclear disaster can happen. But they are also a reminder of how necessary a working crises management is in the times a disaster appears. This paper is a systematic review about accidents and disasters, and the communication in this time. The purpose of the study is to analyse the use of communication in these cases, but also how organizations and media are communicating, and which dimensions they use. The conclusion of this study shows that risk and crisis communication needs to improve in all cases. The best communication was with Sweden’s fire in Västmanland 2014 and the Tsunami 2004. Hurricanes and nuclear power needs better strategic in the whole process.

This thesis examines the environmental and social consequences of maintaining the artificial divide between thinking and feeling, mind and matter, logos and eros. New Orleans, a city where the natural environment and human sensuality are both dominant forces, is used as a case study to explore the implications of our attempts to impose rational controls on nature - both physical and human nature. An analysis of New Orleans leading up to and immediately following Hurricane Katrina (2005) reveals that the root of the trouble in the city is not primarily environmental, technological, political, or sociological, but philosophical: there is something amiss in the relationship between human rationality and the corporeal world. I argue that policy decisions which do not include the contributions of experts from the humanities and qualitative social sciences - persons with expertise on human emotions, intentions, priorities and desires - will continue to be severely compromised.

Implicit in current design practice of minimum uplift capacity, is the assumption that the connection's capacity is proportional to the number of fasteners per connection joint. This assumption may overestimate the capacity of joints by a factor of two or more and maybe the cause of connection failures in extreme wind events. The current research serves to modify the current practice by proposing a realistic relationship between the number of fasteners and the capacity of the joint. The research is also aimed at further development of non-intrusive continuous load path (CLP) connection system using Glass Fiber Reinforced Polymer (GFRP) and epoxy. Suitable designs were developed for stud to top plate and gable end connections and tests were performed to evaluate the ultimate load, creep and fatigue behavior. The objective was to determine the performance of the connections under simulated sustained hurricane conditions. The performance of the new connections was satisfactory.

Low-rise buildings are often subjected to high wind loads during hurricanes that lead to severe damage and cause water intrusion. It is therefore important to estimate accurate wind pressures for design purposes to reduce losses. Wind loads on low-rise buildings can differ significantly depending upon the laboratory in which they were measured. The differences are due in large part to inadequate simulations of the low-frequency content of atmospheric velocity fluctuations in the laboratory and to the small scale of the models used for the measurements. A new partial turbulence simulation methodology was developed for simulating the effect of low-frequency flow fluctuations on low-rise buildings more effectively from the point of view of testing accuracy and repeatability than is currently the case. The methodology was validated by comparing aerodynamic pressure data for building models obtained in the open-jet 12-Fan Wall of Wind (WOW) facility against their counterparts in a boundary-layer wind tunnel. Field measurements of pressures on Texas Tech University building and Silsoe building were also used for validation purposes. The tests in partial simulation are freed of integral length scale constraints, meaning that model length scales in such testing are only limited by blockage considerations. Thus the partial simulation methodology can be used to produce aerodynamic data for low-rise buildings by using large-scale models in wind tunnels and WOW-like facilities. This is a major advantage, because large-scale models allow for accurate modeling of architectural details, testing at higher Reynolds number, using greater spatial resolution of the pressure taps in high pressure zones, and assessing the performance of aerodynamic devices to reduce wind effects. The technique eliminates a major cause of discrepancies among measurements conducted in different laboratories and can help to standardize flow simulations for testing residential homes as well as significantly improving testing accuracy and repeatability. Partial turbulence simulation was used in the WOW to determine the performance of discontinuous perforated parapets in mitigating roof pressures. The comparisons of pressures with and without parapets showed significant reductions in pressure coefficients in the zones with high suctions. This demonstrated the potential of such aerodynamic add-on devices to reduce uplift forces.

No description available.

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the health outcomes of diabetic patients in Puerto Rico, before, during, and after Hurricane Maria, in 2017. The Department of Health in Puerto Rico provided the secondary data for the variables low-density lipoproteins (LDL) cholesterol, hemoglobin A1C (HbA1c), mortality, and consumer price index (CPI). The inclusion criteria were participants for whom electronic data were available before, during, and after Hurricane Maria; the sample size was 450. The theoretical framework for this investigation was the health outcomes and impact assessment. The data were analyzed by univariate and analysis of variance (ANOVA) to compare means and normality test analysis. Results of this study revealed that before Hurricane Maria, diabetics in Puerto Rico did not have control of their health. The American Diabetes Association (ADA) guideline for Hgb AIC is < 7.0; prior to Hurricane Maria Hgb AIC was 7.30 and after it was 7.21. The ADA LDL goal is

The Hurricane Fault is a 250-km long, west dipping, Basin and Range-bounding normal fault in SW Utah and NW Arizona that initiated in the mid-Miocene to Pliocene. It has been primarily active in the Quaternary, with slip rates of 0.2 – 0.6 mm/yr. There are multiple hot springs along its 250-km length and multiple late Tertiary-Quaternary basaltic centers broadly parallel the fault. Possible sources of hot spring fluids include deeply-circulated meteoric water that experienced water-rock exchange at high temperatures (>100 °C) and deep-seated crustal fluids. Aside from the source of modern hot spring fluids and heat, questions about the spatio-temporal history of fluid flow along the Hurricane Fault remain unaddressed. Abundant damage zone veins, cements, and host rock alteration are present, indicative of past fluid flow. Carbonate veining and cementation is a key feature of the Hurricane Fault zone, and is the primary feature exploited to characterize the thermochemical history of fault-related paleofluids. A combination of macroscopic and microscopic carbonate observations, chemical composition, and precipitation temperature of calcite veins was used to determine past water-rock diagenetic interaction and vein evolution in the Hurricane Fault zone. Calcite iv in concretions and veins from the damage zone of the fault shows a wide range of carbon and oxygen stable isotope ratios, with δ13CPDB from -4.5 to 3.8 ‰ and δ18OPDB from -17.7 to -1.1‰. Fluid inclusion microthermometry homogenization temperatures range from 45 to 160 °C, with fluid salinities of 0 to 15 wt% NaCl calculated from melting temperatures. Combining the two datasets, two main fluids that interacted with the fault zone are inferred: (1) basin brines with a δ 18OSMOW of 9.2 ‰ and (2) altered meteoric fluids with a δ 18OSMOW of -11.9 to -8.3 ‰. Calculated dissolved CO2 δ 13CPDB (-8.5 to -1.3 ‰) indicates mixed marine carbonate and organic or magmatic sources. Fault zone diagenesis was caused by meteoric water infiltration and interaction with carbonate-rich rocks, mixed with upwelling basin brines. Fluid-rock interaction is concentrated in the damage zone, where fracture-related permeability was utilized for fluid flow. A distinct mineralization event punctuated this history, associated with basin brines that were chemically influenced by nearby basaltic magmatism. This implies a hydrologic connection between the fault and regional magmatism.