CJ 1000 Disaster Event Research Paper

you selected a disaster event to research and identified ways in which studying that event would help you reach your own professional and academic goals. You have been prompted throughout subsequent units to continue your research of this event. You now have the opportunity to apply your research. Completing this assignment will allow you to experience writing an analysis report. Emergency management professionals are routinely tasked with developing analysis reports, as are many other professionals. Analysis reports can be on important emergency management areas such as advance disaster planning and mitigation, exercise evaluations, and after action reports for actual emergency events.

Instructions

Disaster Event

Summarize the disaster event.

• Where did it occur?
• When?
• Who was impacted?
• What emergency management resources were utilized in the response?

Running head: DISASTER EVENT: RESEARCH AND PROFESSIONAL GOALS
1
Disaster Event: Research and Professional Goals
Sabrina Sammis
CJ1000
April 16, 2019
Disaster Event: Research and Professional Goals
The National Incident Management Systems (NIMS) regional coordinators of the Federal
Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) acts as a subject matter that is expert with regards to
the NIMS for territorial, state, tribal, and local nations within their respective FEMA regions.
Moreover, it acts as an expert subject matter for the FEMA regional staff and administrator. The
FEMA regions are divided into ten different regions, each responsible for several states within
the region. Any jurisdiction that seeks guidance on matters that relate to the implementation and
adoption of NIMS are required to contact their respective FEMA Regional NIMS Coordinator.
Region number five is the focus of this paper. The region comprises of Illinois, Wisconsin, Ohio,
Indiana, Minnesota, and Michigan.
The state of Ohio is the Midwestern state that stretches from the Ohio River and the
Appalachian Mountains in the south to Lake Erie in the north. Over the years, the state has
been predisposed to disasters that have cost the taxpayer, and the state millions, if not billions
of dollars. Notably, the state suffered a disaster on April 25th to 28, 2011 that had a significant
impact for the country. Dubbed the April 2011 tornado outbreak, the disaster involved
approximately three hundred and forty-three tornadoes that touched down in the three-day
disaster (Knupp et al., 2014). The disaster is arguably the worst in the state of Ohio. The
strongest of the tornadoes hit the South of the State, and Alabama was the worst hit. The
disaster claimed an estimated three hundred and twenty one lives not counting the displaced
and homeless. The April 2011 tornado outbreak cost the taxpayer a total of eleven billion
dollars.
The April 2011 tornado outbreak had three significant points. Firstly, old records were not only
broken but challenged. Before the April 2011 disaster, there were three good years without the
EF-5 tornado. This kind of tornado is one that has a strong rating on the Enhanced Fujita Scale
(EFS) and is allied with winds that exceed two hundred meters per hour (200mph).
Nonetheless, in the four days, the system spawned three EF-5 tornadoes. Additionally, it had
21 EF-3s and 12 EF-4s. The system couldn’t handle such tornadoes and called for an upgrade
of the system (Doswell III, Carbin, & Brooks, 2012). Secondly, the cities of Birmingham and
Tuscaloosa were almost extinct. Arguably the most hit cities, the EF-4 was close to 1.5 miles,
causing over one thousand injuries and 65 fatalities. The two cities were improved and built to
withstand such tornadoes. Lastly, the tornadoes targeted close to a dozen states. The April
2011 tornado outbreak affected close to a third of the nation. It had significant effects on
Oklahoma, Illinois, Texas, Tennessee, among others. This aspect made the FEMA regions to
be in contact with one another to curb and alleviate such situations in the future.
The was chosen based on the magnitude that it had and the financial dent it left for the state of
April 2011 tornado outbreak Ohio. As indicated, a total of forty-three tornadoes hit the state of
Ohio with Alabama being the most hit. The casualties of the disaster were the highest ever
recorded, and the tornadoes affected close to a dozen states. Additionally, the disaster had one
of the most expensive disaster management bills in the history of tornadoes. The disaster cost
an estimated eleven billion dollars. The money was used to upgrade systems as well as settling
and to improve disaster management know-how of the FEMA.
Studying the disaster will help in achieving my goals as it had a legal impact on the state. The
disaster was handled, in some cases, in a not human way. Moreover, the states affected did not
do their due diligence in ensuring that their citizens are protected as per the constitution.
Consequently, the states are liable for the loss of property and lives. This will enhance my
career goal and propel me into law.
References
Doswell III, C. A., Carbin, G. W., & Brooks, H. E. (2012). The tornadoes of spring 2011 in the
USA: An historical perspective. Weather, 67(4), 88-94.
Knupp, K. R., Murphy, T. A., Coleman, T. A., Wade, R. A., Mullins, S. A., Schultz, C. J., … &
Carcione, B. (2014). Meteorological overview of the devastating 27 April 2011 tornado outbreak.
Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society, 95(7), 1041-1062.