Major Hazards Final


Dominica Major Hazards

 

In Dominica, I would say the two main natural hazards that occur are floodings and earthquakes.

 

 In Dominica, flooding happens very often because of tropical storms that create large amounts of rainfall which ends up flooding the land. Another way the island floods is by hurricanes because Dominica is an island and gets hit very hard by some hurricanes which cause mass flooding, and the flooding destroys structures on the island. These hurricanes also cause lots of wildlife and native plants and trees to die which harms the environment.

Dominica Floods Demonstrate Need for Improved Early Warning System – FloodList 

Earthquakes also affect Dominica in a big way because Dominica sits close to the margin of the Caribbean plate. Dominica experiences an above-average frequency of earthquakes. Over the course of the past year, Dominica has had 18 earthquakes, and so has averaged more than one a month. While they occur with some frequency, they are not typically large-magnitude events. This year the largest earthquake in Dominica was a 5.1 magnitude. These earthquakes destroy large amounts of land causing buildings to crumble. These disasters cost lots of money to rebuild and that is why we need better-engineered structures on the island.

 Eastern Caribbean Earthquakes | The UWI Seismic Research Centre

To help fix the flooding problem I think we could find a couple ways to collect and recycle the rainwater as it is falling. I would also put in place more draining systems to get the water off the island. I would also try maintaining the landscaping so that when the bad weather does come through it won’t kill as many of the native plants and trees. Fixing the earthquake problem would be hard because it isn’t much you can do to stop an earthquake, but I think making the buildings all stronger so that when an earthquake does happen not all the buildings will be destroyed. Another thing that should be in place is multiple shelters all over the island that citizens can go to when an earthquake is going to happen to stay safe.

 

The areas that I would target first in Dominica are the shoreline houses and all the surrounding areas that border the ocean around the whole island. I would start with all of those houses and buildings and make sure they have the proper drainage and that the buildings could withstand an earthquake. Then I would slowly start making my way toward the middle of the island making sure that all the buildings and houses are safe and secure.

 

If I was going to construct a house in Dominica, I would place my house towards the inner part of the island because I wouldn’t have to worry as much about the hurricanes that come through and the major flooding on the shoreline. I would also have my house on a slightly elevated part of the land so that flooding isn’t too much of a problem. I would make sure that my house is made out of very strong material so that if an earthquake does happen my house would be able to make it through.

 

 

https://earthquaketrack.com/p/dominica/recent

 

https://floodlist.com/america/dominica-floods-3-dead-storm-erika

 

https://uwiseismic.com/island-profiles/dominica/

 

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