Natural Disasters

Paper Summary:

This paper describes several historical disasters in U.S. history and looks at what could have been done to protect the public from the harm done by these disasters. The paper points out that, while there is nothing that can be done to stop the environmental forces that cause such disasters, there are definitely measures humans can take to avoid them or, at the very least, protect themselves.

From the Paper:

"The dam had originally been built some decades later to support a canal that provided transportation between Philadelphia and Pittsburgh. The dam that caused the Johnstown flood suffered numerous leaks and at one partial collapse (in 1862) prior to its total failure in 1889. It was repaired and rebuilt several times. The dam was eventually abandoned as rail traffic supplanted the canal. Then in 1879, Benjamin Ruff realized that the dam could create an artificial lake around which a resort could be built. The first time the dam was rebuilt it was done so with shoddy materials and workmanship. Important parts had been removed and sold for scrap, so an important safety valve for releasing excess water was no longer present. The dam could not be satisfactorily repaired when it developed leaks. In addition a bridge was built in the spillway area, with metal screens to keep the fish stock from escaping, which added significant extra stresses."

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