Atlantic hurricane season ending with high count.

This years hurricane season tallied 19 tropical storms which is well above the average of 11. Marking this year into the record books it is now the third highest total, tied with 1887, 1995, and 2010. The only hurricane to make landfall however was Hurricane Irene. Amoung the potential threats only 7 of the storms became hurricanes and only three were of category 3 or higher. NOAA reports that although the storms were large it is not only the storm that can create chaos. Flooding is the major cause of over half of the fatalities related to Tropical Storms.

Source: http://usnews.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2011/11/28/9071500-atlantic-hurricane-season-ending-with-high-count

Landslide Susceptability throughout the United States

Above is a portion of the Appalachian Mountains in the Eastern United States. Due to steep slopes, and multitudes of fluvial erosion these slopes on the northwestern side have a large susceptibility to landslides.

Taking a look at the opposite coast along California they have similar issues when it comes to weathering agents, promoting slope failure.

Another for the Rocky Mountains, near Colorado. The large nature of these maps don't mix well with a blogger account. They appear blurry and highly distorted.

US gives $10 milllion dollars to Thai flood relief

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton announed that the US will help Thailand in the damage that is a result of ongoing flooding. The floods have been occuring since late July and are expected to dry up in two weeks. These floods have already caused 564 deaths throughout Thailand and affected over 64 million people. Clintons plan is to help bring back "solidarity" to their nation. On top of the money required to help in this effort the US is also bringing in their military to help in civil assistance. Some of the goals of the United States effort include opening their airport, restoring cultural sites, providing medical attention, and opening dry roads. Clinton informs their leader Yingluck Shinawatra  "during the past century we have stood by each other in times of challenge and we are proud to stand by you now in this time of challenge, as you contend with the worst floods in your nations history."

Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/45325071/ns/world_news-asia_pacific/

Deathly storm hits the Southeast

This article highlights a storm that made it's way though Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama today. It caused widespread damage including homes and buildings. Winds got to be strong enough that although not officially reported, tornado's were spited through the three states. Many people were injured and there was even one death. What confuses me about this article is that it only gets to the situation at hand for a quarter of the article. It then dives into a story that occurred back in April when 250 people died and damage was even more severe. Yes, it is interesting that this storm occurred but it is neither the time nor the place to bring up tragedies of the past. If your going to write an article about a current storm, keep it to the storm at hand.

Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/45326461/ns/weather/

Flooding in Northwest Italy Kill 6 People



Streets in Genoa, Italy have been littered with trash due to flooding

Intense rains have had devastating effects in Genoa, Italy as the rains quickly turned into flash floods rushing into low lying areas. The floods came with almost no notice and citizens reported seeing cars float by them as well as the corpses of subsequent victims. Premier Silvio Berlusconi alluded to the fact that much of the area's in this problem was due to "improper construction in floods plains." This engineering problem resulted in the loss of 6 people and two missing. Although they admitted their fault, the local government of Genoa are looking for ways to correct the problem for the future.



Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/45165468/ns/weather/

Decline in Environmental Disaser Reporting

I've noticed within the past week or two there has either been a slight decline in environmental disasters or mainstream news is focusing on other things such as the Wall Street protests and other countries movements as well. This gets into the point that was talked about in class as to weather there are more disasters occurring or are news stations within a period where they don't need to report on the disasters cause they have "better" stories to keep people occupied with.