Preparing for the Unpredictable: Lessons from Hurricane Beryl and the Future of Community Disaster Planning

Abstract

Course name Instructor’s name Assignment due date Milestone 3 Preparation Discussion Topic The topic I chose for Milestone 3 on community preparedness Plan is Hurricane Beryl that falls under rain/storm events. The weather disaster occurred during the end of June and the beginning of July, 2024 and led to 73 fatalities in the Caribbean and the United States. Storms are changing as a result of climate change and it is important that communities prepare adequately for more intense and destructive hurricanes as observed with the disaster. Hurricane Beryl showed that weather disasters in the future could be more unpredictable and have devastating effects on coastal communities in the affected areas. Personal Motivation I was motivated by the destructive and unpredictable nature of the storm that created Hurricane Beryl. Starting on the west coast of Africa, the hurricane was the earliest category 5 event recorded in the past 100 years (Nabukulu et al., 2024). It shows that storms are changing as a result of global warming and are likely to occur earlier during the warm season and create more intense hurricanes. It was a devastating weather event that demonstrates how policy-makers should consider climate change in response and disaster management planning. Connection to Society The humanitarian and economic effects of Hurricane Beryl makes the topic important to society and community preparedness. It was a destructive weather event that killed at least 73 people, destroyed homes and buildings, and destroyed crops. Coastal communities are the most affected by storm disasters such as hurricanes where flooding caused a major humanitarian crisis (Nabukulu et al., 2024). More than a year after the hurricane, the communities are struggling to recover from the loss of food and income from agriculture. Problems to Address One of the issues I intend...