Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Effect of Hurricane Mitch'

In October of 1998 the category 5 storm, Hurricane Mitch, struck Nicaragua, leaving in its wake mass destruction and devastation. Numerous aid agencies and social organisations poured funds into the country to assist in emergency disaster relief efforts, and to rebuild the lives of those who lost their homes and livelihoods (damnificados). El Mirador in the city of Matagalpa is one example of the many communities built with aid monies after Hurricane Mitch. This thesis uses qualitative data constructed from in-depth interviews with participants (community members in El Mirador) to understand the level of successful community development that has been achieved, the ability for longer term sustainability as a result of community development strategies, and the areas in which community development has failed. Through an examination of the relationship the community has with the NGO the Communal Movement, the question of long term sustainability becomes important. The most telling indicator (that development practice is unsustainable) is the unproductive coping mechanisms of community members as aid and social organisations withdraw leaving members with ineffective social networks and at times uncooperative behaviour. Added into this is the arrival of new members into the community, and squatters, who have only added to the feelings of segregation already apparent, as a 'them and us' mentality develops. This study provides a detailed case specific analysis of community development through disaster relief efforts. It highlights some of the consistent, broad inefficiencies as well as more location and situation specific difficulties of community development. Moreover, it adds to the growing body of literature researching how disaster relief can become more effective and sustainable in the longer term.

Long term monitoring of coral reefs on the northwest coast of Roatán, Honduras, has documented significant changes in coral cover over a seven-year period. Twenty photographic quadrats were permanently installed at approximately 12 m depth at each of three study sites located on the northwest coast of Roatán. Photographs were taken at six or twelve month intervals from 1996 through 2003. This observation period included a massive bleaching event which began in late-September of 1998, and Hurricane Mitch which struck in October of the same year. A measurement of projected surface area (PSA, cm2) was used to estimate total coral coverage. Changes in colony number, percent cover, species diversity and recruitment of all scleractinian corals were monitored within the quadrats. During the seven-year period, living coral cover decreased significantly from 30-34% to 17-20%. This represents net losses ranging between 32% and 50%. The greatest loss occurred in the year following the bleaching event and Hurricane Mitch and was largely due to the decline of the dominant reef building species Montastrea annularis, M. faveolata, and M. franksi. These three species accounted for 56% of total hard coral cover in 1996 and only 32% at the conclusion of the observation period. A sharp reduction in the total number of living colonies in the quadrats was observed with 217 of the 532 original colonies (41%) suffering complete mortality. While 117 coral recruits were identified during this period, recruitment mortality was high (40%) with only two cases of the massive frame building Montastrea species recruiting into the photostations. A combination of at least three factors have contributed to changes in the benthic community observed during this investigation: (1) the massive coral bleaching event in the fall of 1998 which disproportionately affected Montastrea spp.; (2) a category 5 hurricane; and (3) increased anthropogenic stress in the form of sedimentation and nutrient enrichment as the result of new and unregulated development.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences, 1994.
Includes bibliographical references (p. 119-125).
by Lars Reinhard Schade.
Ph.D.

This research focuses upon cases wherein post]disaster housing assistance was affected by tenure insecurity. In the case of post]Katrina New Orleans, the Road Home, which provided monies for rebuilding, faced difficulties in allocating its aid because of heirship titles, a form of tenure insecurity to which the United States has often been misconceived as immune. In the case of post]Hurricane Mitch in Tegucigalpa, a post]disaster housing relocation program struggled to find lands in an urban land market with pervasive insecurity

Rising Food Prices and Undernourishment: A Cross-Country Inquiry Il welfare delle famiglie nei paesi in via di sviluppo e stato colpito nel periodo 2005-2008 dal drammatico incremento nei prezzi dei beni alimentari. Nel presente lavoro, si adotta un approccio di equilibrio parziale, al ne di analizzare l'eetto a breve termine della crescita dei prezzi dei beni alimentari basilari sul livello di nutrizione, considerato quale indicatore del welfare. L'analisi consiste nella costruzione dei sistemi completi di domanda di beni alimentari, per poi eettuare micro-simulazioni a livello delle famiglie. Invece di limitare l'attenzione su un singolo paese, si fornisce una panoramica piu completa mediante una analisi cross-country resa possibile dall'utilizzo di indagini sulle famiglie rappresentative delle rispettive nazioni. La confrontabilita dei dati tra paesi e garantita dall'adozione delle medesime scelte metodologiche nel trattamento dei micro dati. L'analisi evidenzia come l'incremento del prezzo dei beni alimentari non solo induca una riduzione nel consumo medio di energia alimentare, ma inoltre, peggiori anche la distribuzione delle calorie, compromettendo ulteriormente le condizioni nutrizionali delle popolazioni. Emerge, inne, come l'accesso a terreni agricoli svolga un ruolo cruciale nell'assicurare un'adeguata alimentazione nelle aree rurali come pure, sorprendentemente, in quelle urbane. Estimating the Heterogeneous Eects of Aggregate Shocks on Caloric Adequacy: The Case of Hurricane Mitch in Nicaragua Gli esistenti studi di valutazione dell'impatto dell'uragano Mitch si sono n'ora focalizzati sugli eetti di breve e medio termine riscontrati su diversi aspetti sociali [la crescita del consumo delle famiglie (Premand, 2008), il benessere dei bambini (Baez & Santos, 2007), budget e scolarizzazione (Ureta, 2005)] attraverso l'analisi dei dati panel LSMS sulle famiglie nicaraguesi degli anni 1998, 1999 e 2001. Nel presente lavoro si analizzano gli eetti di piu lungo periodo, aggiungendo i dati relativi all'indagine del 2005 ai dati precedenti. Attraverso il metodo dierence-in-dierence, si sono indagati a distanza di 7 anni la persistenza degli eetti generati dall'uragano e della conseguente risposta umanitaria . Inoltre, andando oltre la semplice analisi dell'impatto medio, si e posta l'attenzione sull'eterogeneita degli eetti sulle famiglie. A tal ne, la stima dei Quantile Treatment Eects (QTE) e stata implementata sulla distribuzione della variabile d'interesse. Un ulteriore contributo apportato dal presente lavoro di ricerca e fornito dall'analisi dell'impatto dell'uragano su variabili intra-famigliari, avendo a disposizione solo variabili a livello di famiglia. La metodologia introdotta da Chesher (1997) viene qui estesa ad un set-up di valutazione dell'impatto, con l'obiettivo di stimare risultati specici per eta e sesso. L'obiettivo di tale approccio e anche 5 quello di far chiarezza sull'ecacia degli aiuti umanitari sul recupero del livello di benessere in essere prima dell'uragano. L'oggetto di interesse di questo capitolo e la nutrizione. Infatti, lo studio si pone l'obiettivo di stimare in modo dettagliato l'impatto avuto dall'uragano Mitch sull'adeguatezza del consumo calorico delle famiglie, intesa come rapporto tra il consumo di energia alimentare (chilocalorie) e il relativo fabbisogno minimo umano. La FAO e il principale produttore di studi ed analisi nazionali in materia di fame e sottonutrizione, riuscendo a coprire l'intero pianeta. La metodologia adottata ha il principale vantaggio di facilitare il confronto spazio-temporale tra paesi, ma ha anche la limitata capacita di identicare le cause dell'insicurezza alimentare all'interno dei paesi (FAO 2003, Barret 2010). La tendenza al rialzo dei prezzi, che ha caratterizzato numerosi beni di prima necessita tra il 2005 ed il 2008, ci ha spinto ad ampliare i principi della metodologia FAO, al ne di misurare l'impatto della crescita dei prezzi dei beni alimentari sulla sicurezza alimentare delle famiglie. L'obiettivo del presente capitolo e quello di fornire una descrizione dettagliata della metodologia applicata nei capitoli precedenti nella misurazione della sottonutrizione e, piu nello specico, dell'insucienza del consumo energetico, utilizzando le indagini sulle famiglie. Inoltre, il presente capitolo fornisce alcune linee guida utili per la misurazione della soglia del fabbisogno calorico specico per ogni famiglia, che sostituisca l'utilizzo di una soglia unica (generalmente, 2100 chilocalorie giornaliere per individuo). Lo sviluppo di un buon indicatore specico per famiglia sara estremamente utile anche nella conduzione di studi scientici solidi sulla valutazione dell'impatto dei programmi e delle politiche in materia di sicurezza alimentare nelle diverse aree del mondo.
Rising Food Prices and Undernourishment: A Cross-Country Inquiry Households' welfare in developing countries has been hit by dramatic food prices increases which occurred between 2005 and 2008. In this paper, we adopt a partial equilibrium approach to analyze the short-time eects of a staple food price increase on nutritional attainments, as a measure of welfare. The analysis consists of rst approximating complete food-demand systems and then performing household level micro-simulations. Instead of focusing on a single country prole, we provide a more complete snapshot through a cross-country assessment made possible by the use of nationally representative household surveys. Comparability is assured by the adoption of the same methodological choices in the treatment of the micro data. We nd that food price increase not only reduces the mean consumption of dietary energy, but also worsen the distribution of food calories, further deteriorating the nutritional status of populations. We also discovered that access to agricultural land plays a big role in assuring adequate nutritional attainments in rural areas, and surprisingly, even in urban areas. Keywords: Food prices, food policy, calories intake, demand system, household surveys, cross-country analysis Estimating the Heterogeneous Eects of Aggregate Shocks on Caloric Adequacy: The Case of Hurricane Mitch in Nicaragua Previous evaluation studies on the impact of the hurricane Mitch were focused on the short and medium-term average eects on dierent welfare outcomes [household consumption growth (Premand, 2008), child's wellbeing (Baez and Santos, 2007), household budget and schooling (Ureta, 2005)] using 1998, 1999 and 2001 LSMS panel data on Nicaraguan households. In this study, longer term eects are analyzed by adding the 2005 survey to the well-known dataset. We investigate through the dierence-in-dierence methodology if the eects of the hurricane and of the humanitarian response persist on average 7 years after. Additionally, we go beyond the standard average impact by focusing on the heterogeneity of the impact across households. For this purpose, the quantile treatment eect (QTE) estimation is implemented over the outcome distribution. Another contribution of this research is the analysis of the hurricane's impact on intra-household outcomes when only household-level data are available. The methodology introduced by Chesher (1997) is extended to the impact evaluation set-up in order to estimate age-gender specic outcomes. The scope of this methodology is also to shed some light on the short- and longer-term eectiveness of humanitarian response on the welfare levels. This chapter also focuses on nutritional attainment as the outcome of interest. In fact, the study aims to estimate in a comprehensive manner the impact of the hurricane Mitch on household caloric adequacy, which is dened as the ratio between the dietary energy consumption (caloric intake) and the minimum human requirements. Measuring Dietary Energy Deciency at the Household Level: A Methodological Note on the Micro-Analysis of Undernourishment FAO is the main provider of country-level estimates of undernourishment covering the whole world. Its methodology has the main advantage of facilitating comparisons across countries and over time, but also has a limited capacity to understand the causes of food insecurity within countries (FAO, 2003; Barret, 2010). The upward trends in global food prices, concerning many staple commodities between 2005 and 2008, stimulated us to extend the principles of the FAO methodology in order to assess the impact of rising food prices on household-level food security. The objective of this methodological chapter is to provide a detailed description of the methodology applied in the previous chapters for measuring undernourishment, and more specically dietary energy deciency at the household level. Additionally, this chapter provides some guidelines to construct household specic dietary energy requirements, instead of using a single threshold (generally, 2100 kilocalories per person per day) for all households. Constructing a good household-level indicator will also be useful to conduct scientically solid impact evaluations on food security programmes and policies in dierent areas of the world.

Over the past 40 years, coral cover has reduced by as much as 80%. At the same time, Coral Reefs are coming under increasing threat from hurricanes, as climate change is expected to increase the intensity of hurricanes. Therefore, it has become increasingly important to understand the effect of hurricanes on a coral population. This Thesis focuses on the reef-building coral Montastraea annularis. This species once dominated Caribbean Coral Reefs, but is fast being replaced by faster growing more opportunistic species. It is important that the underlying dynamics of the decline is understood, if managers stand any chance of reversing this decline. The aim of this Thesis is to investigate the effect of hurricane activity on the dynamics of the reef-building coral Montastraea annularis. To achieve this the Integral Projection Model (IPM) method was adopted and the results compared to those produced using the more traditional method of Population Projection Matrix (PPM) method. The models were fitted using census data from June 1998 to January 2003, which described the area of individual coral patches on a sample of ramets on Glovers Reef, Belize. Glovers Reef is a marine reserve that lies 30km off the coast of Belize and 15km east of the main barrier reef. Three hurricanes struck Glovers Reef during the study: Hurricane Mitch (October 1998), Hurricane Keith (September 2000) and Hurricane Iris (October 2001). The data have been divided by two different methods in order to test two research questions, firstly if the initial trauma following a hurricane affects the long term dynamics of a population and, secondly, if the dynamics exhibited during a hurricane varied with hurricane strength. In this Thesis five main results are shown: 1. All models for all divisions of data are in long term decline. 2. As initial trauma increased, the long term growth rates decreased, conversely the short term extremes increased. 3. Fragmentation is more likely as patch size increased and more likely under stronger hurricanes. 4. Integral Projection Modelling painted a similar picture to Population Projection Matrix models and should be a preferred method of analysis.5. Interaction of the IPMs can be used to model the changing occurrence of hurricanes under climate change. It is shown that with increased intensity, the population could become extinct 6.3 years sooner. This research is the first step in modelling coral patch populations by the IPM method. It suggests possible functional forms and compares the results with the PPM method. Further research is required into the biological functions which drive fragmentation, the method by which large patches divide into groups of smaller patches. The conclusions from this Thesis add to the growing body of knowledge concerning the response of coral species to hurricanes, focusing on the importance of understanding patch dynamics, in order to understand colonial dynamics.

In 2006, Steven Oakley, an eighteen-year-old high school senior from Pennsylvania, is bribed by his father to go on a volunteer trip to hurricane-ravaged New Orleans, Louisiana. During his time, he meets a broken family whose experiences change Steven’s perspective on his own privileged life.

This study uses topographic profiles, washover fan volumes, and shoreline retreat rates to explore relationships between barrier types and Hurricane Harvey storm washover sedimentation. Pre- and post-Hurricane Harvey topographic profiles were created on 15 transects using Bare Earth LiDAR (2016) and surveyed elevations (2019). Depth and area of washover fan measurements were collected to estimate washover fan volumes. An inverse relationship was found between washover fan volume and pre- and post-storm barrier heights. Based on the topographic profiles, one section of shoreline had a scarp up to 3m high which blocked overwash, but appears to have increased shoreline erosion. In contrast, a low-lying section of shoreline generated relatively large washover fans, but experienced less shoreline retreat. Shoreline retreat was further quantified between 2014 and 2019 using Google Earth Imagery from 2014, 2016, 2017, and 2019 to track migration of the shoreline. The entire shoreline in the study area is undergoing relatively rapid retreat, but the results suggest that Hurricane Harvey increased erosional rates. The Colorado River Jetty borders the study area and may have acted as an anthropogenic barrier, likely reducing storm surge energy and contributing to marsh aggradation on transects in its close proximity. The study findings indicate that the identification and incorporation of other variables that influence washover magnitude would further the understanding of this complex natural system. The research results provide valuable information on the interaction of hurricane storm surge with natural and anthropogenic barriers, beach and dune erosion, and marsh aggradation along the coast of Texas.

The first line of defense for the threat of an oncoming hurricane are meteorologists. From their guidance, warnings are drafted and evacuation plans are made ready. This study explores uncertainty that operational meteorologists encounter with hurricane prediction, and more importantly, how meteorologists translate the uncertainty for the public. The study is based on a web survey of individual meteorologists, in cooperation with the National Weather Association (NWA). The survey received 254 responses with an estimated 18% response rate. Specifically, the study focuses on three key areas: displaying uncertainty in hurricane track forecasts, perceived relationships between the public and the media and message characteristics on various platforms (e.g., television, web, and social media), and reliance on numerical weather prediction in the forecasting process. Results show that tracking graphics are varied between their use and usefulness and meteorologists think that they have a bigger role in information dissemination than previously thought.
National Science Foundation (NSF) Grant CMMI1520338

Florida's Department of Transportation requires design storm tide hydrographs for coastal waters surrounding tidal inlets along the coast of Florida. These hydrographs are used as open ocean boundary conditions for local bridge scour models. At present, very little information is available on the effect that tidal inlets have on these open coast storm tide hydrographs. Furthermore, current modeling practice enforces a single design hydrograph along the open coast boundary for bridge scour models. This thesis expands on these concepts and provides a more fundamental understanding on both of these modeling areas. A numerical parameter study is undertaken to elucidate the influence of tidal inlets on open coast storm tide hydrographs. Four different inlet-bay configurations are developed based on a statistical analysis of existing tidal inlets along the Florida coast. The length and depth of the inlet are held constant in each configuration, but the widths are modified to include the following four inlet profiles: 1) average Florida inlet width; 2) 100 meter inlet width; 3) 500 meter inlet width; and 4) 1000 meter inlet width. In addition, two unique continental shelf profiles are used to design the ocean bathymetry in the model domains: a bathymetry profile consistent with the west/northeast coast of Florida (wide continental shelf width), and a bathymetry profile similar to the southeast coast of Florida (narrow continental shelf width). The four inlet-bay configurations are paired with each of the bathymetry profiles to arrive at eight model domains employed in this study. Results from these domains are compared to control cases that do not include any inlet-bay system in the computational domain. The ADCIRC-2DDI numerical code is used to obtain water surface elevations for all studies performed herein. The code is driven by astronomic tides at the open ocean boundary, and wind velocities and atmospheric pressure profiles over the surface of the computational domains. Model results clearly indicate that the four inlet-bay configurations do not have a significant impact on the open coast storm tide hydrographs. Furthermore, a spatial variance amongst the storm tide hydrographs is recognized for open coast boundary locations extending seaward from the mouth of the inlet. The results and conclusions presented herein have implications toward future bridge scour modeling efforts. In addition, a hindcast study of Hurricane Ivan in the vicinity of Escambia Bay along the Panhandle of Florida is performed to assess the findings of the numerical parameter study in a real-life scenario. Initially, emphasis is placed on domain scale by comparing model results with historical data for three computational domains: an ocean-based domain, a shelf-based domain, and an inlet-based domain. Results indicate that the ocean-based domain favorably simulates storm surge levels within the bay compared to the other model domains. Furthermore, the main conclusions from the numerical parameter study are verified in the hindcast study: 1) the Pensacola Pass-Escambia Bay system has a minimal effect on the open coast storm tide hydrographs; and 2) the open coast storm tide hydrographs exhibit spatial dependence along typical open coast boundary locations.
M.S.
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering
Engineering and Computer Science
Civil Engineering

This exegesis examines the landscape of heaven depicted in the contemporary novel, The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold. I examine the various characteristics of the heaven (or 'afterlife') depicted in Sebold's novel, with the aim of ascertaining the narrative effects of using this device. Using Ingrid Daemmrich's analysis of the paradisiacal motif in literature as a framework (Daemmrich, I 1997, Studies on Themes and Motifs in Literature: Enigmatic Bliss, The Paradise Motif in Literature, Peter Lang, New York), I reveal characteristics in The Lovely Bones that are both consistent with and challenge traditional literary representations of heaven and which therefore demonstrate that the text utilises the established literary motif of heaven for symbolism and meaning, but in a contemporary context. I explore the growing trend of contemporary literary heavens by reviewing two other literary heavens that are relevant to this scholarship. I examine where as writers and readers, we ascertain our concept of heaven (in society's religious foundations and from prior literature), and for the relevance of the key text, I briefly discuss the author's likely cultural influences. Having established the novel's lack of alignment with a religious version of heaven, I then examine the nature of and the narrative effect of, the personalised heaven depicted in the novel, The Lovely Bones. In doing so, I explore one of the new portraits of heaven in literature, an example which represents a growing trend away from portraying a classic edenic heaven shared by all humanity (and traditional to literary representations of heaven), toward a contemporary, personalised heaven that seeks to meet the wants and desires of the individual in our modern society. With reference to literature's ability to reflect back to us, our society's beliefs and values, I examine what this new portrait of heaven reveals about society. Access to the project examined in conjunction with this exegesis has been restricted due to copyright.

Coastal forest retreat in the Florida Keys during the 20th century has been attributed to a combination of sea level rise and hurricane storm surge impacts, but the interactions between these two disturbances leading to forest decline are not well understood. The goal of my research was to assess their effects over a period spanning more than two decades, and to examine the relationships between these press and pulse disturbances and freshwater availability in pine rockland, hardwood hammock, and supratidal scrub communities. Impacts and recovery from two storm surges, Hurricanes Georges (1998) and Wilma (2005), were assessed with satellite-derived vegetation indices and multiple change detection techniques. Impacts were greater at lower elevations, and in hardwood hammock, spectral signatures indicative of plant stress and productivity returned to pre-disturbance levels within a few years. In pine rockland, impacts were predominately related to Hurricane Wilma, however, a similar return to pre-disturbance conditions was absent, suggesting that trajectories of disturbance recovery differed between the two communities. Long-term monitoring of forest composition, structure, and groundwater salinity showed that compositional shifts in the low shrub stratum were associated with salinization of the freshwater resource attributable to sea level rise. Throughout the course of twelve months of climate and groundwater monitoring (2011-2012), groundwater salinity generally decreased in response to large precipitation events. Modeling of geophysical data indicated that groundwater salinity was an important predictor of community type. Isotopic analysis of d18O in plant stem water and foliar d13C was used to determine temporal and spatial patterns in water use and plant stress in two community dominants, slash pine, Pinus elliottii var. densa, and buttonwood, Conocarpus erectus. Both species relied heavily on groundwater, and plant stress was related to increasing groundwater salinity. The results of this work suggest that the interaction of press and pulse disturbances drive changes in community composition by causing mortality of salt-sensitive species and altering the freshwater resource.

Thesis (M.S.)--Florida State University, 2007.
Advisor: T. N. Krishnamurti, Florida State University, College of Arts and Sciences, Dept. of Meteorology. Title and description from dissertation home page (viewed March 25, 2007). Document formatted into pages; contains xiii, 68 pages. Includes bibliographical references.

The scarcity of data poses a challenging obstacle for the study of natural disasters, especially in developing countries where the social vulnerability plays as important a role as the physical vulnerability.  The work presented in this thesis is oriented towards the demonstration of the usefulness of press archives as a data source for the temporal and spatial analysis of landslides in Tegucigalpa, Honduras for the period between 1980 and 2005.  In the last four decades, Tegucigalpa has been characterized by a disorganized urban growth that has significantly contributed to the destabilization of the city’s slopes.  In the first part of the thesis, a description of the database compilation procedure is provided.  The limitations of using data derived from press archives have also been addressed to indicate how these affect the subsequent landslide analyses.  In the second part, the temporal richness offered by press archives has allowed the establishment of rainfall thresholds for landslide occurrence.  Through the use of the critical rainfall intensity method, the analysis of rainfall thresholds for 7, 15, 30 and 60 antecedent days shows that the number of yielded false alarms increases with the threshold duration.  A new method based on the rainfall frequency contour lines was proposed to improve the distinction between days with and without landslides.  This method also offers the possibility to identify the landslides that may only occur with a major contribution of anthropogenic disturbances as well as those landslides induced by high-magnitude rainfall events.  In the third part, the matrix method has been employed to construct two landslide susceptibility maps: one based on the multi-temporal press-based landslide inventory and a second one based on the landslide inventory derived from an aerial photograph interpretation carried out in 2014.  Despite the low spatial accuracy provided by the press archives in locating the landslides, both maps exhibit 69% of consistency in the susceptibility classes and a good agreement in the areas with the highest propensity to landslides.  Finally, the integration of these studies with major actions required to improve the process of landslide data collection is proposed to prepare Tegucigalpa for future landslides.