Emergency Management Chapter two (George, Jane, Damon 5th Edition) – Flashcards
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An avalanche is a mass of ice or snow that moves downhill at a high velocity. Avalanches can shear trees, cover entire communities and highway routes, and level buildings in their path. Avalanches are triggered by a number of processes, including exceeding critical mass on a steep slope or disturbances caused by seismicity or human activity.
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Avalanche
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Severe winter's storms occur when extremely cold atmospheric conditions coincide with high airborne moisture content, resulting in rapid and heavy precipitation of snow and/or ice. When combined with high winds, the event is known as a blizzard.
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Blizzard
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may be possessed and used by both terrorists and foreign national governments. The processes by which by control and containment are conducted, however differ greatly between the two.
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CBRN weapon
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Coastal erosion, which is the loss land bordering a body of water, is measured as the rate of change in the position or displacement of shoreline over a period of time. It is generally associated with storm surges, hurricanes, windstorms, and flooding hazards, and it can be exacerbated by human activities, such as boat wakes, shoreline hardening, and dredging.
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Coastal erosion
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Dam failures pose the most extreme flood risk due to the sudden and severe impacts pose the most extreme flood risk due to the sudden and severe impacts that can result. Dam most often fail as a result of maintenance neglect; overtopping(as in the case of flood);poor design; or structural damage caused by a major event such as a an earthquake, collision, or blast. Dams are both publicly and privately owned and maintained, so their monitoring can pose a challenge to offices of emergency management charged with assessing associated hazard risk
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Dam Failure
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When the response requirements of an event or emergency exceed the capabilities of those established emergency services in one or more critical areas (e.g., shelter, fire suppression, mass care), for a particular local government or even for a region, the event is classified as a disaster.
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Disaster
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An earthquake is a sudden, rapid shaking of the earth's crust caused by the breaking and shifting of tectonic plates beneath the earth's surface. This shaking can cause the collapse of building and bridges; cause disruptions in gas, electric and phone service; and trigger landslides, avalanches, flash floods, fires and huge, destructive ocean waves (tsunamis). Structures constructed on unconsolidated landfill, old waterways, or unstable soils are generally at the greatest risk unless seismic mitigation has been utilized.
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Earthquake
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Soils and soft rock that tend to swell or shrink when their moisture content changes are referred to as expansive soils. These changes are extremely detrimental to transportation routes (including highways, street, and rail lines) and structures that are built above the affected soils. The most extensive damage affects highways and streets. Two rock types that are particularly prone to expansion and that are prevalent in the United States (primarily in the west) are aluminum silicates (e.g., ash, glass, and rocks of volcanic origin) and sedimentary rock (e.g., clay and shale).
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Expansive soil
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Severe winter's storms occur when extremely cold atmospheric conditions coincide with high airborne moisture content, resulting in rapid and heavy precipitation of snow and/or ice. When combined with high winds, the event is known as a blizzard.
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Extreme cold
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Called a heat wave, occurs when temperatures of ten or more degrees above the average high temperature persist across a geographic region for several days or weeks. Humid or muggy conditions, which add to the discomfort of high temperatures, can occur when a "dome" of high atmospheric pressure traps hazy, damp air close to the ground. Excessively dry conditions that coincide with extreme heat can provoke wind and dust storms.
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Extreme heat
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A flood is an overabundance of water that engulfs land and other property that is normally dry. Floods maybe caused by a number of factors, including heavy rainfall, melting snow, an obstruction of natural waterway (e.g., by beavers, ice, debris, or landslides), and other generative factors. Floods usually occur from large-scale weather systems generating prolonged rainfall or onshore winds, but they may also result from locally intense thunderstorms and even dam failures.
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Flood
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The acceptability factor from the original SMAUG acronym was outraged, but still refers to the political and social acceptance of hazard risk. The new acronym for this method is FSMAUGO.
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FSMAUGO
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Hail is frozen atmospheric water that falls to the earth. Moisture in clouds becomes frozen into crystals at high temperatures and begins to fall under its own weight. Typically, these crystals melt at a lower temperature, but in the right conditions they pick up more moisture as they fall and are then lifted to cold elevations, which causes refreezing.
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hail
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A hazard is defined as a "source of danger that may or may not lead to an emergency or disaster" (National Governor Association, 1982), and it is named after the emergency/disaster that could be so precipitated. Each hazard carries an associated risk, which is represented by the likelihood of the hazard leading to an actual disaster event and the consequences of that event it occurs
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Hazard
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Hazardous material is chemicals substances that if release or misused can pose a threat to the environment or personal health. Such chemicals are prevalent in many industries and products, including agriculture, medicine, research, and consumer product development. Hazardous material may be explosive, flammable, corrosive, poisonous, radioactive, or other-wise toxic or dangerous. Releases typically occur as a result of transportation accidents or accidental releases at a production and storage facilities. Depending on the nature of chemical, the result or spill can include death, serious injury, long-lasting health effects, and damage to buildings, homes, and other property.
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Hazardous materials
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The process by which individuals, communities, and countries deal with the hazard risks they face is known as hazards risk management is a primary function of government, and many different mythologies have been developed in the United States and throughout the world to manage hazard risk. Different government agencies may perform hazards risk management using different methods, as is the case with FEMA and Department of defense, for instance. All hazards risk management methodologies operate according to a four-step process: 1. Identify the hazards. 2. Assess the risks for each hazard identified. 3. Analyze the hazards risks in relation to one another. 4. Treat the hazards risk according to prioritization
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Hazards risk management
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Hurricanes are cyclonic storms that begin as a tropical waves and grow in intensity and size Tropical waves continue to progress in size and intensity to tropical depressions and tropical storms as determined by their maximum sustained wind speed. A hurricane is a cyclonic tropical storm with the sustained winds measuring 74 mph or more. Hurricane winds extend outward in a spiral pattern as much as 400 miles around a relatively calm center of to 30 miles in diameter known as the "eye". Hurricanes are fed by warm ocean waters. As these storms make landfall, they often push a wall of ocean water known as a "storm surge" over coastal zones. Once over land, hurricanes cause further destruction by means of torrential rains and high winds. A single hurricane can last for several weeks over open waters and can run a path across the entire length of the eastern seaboard.
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Hurricane
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Landslides occur when masses of relatively dry rock, soil, or debris move in an uncontrolled manner down a slope. Landslides may be very highly localized or massive in size, and they can move at a creeping pace or at very high speeds. Landslides are activated when the mechanisms by which the material was anchored become comprised (through a loss of vegetation or seismic activity, for example)
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Landslide
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Lateral spreads occur when large quantities of accumulated earth or other materials spread downward and outward due to gradual hydro-logic and gravitational forces. Spreads can affect rock, but they also occur in fine-grained, sensitive soils such as clay.
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Lateral spread
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The general category of mass movements includes several different hazards caused by the horizontal or lateral movement of large quantities of physical matter. Mass movements cause damage and loss of life through several different processes, including the pushing, crushing, or burying of objects in their path, the damming of rivers and waterways, the subsequent movement of displaced bodies of water (typically in the form of a tsunami), destruction or obstruction of major transportation routes, and alteration of natural environment in ways in which humans are negatively impacted. Mass-movement hazards are most prevalent in areas of rugged or varied topography, but they can occur even on level land, as in the case of subsidence.
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Mass movement
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Mudflows are water-saturated rivers of rock, earth and other debris that are drawn downward by the forces of gravity. These phenomena develop when water rapidly accumulates in the material that is moved, like during heavy
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Mudflow (or debris flow):
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Natural Hazards are those that exist in the natural environment as a result of hydrological, meteorological, seismic, geologic, volcanic, mass-movement, or other natural process, and that pose a threat to human populations and communities.
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Natural hazard
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Risk is calculated according to two equal factors: hazard likelihood and hazard consequence. Together, these factors inform us of how concerned we should be about the existence of a hazard and what we can do to prevent or treat the hazard. Generally high-likelihood/high-consequences hazards are of the greatest concern, while low-likelihood/low-consequences hazards are of least concern, and all others fall in between.
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Risk
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Rock falls occur when masses of rock or other materials detach from a steep slope or cliff and descend by freefall, rolling, or bouncing. Rock falls can occur to spontaneously when fissures in rock or other materials cause structural failure or due to seismic or other mechanical activity (including explosions or the movement of heavy machinery).
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Rock fall
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Technology developed by FEMA and Texas A&M University, which retrofits a portion of a structure to withstand such winds through engineered resistant design and special resilient materials, offer those in the path of a tornado much greater survival likelihoods. Safe room are often the most cost-effective way to mitigate tornado risk in communities that already have heavily developed, since they can be built into an existing(or new) structure for a small cost (estimated between $3000 to$5000).
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Safe room
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Severe winter storms occur when extremely cold atmospheric conditions coincide with high airborne moisture content, resulting in rapid and heavy precipitation of snow and /or ice. When combined with high winds, the event is known as a blizzard
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Severe winter storm
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Storm surges, defined as masses of water that are pushed toward the shore by meteorological forces, are the primary cause of injuries, death, and structural damages associated with hurricanes, cyclones, nor' eaters, and other coastal storms.
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Storm surge
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Technological (or "man-made") hazards are an inevitable product of technological innovation and human development. These hazards, which can occur after the failure of existing technology, tend to be much less understood than their natural counterparts and are increasing in number as the scope of and dependence on technology expands.
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Technological hazard
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Terrorism is defined as the use of force or violence against individuals (civilians) or property for purposes of intimidation, coercion, or spreading fear in order to attain political, religious, or ideological goals. Radical or military political and religious groups, which include or have included (for example) al Qaeda, the Khmer Rouge, the revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), and Sendero, Luminoso, typically lack the military means or public support to bring about societal change in favor of their representative views.
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Terrorism
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Thunderstorms are meteorological events that bring heavy rains, strong winds, hail, lightning, and tornadoes. Thunderstorms are generated by atmospheric imbalance and turbulence cause by a combination of several conditions, including: unstable, warm air rising rapidly into the atmosphere; sufficient moisture to form clouds and rain; and upward lift of air currents caused by colliding weather fronts (cold and warm), sea breezes, or mountains. A thunderstorm is classified as severe if its winds reach or exceed 58 mph, it produces a tornado, or it drops surface hail at least 0.75 inch in diameter. Thunderstorm may occur singly, in clusters, or in lines.
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Thunderstorm
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A tornado is a rapidly rotating vortex or funnel of air extending ground ward from a cumulonimbus cloud, exhibiting wind speeds of up to 300 mph.
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Tornado
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A localized, very intense low-pressure wind system, forming over tropical oceans and with winds of hurricane force.
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Tropical cyclone
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A localized, very intense low-pressure wind system, forming over tropical oceans and with winds of hurricane force.
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Tropical storm
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A tsunami is a wave that is generated by mass displacement of sea or lake water. The most common generative factor behind tsunamis is undersea earthquakes that cause ocean floor displacement, but large tsunamis have been caused by volcanic eruptions and landslides as well. Tsunami waves travel outward as movements of kinetic energy (rather than traveling water) at very high speeds in all directions from the area of the disturbance, much like ripples caused by a rock thrown into a pond. As the waves approach shallow coastal waters, wave speed quickly decreases and the water is drawn upward and onto land.
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Tsunami
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A volcano is a break in the earth's crust through which molten rock from beneath the earth's surface (magma) erupts. Over time, volcanoes will grow upward and outward, forming mountains, islands, or large, flat plateaus called "shields".
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Volcano
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differ from mountain chains formed through plate tectonics (movement of the earth's crustal plates) because they are built through the accumulation of materials (lava, ash flows, and airborne ash and dust) rather than being pushed up from up from below. Volcanic material that exits the earth, it is called lava, and the nature of its exit determines the land formations that result.
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Volcanic mountains
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Fueled almost exclusively by natural vegetation, these fires typically occur in natural forest and parks, where federal agencies are responsible for fire management and suppression
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Wild land fire (or wildfire):
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Hazard is name after the disaster. A disaster is the product of realized hazard risk is an event and the or an emergency, which is typically characterized as a situation exhibiting negative consequences that require the efforts of one or more of the emergency services to manage.
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How is a hazard different from a disaster?
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The most frequent widespread disaster-causing hazard is the flood.
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What is the most frequent and widespread disaster-causing hazard?
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Modified, Mercalli Intensity Scale.
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What scale is common used to describe the effects of earthquakes?
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Seismic-sensing technology is effective at measuring and tracking seismic activity
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How are earthquakes measured?
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Hurricane is cyclonic tropical storms that begin as tropical waves and grow and intensify in size.
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Describe the process by which hurricanes form.
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The Saffir-Simpson Scale
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What scale is used to describe the intensity of hurricanes?
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It brings destruction from storm surge and flooding effects, and can devastate urban and rural areas
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What are the various ways that hurricanes cause damages to a community
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Slosh is used to estimate storm surges from predicted hurricanes; forecast data are entered every six hours over a 72 hour period and updated as new forecasts become available.
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What is a Slosh model used to measure?
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10. Tornadoes have been measured using the Fujita-Pearson Tornado Scale since creation 1971 (Table 2-5). In 2006, research indicated that tornadoes damage was occurring from winds of much weaker intensity than previously thought, so the National Weather Service created an enhanced scale to measure them
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Why were the Fujita-Pearson Tornado Scale updated in 2006, and what changes were made?
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The three categories of wild fires are surface, ground fire and crown fire.
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What are the three categories of wild land fires?
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The Northeast Snowfall Impact Scale (NESIS) provides a numerical value to storms based on the geographical area affected, the amount of snow accumulated, and the number of people affected.
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How is severe weather storms measured?
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The three Mile Island Nuclear Generating Station in Pennsylvania on March 28, 1979.
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What single disaster type caused nine of the top ten natural disasters ranked by FEMA relief costs?
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Exposure to radiation can be the result of an accidental or intentionally caused spilled, breach of the containment vessel, escape of gasses, or an explosion. Nuclear, materials remains radioactive until it has shed all of its ionizing particles, called radio nuclides.
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What is the source of most hazardous materials incidents?
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Four weapons of mass destruction are chemical, Biological, Radiological and nuclear.
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List and describe four categories of weapons of mass destruction
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General orientation overview of the hazard The location of the hazard within and surrounding the area of study and the spatial extent of its effects. The duration of an event caused by the hazard Seasonal or other time-based patterns followed by the hazard Speed of onset of an actual hazard event Availability of warnings for the hazard
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What six steps are common to most risk assessment methodologies?
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education, culture, local government, social interaction, values, laws beliefs and other aspects of society.
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Name several of the social factors emergency managers must consider when assessing a community's risk.
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Within most communities, the hazard vulnerability of different groups varies due to a range of sociocultural factors that help or prevent individuals in those groups from taking mitigative or preparative actions to protect themselves.
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What are some of the factors that make up a community's profile?
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When considering the definition of a disaster and the concept of vulnerability, it is easy to understand why the poor are vulnerable. Because an event only becomes a disaster when the capacity to respond to the event is exceeded, requiring external assistance to manage the consequences, the-who survive on the brink of disaster each day.
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How do these factors influence that community's disaster risk?
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FSMAUGO hazard risk treatment is the process by which either the likelihood of a disaster risk is reduced or eliminated or measures are taken to reduce the impacts of those hazard events that do actually occur
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What is the purpose of the FSMAUGO methodology?
