1997 Red River Flood In Grand Forks example essay topic

Many people throughout the world deal with environmental destruction. Whether it is natural or man created, both end in sudden calamities. An example of a natural catastrophe is the 1997 Red River Flood in Grand Forks, North Dakota. One of the unique aspects of the Red River is that it flows North and empties into the lake Winnipeg in Canada.

However, since temperature tends to get colder the farther north you get, ice-jamming is often a concern of the Red River during the spring season. The National Weather Service began putting out warnings as early as February that a flood due to the spring melt was likely to occur. Due to Grand Forks harsh winter that consisted of a cruel blizzard, the amount of snow melts exceeded. In an effort to prevent the flood, the North Dakota National Guard dumped sand on the river in hopes to use the suns' thermal energy to speed up the thawing and eliminate the ice-jams. Unable to control the excessive water the flood of the century began. On April 18, 1997, the Red River's water level was at 52.19 ft high and had risen at a rate of an inch each hour following.

The flood began to take out areas of the city one by one, and people with what little possessions the could grab had to evacuate immediately. After six days of flooding the river finally began to recede and people were allowed to return. The amount of filth left behind from the flood was incredible. Much of the property had been destroyed and basically everything else had been contaminated by the water. Everything that was washed out by the water turned into trash and many had to start all over again. The post-flood clean up that was taken to the dump totaled 224 million ton, which is usually nine months of garbage.

An example of a man-created catastrophe is the Tragedy of the World Trade Centers. September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks on America had a big effect on New York City environment, and the political and emotional landscapes of the United States. This will be remembered as one of the most shocking days in American history. Armed terrorists hijacked four passenger jets and used them as weapons against the U.S... The attacks destroyed the World Trade Center, damaged the Pentagon and killed three thousand people.

The cleanup was a very emotional and strenuous effort by fire fighters, policeman and many volunteers. Nearly half of more than 1,000 rescue and recovery workers and volunteers who responded to the World Trade Center attacks are dealing new and persistent respiratory problems. Many have filed lawsuits against the leaseholder of the twin towers and those who supervised the cleanup. They believed that they did very little to protect the workers from the toxins given off when the towers collapsed. A toxin is a poisonous substance, especially a protein produced by living cells or organisms.

They are capable of causing disease when introduced to the body tissues and are very harmful to humans. Most catastrophes end in extreme misfortune and overthrow. These events also have many different effects on the environment. Most catastrophes deal with the ecological impact of altering the environment. Many harmful factors develop through catastrophes and usually create a violent or sudden change.