Importance of Geographic Information Systems (GIS) in hazard Essay

Importance of Geographic Information Systems (GIS) in hazard mitigation and preparedness planning - Essay Example They need help to successfully accomplish their mission. â€Å"To develop a better emergency management effort at the level of county emergency management agencies, these agencies must be equipped with tools that help them to overcome their resource shortfalls† (Drabek, 1990). These tools must allow them to not only reach information about the geographical, geophysical, and socioeconomic characteristics of their county, but also to determine, visualize, and analyze the possible extent of disasters. â€Å"Efficient management of potential risks can only be accomplished if the emergency managers are aware of the extent of the possible effects of disasters. Such tools can be developed to act as a decision support system for emergency management agencies, through the use of a geographic information system (GIS)† (Fulcher, 1995). Disaster management consists of various cyclical phases: mitigation, preparedness, response, and recovery. Because each phase is geographically related to where people, places, and things are spatially located, GIS can be a valuable tool for analysis purposes throughout each cycle. The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) classifies overall emergency management into four categories: mitigation, preparedness, response, and recovery. â€Å"Mitigation can be described as the efforts that reduce the degree of long-term risk to human life and property from natural and man-made hazards† (Ciglar, 1988). Preparedness is the activities that develop operational capabilities for responding to an emergency. Response covers the efforts taken immediately before, during, or directly after an emergency that save lives, minimize property damage, or improve recovery. Recovery includes the activities that restore vital life-support systems to minimum operating standards and long-term activities that return life to normal. Each of the 50 states has its

The pity of war Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

The pity of war - Essay Example Owen’s poem reveals the sheer ridiculousness of arrogant militarism. While Gibson’s The Conscript is about the healers, the doctors who become so desensitized by war that they are not affected by even the most horrible sights that they come across. These poems make an excellent case against war; they remind us that war is a waste of precious lives and that it strips us of our humanity. Sassoon wrote The General after one of his close friends died. It is a very personal poem for him, and it questions the validity of the war. Many soldiers died in World War I due to the incompetence of those in charge and Sassoon wrote this poem decrying this very incompetence. The careless almost inhumane attitude of the general is seen as he is greeting his way through the line of his soldiers in a chirpy manner while most of them have died. His chirpy exuberance is misplaced when one considers the deaths of those under his command. The general, who most likely was safe in the back lines while his men followed his orders, does not even notice that there are many men missing – men who have died following his careless and irresponsible commands. As the men â€Å"slogged up to Arras† the city where the frontline was located throughout much of WWI, they end up blaming â€Å"his staff for incompetent swine† than place the responsibility on the General. Many a time, soldiers have to pay the price for the incompetence of their commandants, be they generals or not, and yet those in command are completely unaffected by the loss of life. In The Parable of the Old Man and the Young, Owen retells the Old Testament story of Abraham’s sacrifice, about how he, in obedience to a direct command from god, was willing to take the life of his only son, Isaac. He uses the characters but changes the ending. He uses Isaac as an analogy for the soldiers who are sacrificed, and Abraham as the old