Category Archives: Disasters

Mountain Man

     Have you ever heard of the Old Man on the Mountain? The Old Man is a series of five granite cliff ledges on the side of Cannon Mountain located in the White Mountains of New Hampshire. When the cliffs are looked at from the North the ledges create a profile of a man’s face. The Man was about 40 ft tall, 25 ft wide and sat about 1,200 ft above profile lake.

There is a legend that derived from Mohawk Indians regarding the purpose of the man. The legend describes the hardships that a couple faced after the wife’s father fell ill. Once the maiden left to care for her beloved father her husband was chief of the village and was needed during winter so could not go with her. However Minerwa, the wife was never to be seen or heard from again. When her husband passed of old again he request to be buried in the direction that she left so her could see her when she returned. The Chiefs face was then immortalized into the cliff waiting for Minerwa to come back to the village.

              Unfortunately on May 3rd, 2003 the man crumbled down from the side of the mountain. It was estimated to have lived to be 198 years old and fell due to water damage after the ice from the winter melted as well as overall corrosion of the granite. New Hampshire mourned the loss of their beloved symbol and even considered trying to rebuild it. However in place of rebuild the iconic symbol a memorial monument was built along the edge of profile lake. The most popular part of the memorial is the steel poles that have jagged pieces of metal at the end so when you close an eye you can see the old man.

     I believe that New Hampshire made the correct decision in not rebuilding the monument because it would ruin the landscape of the mountains. This iconic spot is right in the middle of Franconia Notch which is just a breathtaking area and with having a man made recreation of a landform just doesn’t fit the part. Even before it was finished having all of the construction taking place would take away from the natural earthy joy that the White Mountains bring. However the man was memorialized the right way because with the poles and a little imagination the man is still alive. For more information please visit http://www.oldmanofthemountainlegacyfund.org/.

~Nicolina

Deadly Earthquake Rocks Afghanistan and Pakistan

On October 26th, a major earthquake hit Afghanistan and Pakistan. So far, 180 people are reportedly dead. The earthquake had a magnitude of 7.5. The mountainous region that the earthquake hit has been hit by 20 earthquakes since 1990. At least 12 of the victims were members of a girls school, killed while they were attempting to evacuate buildings. It struck at 1:39 p.m., and buildings shook for at least 2 minutes. Officials say the shock waves went as far as New Delhi. Additionally, phone lines and cell phone networks collapsed, making it harder for officials to communicate to remote areas.

I think this earthquake will be very difficult for Afghanistan and Pakistan to recover from. One of the reasons for this is because one area where the earthquake hit, Jurm, is a place where the Taliban have presence. I am curious to see how this will affect Afghanistan and Pakistan’s efforts to recover from this. I also wonder how the people affected by the earthquake will recover individually. Additionally, I want to see how the rest of the world will react, and what we will do to help.

~Catherine

 

Flight 93

Flight 93

On September 11th, 2001, a tragic event happened.  By the use of four planes, terrorists planned to attack and possibly destroy the World Trade Centers in New York City, the Pentagon in Washington D.C, and the White House, also in Washington D.C.  The flight planning to crash into the White House was flight 93 flown by United Airlines.  The passengers on this flight were planning to go to San Fransisco, California but little did they know they were flying with three hijackers trying to take down the White House.  The two other planes already had crashed into the World Trade Centers when the hijackers began to take down the flight at 9:28.  They took over the cockpit and began to fly the plane around to head to Washington D.C. The new pilots flying the plane made an announcement to remain seated and threatened them that they have a bomb and they weren’t afraid to use it. Many of the passengers had called loved ones or the police to inform them what was going on.  At 9:39, the third plane had crashed into the Pentagon.  The passengers knew they were being hijacked and began to plan a revolt to stop the plane.  At 9:45, Todd Beamer said two words that signaled the passenger revolt and would change many people’s lives: “Let’s roll”. The passengers took over the cockpit and stopped the hijackers from crashing into the White House but, unfortunately, the plane was seen plunging from the sky at a steep angle and no passengers survived. Nobody was hurt on the ground, and the plane landed at a field near a coal strip mine in Shanksville, Pennsylvania.  The strange thing is 22 out of the 44 people on flight 93 weren’t originally supposed to be on that flight.

In my opinion, all the passengers on the plane were exceptionally brave for stopping the hijackers from crashing into the White House.  Because of them, the White House, and thousands of people, were saved.  I also think that there probably are some reasons that some of the people on that plane weren’t scheduled to be on it.  For example Todd Beamer could have left Tuesday night for his work meeting, but decided to spend more time with his family.  He was one of the passengers that took part of the passenger revolt to save the White House.  Adding to this, the plane could have held 200 passengers but, luckily only 44 seats were taken.  I think there was a reason for this small number of people.  For example, if there were more people on the plane, the passenger revolt might not have went so well, and if the plane crashed with more people, more lives would have been lost. It is tragic what happened to the passengers, however, they probably saved thousand of lives and a historical structure.

~Mikayla

The Severe Recovery Process that the Philippines Has to Face

On November 7, 2013, a devastating typhoon hit the Philippines. The typhoon was the strongest tropical storm that has ever been recorded in history, with wind speeds over 195 mph! With wind speeds at that intensity level, it was estimated at first, that over 10,000 people in Tacloban City have died alone. Although reports show that over 5,000 people have died so far, the death toll is still increasing. As the toll is shown in reports, the typhoon is not even in the top 35 deadliest hurricanes list, because not many people died, as of previous hurricanes. After the major destruction that this intense storm had caused, the Philippines now has to face major cleanup and recovery. The image above shows flipped over vehicles, demolished homes and buildings, and trees that have fallen. The damage was so bad, that U.S troops have been sent over to help out. It shows that the storm was a terrible thing that people had to face, but hey, the people have to face it.

In my opinion, I think that this was a crazily tragic event, but most people were prepared. With the fact that the typhoon didn’t even make it into the top 35 list of deadliest storms, it shows that many people were prepared for the strongest hurricane in the world. Even though many people were prepared, I think it is really sad to hear that over 5,000 people died. What I am really concerned about is the recovery. This should take a long time because of the amount of devastation the typhoon left behind, even with hundreds of U.S troops helping out. People should really try to help out the Philippines, such as making donations, sending more people to help out, and even making wishes and hoping for the best. The Philippines will hopefully recover soon!

~Sameer

Fire and Water: A Damaging Duo

Superstorm Sandy ravaged up the east coast a year ago, destroying everything in its path with its wicked winds and torrential rain. One of the places it hit the hardest was New Jersey, which is famous for its boardwalks, fairs, and other tourist attractions. One such boardwalk is the Seaside Park Boardwalk, which was torn apart by the storm. It had been completely rebuilt as of five months ago, the repairs costing more than $8,000,000 dollars. However, just this week, it all came down once again!  But this time, due to fire, not water. Wiring underneath a custard cart/candy shop had been negatively impacted by Sandy’s wind and salty water, and the wires eventually became so damaged an electrical fire was started. Wind carried the fire down the boardwalk, and would’ve burned all of it, including all of the shops along it, but luckily local work crews came and created a barrier to stop the fire, and then snuffed it out with giant sand dunes. Governor Chris Christie later announced the planned $15,000,000 renovation of the boardwalk using money from donations for Sandy recovery, to repair all of the businesses and attractions along the boardwalk.

Personally, I am very glad that the town of Seaside Heights and the state of New Jersey is already talking about rebuilding this boardwalk and its businesses, because this town needs them. Think of how many people work at the stores, restaurants, and other attractions on that boardwalk. Think of how many people there lost their jobs first because of Superstorm Sandy, and then got them back, only to have them burned to the ground five months later. Think of the relief they’re experiencing, knowing they’ll be back on track again. Also, I’m actually sort of glad that this happened, because this has brought to attention the possibility of these electrical fires from damaged wires. It will have people who might have been affected by Sandy make sure everything is ok as well, because we certainly don’t want this happening again. I’ve never to New Jersey for an extended period of time myself, but I have been to a boardwalk, and they are lots of fun, so I’m happy for the people of Seaside Heights that they are getting theirs back up and running for the second, and hopefully last, time.

 ~Mark Dellostritto

Colorado Floods Drown Hope

An aerial view of suburban streets flooded in Longmont

All time rainfall records were broken earlier this month. Over the course of almost five whole days, parts of Colorado saw nothing but rain. A record 14.62 inches of precipitation had fallen on the town of Boulder, Colorado. Including an astonishing 9.08 inches of rainfall in a single day. Looking back at the records in the Western Regional Climate Center the recent record was only about half of that. The amount of rainfall in that slotted time was just overwhelming and the flash flood broke out. (Jon Erdman). There was major damage in a dozen towns and reasonable damage over multiple counties. Even though the death toll is floating at seven, thousands are still unaccounted for.

Many people are concerned about their loved ones, neighbors, or even that guy that you can never remember his name. With almost one hundred rescue teams from multiple states on the look out, the question arises that “Could we have seen this coming?” With all this new technology evolving right before our eyes we should have some system to predict if a disaster is just waiting to come. These things are looked past so much, sometimes we don’t even realize how terrible these disasters truly are. We, as a nation, better be taking note of how recent flash floods started and with that in mind have someone working on looking out for possible flood alerts. Looking into the future, not only flash floods, but also other natural catastrophes have to be predicted so we aren’t losing any lives anymore. With some killed and even more missing many across the United States are mourning the losses of the depressed families in Colorado. Almost as disencouraging to think about is knowing people would rather work to develop the next generation of phones, to entertain people, than working on a way to save hundreds maybe thousands of lives.

~Tyler

Uprising Conflict in Syria

  Syria, a small country next to Israel with a conflict that is anything but small. For over two years, Syria has been involved in a civil war due to citizens rebelling against their ruling government, the Assad family. The Assad family has been in power since 1971, starting with Hafez al-Assad and the current ruler, Bashar al-Assad. Recently it was discovered that the Syrian army was using chemical weapons on their own civilians. United States President, Barack Obama, said that if a country used chemical weapons then that would be a red line, meaning that military action may be used. Obama is still undecided on whether we should be involved in this war.

   It is an incredibly hard decision for President Obama to make on whether we are going to take military actions. Personally, I don’t believe that we should follow through with taking military action because we do not have all the details of the situation. Although we do know that chemical weapons are being used to harm innocent people in Syria, we do not fully know if that is being done by the Syrian government or not. The point is, taking military actions would mean that we were in favor of one side of this war and from what we know, both sides have done terrible things. In conclusion, I do not think that the United States military should get involved in the massive civil war in Syria.

 ~Camille Bisson

Rushing over Russia: 10 Ton Meter Passes over Central Russia

Russia Meteorite_Hein(1).jpg

Friday February 15th, 2013 was a clear day in central Russia. At about 9:20 a.m., over the town of Chelyabinsk, a flash of light was seen and a very loud noise was heard. Chelyabinsk residents said that it sounded like thunder. At a speed of 33,000 miles per hour, a 10-ton meteorite had exploded about 24 miles above the surface of Russia. The explosion was as powerful as dozens of atomic bombs. It was the biggest recorded meteorite rock to pass Earth in more than 100 years, some pieces of the meteorite even fell to the earth. About 1,100 people were injured by the meteor. Most of these people had been cut open by the glass of their windows because of the shock wave and not the meteor itself.

I, myself, have never seen a meteorite and I hope not too. Meteors can have a big effect on the earth. “It doesn’t take a very large object. A 10-meter size object already packs the same energy as a nuclear bomb.”) -Andrew Cheng of the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory, who led a 2001 mission to orbit and land on an asteroid). The meteor itself is not really my problem; it’s the idea of the shock wave that concerns me. The shock wave and the meteor will cost Russia $33 million dollars to repair. I hope this doesn’t happen to America because we don’t exactly have $33 million dollars to repair things. Also, this meteorite happened in a low populated area so there was less damage to de done. If this happened in America, where we don’t have a lot of places that aren’t very populated, the cost would be most likely double or even triple. Has America ever had a meteor come relatively close to us? Is there anything we can do to reduce the odds of that happening here? How come NASA didn’t warn anyone about the meteorite? Did they know?
~Madison Casner

Save Our Ship!


I have chosen the topic of the Carnival cruise liner called the Triumph. A few days after leaving port in Texas the massive ship became known to the world as “ The floating petri dish.
After a fire in the machine room the passengers were left without any power. Sewage swept around the decks and eventually passengers just slept outside to avoid the noxious fumes coming from their cabins. Being forced into close proximity with the sewage caused many people to become sick. The ship was eventually towed to land, allowing its passengers to attempt to get on with their lives and forget about the awful experience.
In my opinion the whole experience shouldn’t have been that traumatizing. Had there been a backup or emergency power source, even if all it did was keep food cold,  the trip would have been a lot easier on the passengers. A lot less people would have gotten sick creating less waste and sewage in the halls. Matt Crusan (a passenger aboard the ship) says,  “Will it take a whole ship of people to die before they’ll pull a ship for repairs?” He voices the thoughts of many of the people on that ship. So a question I have is why aren’t these cruise ships more prepared for disaster, especially if lives are on the line. This isn’t the first time a vacation has been turned into a nightmare; over the last year or so there have been more  and more problematic cruises. So, when will these cruise liners consider people before price?

~Ashley Kecskes

Is It The End Of The World As We Know It?

According to the Mayan calendar the world will supposedly end on December 21, 2012.  This theory gained a lot of hype in 2009 when the movie “2012” was released.  Over time though, people have seemed to start forgetting about this theory, and with December 21 rapidly approaching, barely anyone is discussing it.  You might think people just lost interest in this topic, but the world ending in 2012 has been disproven multiple times by many researchers.  People believed that the planets would align causing the earth to blackout.  Researchers have proven that no planetary alignments will happen for a long time and even if one did happen there would be very little effect on earth.  Another example disproving the world will end on December 21, 2012 is the leader of the National Council of Elders Mayas even confirmed that the end of the Maya calendar has nothing to do with the end of the world.

Do I personally believe the world will end on December 21, 2012?  In short answer no.  I have never really paid close attention to the theories even when the movie “2012” was released.  Many times people have claimed the world will end only to be proven wrong.  I just figure the world ending in 2012 will be another false claim.  I am even more sure now then I was a few years ago because the evidence of the world ending is non existent, it has all been proven wrong.  Even though I may be a skeptic, many people do believe the theories; 15% worldwide to be exact.  No one can tell the future though, so we’ll just have to wait and see what happens!

~Nina Casapulla