Prince George's County Community Hazards Research Paper

Prince George's County Community Hazards - Research Paper Example The county has been affected by a number of hazards which has resulted of loss of property and even lives. Some of these hazards are related to weather which have caused injuries and deaths to the people. Moreover, it is evident that the public are not informed about certain hazards and how to manage the same in the places in which they live in. According to report released by FEMA higher percentage of people are likely to build in floodplains areas due to the fact that they are not aware of the risks associated with the same (Association of State Floodplain Managers, 2008). Therefore, it is important to inform the public about the risks associated with building in floodplain areas. However, it is has been noted that in some cases the public are not aware that they are residing in floodplain areas and they only become aware of the same after purchasing property in flood areas and suffer the effects of the floods (Federal Emergency Management Agency, 2005). In Prince George’s C ounty the risk level of the existing hazards are described as medium high. These hazards include drought, severe storm, streambank erosion and winter storm. However, the river of risks is high when it comes to coastal floods and the Riverine flood hazards. Based on this the damages caused by the aforementioned risks are calculated using damages caused to the buildings, in addition to the value of replacing the buildings and also the age of the building. However, studies have indicated that damages which are as a result of wildland fire or drought are caused by the way human population utilize land. It has been pointed out that drought as a hazard within the county impacts negatively on the planning of the place and more specifically the agricultural sector. Nevertheless, the less it is hard to mitigate the damages that are caused to crops (Federal Emergency Management Agency, 2005). Hazards such as wildland fires influence areas with grass fields, brush, crops and even tress. Apart from resulting into loss f crops the same results into economic loss not only at the personal level but also the county. Additionally, when forests are burnt the planning area of the county is interfered with and human population is likely to encroach in the land. Streambank erosion as a hazard affecting the county on an annual basis is as a result of constant and increased river discharge. This makes the hydrology of the county to change. Presently, the officials of the county have indicated that streambank erosion causes a variety of problems ranging from minor to major ones. The hazard has resulted into infrastructures an aspect that has resulted into human population encroaching land that is publicly owned. Additionally, the winter storm which is another hazard that occurs in the area on an annual basis is mostly characterized by three aspects. These are high amount of moisture, lift and cold air which not only results into precipitation but also formation of cloud. In most caus es the winter storms that affect the Maryland negatively are as a result of jet streams which are in the middle attitudes cross and move to the continental United States (Prince George's County Department of Environmental Resources, 2011). Additionally, the degree of the storm varies in addition to the impacts caused by the same. For instance within the county cases of property