Question: Review and reflect on the Response Challenges to Natural and Man-Made Disasters Discussion Board. Based on your review and reflection of new learning in this course, write at least 350-400 words on the following:

Use the below peer answer to answer the following questions.

What have you learned from others'' responses?

What were the most compelling points from the interaction with your fellow students?

How did participating in this discussion help in your understanding of the Discussion Board task?

What approaches could have yielded additional valuable information in the students'' networking?

What is still unclear after the discussion with your classmates that needs to be clarified?

Peer Answer

" In the nation today there are many natural disasters that hit our nation and can be very devastating to our society. Floods, Tornados, Hurricane's, Snow storms and Ice storms can put many of our citizens out in the dark for a long period of time because of how quickly they can come and how easily they can stay. The Midwestern states suffer from Tornados, floods and snow storms and Ice Storms also Texas gets hit with Hurricanes when they make landfall in the states. The event that is the hardest for emergency managers to be prepared for is Tornados. The reason for this is because of how unpredictable they can be and how massive they can be still unsure when they do make landfall.

Tornado Alley is much of the Midwest states it starts in Texas and goes up to South Dakota it always drifts into Illinois and Indiana and parts of Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Iowa, Tennessee, Kentucky, Wisconsin and Minnesota (EnchantedLearning.com). The reason these states are included into Tornado Alley is because the conditions of the environment are favorable for a tornado to develop. Texas has been reported as the state that has the most tornados because of how massive the state is but it is said that Oklahoma has the most dangerous tornados because of how favorable the atmosphere is in the states. Tornados usually spawn in the spring and summer months because the atmosphere is warmer during these months. In the United States each year we have more than 1,000 tornados reported every year we have the highest number of tornado occurrences in the world (CNN). Many of the tornados that touchdown is EF0-3 only a few make it above EF3 and when they do they can wipe out a whole city within a matter of minutes. The strength of a EF5 can tear a home right off of its solid foundation that has been poured to keep the house in one place (CNN). Because of how unpredictable tornados are it can be every hard for emergency managers to track them and understand how to help those in the damage path.

We have many oil rigs off in the gulf coast and the primary reason for these rigs is they drill for oil and help send it to an oil refinery so that it can be broken down into gas and motor oil to help keep our cars going. These Oil rigs are considered man made because we built them to do this so if an oil rig blows then we have an oil spill in our ocean which can kill many fish in our eco system. One of the most devastating oil spills in our recent history is the Oil spill cause by BP in the Gulf of Mexico in April 20,2010. It was said that the oil and gas leaked across 42 miles off the coast of Louisiana and by the time it was capped July 15 2010 there had been as estimated 3.19 million barrels of oil that leaded into the Gulf (The Ocean Portal Team). This oil spill was devastating to the Gulf Coast states because it killed much of what they sell which in return killed businesses along the Gulf Coast. BP was told by a federal judge that they had to pay the companies affected by the spill a settlement because of how they neglected the oil rig regulation which was the cause of the oil spill in the first place. Since the oil spill many of the companies that were affected have been able to make back the money they lost due to BP's neglect.

Any disaster whether its man-made or natural are always difficult to deal with and until your put into the position to deal with them you cannot come up with a plan of action. As long as we can make mock disasters or continue to study past disasters we can come up with a plan to help combat the situation not matter what comes at them. They will still need to think on the spot because not every problem happened right away but with a proper plan in action we can prevent as much devastation as possible."