Faith Spraktes

Natural Disasters 1700

Daniel Hartsock
4-19-17
Natural Disasters Today - Term Project
Afghanistan Avalanches and Flooding

On January 27, 2017 in North Eastern Afghanistan twenty-seven children died from heavy snow

fall and freezing weather. This was only the beginning though. Within the first week of

February, twenty-two provinces were either effected or destroyed by many avalanches and

flooding. The two main provinces effected were Badakhshan and Nuristan, both were severely

hit by two large avalanches and then flash floods on the February 18. There were more floods on

February 23 in Chakhansur and Khashrod.

The devastation from these avalanches and floods was quite extensive. 20,000 hectares

were submerged by flood water. The series of Avalanches destroyed many homes and villages.

In Badakhshan and Nuristan 137 people were killed. The ending death toll was 194, with 90

injured. 6,752 families were effected from avalanches alone.

Avalanches are not uncommon in the mountainous region of Afghanistan in the winter.

With their steep terrain and heavy snow, there are avalanches yearly. With Afghanistan being the

poorest nation in the world, their rescue efforts are almost always hampered by their lack of

equipment, and on this occasion many were unable to be rescued due to continued snow fall.

The mountains in Afghanistan are incredibly steep and with the heavy snow, roads leading to

villages were cut off. Many people were left homeless and devastated by this natural disaster.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=72mmRTesLC8
Wildfires in Chile

In January of 2017 Santiago, the capital of Chile, was shrouded in haze. Hundreds of miles away

there are many large monoculture plantations and forests, many of which were on fire. Due to

poor preparation, climate change and record high temperatures, thousands of square miles were

devastated by forest fires, throwing the country into a state of emergency. Eleven people were

killed in the worst forest fire in the history of Chile.

The first fires were detected by satellite, then high winds carried embers up to five miles

away, spreading the fire even more. There were a total of 110 fires, with less than half under

control. The United States sent a Boeing 747 400 Super Tanker to help fight the fire.

International help also came from France, Brazil, Mexico and half a dozen more countries. Entire

communities were destroyed, 2,000 square miles devastated. Marcelo Andres Yaez Muoz, fire

brigade commander in San Nicolas stated All the firefighting work we did [on Saturday] was

ineffective because of the [hot and windy] conditions and the type of combustible material were

dealing with mainly forest plantations.

Some of the fires were started intentionally, many of those responsible have been arrested

and there is still investigation. But most were due to record high temperatures of a hot arid

summer and a practically decade long drought. Not only have these fires been the worst

environmentally, but economically as well. These forest fires have been catastrophic to Chile.
The green areas are Chiles forest cover, the red is major forest fires in just Northern Chile.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bgn5Qv2H6nw
 Reflection

There is a lot to learn from each of these natural disaster. Especially in Utah. Were

sometimes at both sides of this spectrum. We are likely to have an avalanche, and we have

before. We are also likely to have wild fires, and we have had those as well.

In Utah we have many areas with the potential for an avalanche. With our steep

mountainous terrain and heavy snow and rain, we get the potential for avalanches. Afghanistan

is the poorest nation, which makes a huge difference. The United States and Utah are more

prepared and have more ways to prevent, equipment and training.

Utah has an incredibly diverse environment. While we do have lots of snow in the

mountains, we do live in a desert and are in a drought. So wildfires are a possibility. Like Chile,

we are prepared and know how to handle things but hopefully fires in Utah would never get so

out of hand.
 Works Cited

"Afghanistan: Avalanches and Floods - Jan 2017." ReliefWeb. N.p., n.d. Web. 19 Apr. 2017.

Kabul, Agence France-Presse in. "Afghanistan Avalanches Death Toll Passes 135." The

Guardian. Guardian News and Media, 06 Feb. 2017. Web. 19 Apr. 2017.

Reuters. "Epic Wildfires Decimate Chiles Wine Country." New York Post. N.p., 26 Jan. 2017.

Web. 19 Apr. 2017.

Watts, Jonathan. "Chile's Forest Fires Partly Due to Poor Planning, Say Fire Chiefs." The

Guardian. Guardian News and Media, 29 Jan. 2017. Web. 19 Apr. 2017.