People in the United States of America are constantly in danger of natural disasters, such as storms and tornadoes. The government helps its residents to recover from such types of events by providing them with funding to rebuild destroyed structures. However, serious actions are not taken to warn people or prevent some of the structures from destruction. The U.S. government has funded the damaged territories and people to help them recover from the hazard but has been unsuccessful in preventing the catastrophe.
The event discussed in the paper is severe storms and straight-line winds in Nebraska. It is a state with multiple well-developed cities, counties, and villages situated in the Midwest of the United States of America. It is famous for supplying the whole country with meat and soybeans. Its temperature varies throughout the year, and one of the state’s main problems is its exposure to thunderstorms and tornadoes. On May 12, 2022, it experienced a severe storm called a derecho, a long-lasting thunderstorm that is highly devastating, extending to hundreds of miles (Weather.com Methodologist, 2022). This derecho is considered to be one of the most destructive thunderstorms of the last several decades. It damaged multiple structures and trees in Nebraska and knocked out electricity (Weather.com Methodologist, 2022). Moreover, some of the cars and trains were blown over, and several people were confirmed to be dead due to the disaster (Childs, 2022). Thus, the event was highly devastating, and actions must be taken to protect residents.
The federal government took action to help the people of Nebraska who became victims of the derecho. On 27 July 2022 president of the U.S. approved the Nebraska disaster declaration (The White House, 2022). He claimed that the state is provided with funding to “supplement state, tribal, and local recovery efforts in the areas affected by severe storms and straight-line winds on May 12, 2022” (The White House, 2022, para. 1). Federal funding is available for repairing destroyed facilities and territories and hazard mitigation throughout the state (The White House, 2022). Thus, the government takes responsibility in this case and aims to repair and help people and structures damaged by the catastrophe. This is wise to provide people with money to help them recover from the hazard, so the president made a reasonable decision.
However, the declaration does not solve the problem of preventing the disaster. The stakeholders in building disaster resilience that the Nebraska community has not addressed are the weather forecasters and the workers who warn the residents of the upcoming hazard.
To protect residents in this case, it is crucial to inform them in advance about the upcoming derecho and educate them about how they must act in this situation. The National Weather Service does not warn people about such disasters; it issues a severe thunderstorm warning when such a hazard can occur (National Weather Service, n.d.). To be prepared for it, an individual must check a forecast for the day every morning.
This seems inconvenient and must be solved so that the warning about the possibility of derecho happening must be everywhere. Unfortunately, the local government was not successful in preventing the disaster in any way and did not address the issue of informing its residents effectively. In my perspective, it was reasonable to help the victims of the derecho with funding. However, to build disaster resilience in the near future, it is fundamental to improve forecasting and the informational portals through which people will be warned about the upcoming hazard.
In conclusion, severe storms and straight-line winds in Nebraska were highly devastating and caused damage to many structures and people. The government took action to help people recover from the disaster, funding repairs of the damaged buildings throughout the state. However, the prevention measures in such cases are improper and must be improved. It is fundamental to make forecasts more accurate and spread the news about the possible hazard more effectively.
References
Childs, W. (2022). Three dead, damage across dozens of communities after derecho Slams Midwest, Northern Plains. The Weather Channel.
Derechos: keeping yourself safe. (n.d.). National Weather Service.
President Joseph R. Biden, Jr. approves Nebraska Disaster Declaration. (2022). The White House.
Weather.com Methodologist. (2022). Severe thunderstorms possible from the Midwest to Plains into the weekend. Weather Underground.