McLawhorn 1

Alan McLawhorn
Connie S. Douglas
UWRT-1101
23 October 2016
Affected by the Hurricane
Hurricanes in the USA are common and are destructive, unstoppable parts of nature.
Families affected by the hurricane go through so much just to survive, and even if they do live
through it, a lot of these families lose their homes. When hurricanes do happen, many families
lose power for days, and some families do not prepare until it is too late. After the initial impact
of hurricanes, desperate people go to the grocery stores to help feed and care for their families.
One of the towns affected by Hurricane Matthew is Kinston, NC. Kinston is a town located in
Eastern North Carolina. Downtown Kinston is flooded, so families must restock on food and
various supplies. As mentioned before, these affected families go to grocery stores. The
observer goes to Piggly Wiggly to find out what families affected by the hurricane buy in their
time of need.
The observer arrives at Piggly Wiggly in the afternoon in Kinston the day after Hurricane
Matthew leaves. First thing he notices that since it is one of the only stores open, it is extremely
busy. As he walks in, he notices that many of the people there were along their families, and not
by themselves. These families mostly consisted of parents and their kids. A lot of these families
seemed desperate, and with good reasons. However, some of these families were laughing, and
joking around. Most likely, these people wanted to ease their minds of the suffering many
families endured. The observer saw that the lines were extremely long and all ten checkout lines
were open with cashiers. While he was observing, he noticed he was around familiar faces, that

McLawhorn 2

some of them were former classmates. Many of the people suffering were people he knew,
families who were friends to his. These people were not buying frozen foods, and this led him to
believe these people had no electricity in their homes. Instead, these people were buying nonperishable foods like canned goods, snacks, dried fruit, and water. They were also buying
granola bars, cereal bars, applesauce, pudding, and fruit cups. Usually, people would buy a
whole range of things, like frozen foods, but because the hurricane hit Kinston, these people had
to switch up their shopping habits and buy things that were necessary for their survival. While
most people do not die from starving during a hurricane, it is still a possibility, and it is human
instinct to survive. These people knew what to buy, but others seemed indifferent about what
products to get. Even though it was packed, the observer saw that it was civil. No one was
being pushed around. The shelfs were restocked with food. To reiterate, the families at this
certain Piggly Wiggly were shopping for food for their families, since the Hurricane affected
their lives, and messed up their homes.
The observer then decided to interview Aaron Griffin, one of the many people in Kinston
affected by Hurricane Matthew. Aaron was asked twenty-four questions, and from his answers
you could tell how distraught he was. The hurricane had affected him and his family. Aaron
decided to go to Piggly Wiggly to shop for non-perishable items for his family, but to also access
the damages of his community. Aaron, however, was one of the lucky ones. Many other people
houses were flooded, and without power for days. Most of Downtown Kinston is flooded, and
Aaron was depressed to see his people suffering. In the end, he knows there is not much for him
to do but warn others to prepare for the next disaster.
The fundamental risk management principle of the WDR 2014 is based on the process
of confronting risks, preparing for them, and coping with their effects (Hallegatte). Significant

McLawhorn 3

progress in risk analysis has been made in recent decades, thanks to new tools such as remote
sensing and satellite imagery, better weather forecasting systems allowing for more reliable
warning, new epidemiological knowledge to better target public health interventions, and more
experience about how to deal with violence or macroeconomic crises (Hallegatte). Preparation
of these risks come in three ways: acquiring knowledge, building protection, and obtaining
insurance (Hallegatte). In this report, it states that the benefits outweigh the negatives, which is
good for those affected by natural disasters. Many risk management protocols are taken, but for
society it is very challenging to implement these protocols. The specific reasons for this vary
from case to case, but are always related to the obstacles and constraints facing individuals and
societies: for instance, the lack of resources and information, cognitive and behavioral failures,
missing markets and public goods, and social and economic externalities (Hallegatte). This
report argues that the obstacles must be addressed with the help of public and private action. In
the report, it mentions that to beat these obstacles individuals need to adopt a holistic approach to
risk management.
To reiterate, the obstacles to risk management are people may lack information and
resources, and people struggle to translate knowledge into action. However, there are many
solutions to overcoming these obstacles. Keeping it simple and focusing on win-win situations is
one way (Hallegatte). You can also focus on the Institution Design (Hallegatte). Lastly,
choosing flexible solutions and building in learning can definitely help overcome obstacles to
risk management.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) is an agency to help with
disasters. FEMA helps with hurricanes by collaborating with communities by handing out flood
plans, to further the peoples understanding of where it will flood. One of FEMA's roles is to

McLawhorn 4

oversee the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) mandated by the National Flood Insurance
Act of 1968 (Linder). Under its Flood Hazard Mapping Program, FEMA identifies, publishes,
and updates information on flood-prone areas and has published and updated flood maps for
more than 19,000 communities (Linder). FEMA identifies and publishes information to help the
community.
One objective of the Map Modernization Program is to increase local involvement and
ownership in the flood mapping process. To achieve this goal, FEMA developed the CTP
program (Linder). The CTP program allows communities, regional agencies, and state
agencies to pair in the effort by performing a part of the overall mapping effort (Linder). To
become a CTP, the governing body of the community executes a partnership agreement that
emphasizes the NFIP's three general components: insurance, floodplain management, and
mapping (Linder). FEMA with help from their CTP program can help many communities and
societies with flood plans. FEMA does nothing but care for people affected by natural disasters
and this is why they are one of the most trusted relief agencies.
By looking back at other hurricanes, like Hurricane Katrina and Rita, you realize that it
provided an opportunity for people to volunteer to help. Service organizations provided
structure and a way for many people to deliver assistance personally. While some of these
volunteers had served in disaster areas previously, many were new to this situation and most had
not been involved in such an extensive disaster situation (Clukey). These volunteers can
become traumatized after dealing with traumatized victims of natural disasters like hurricane
Katrina. This study was designed to explore the experience of volunteer disaster relief workers
who served during the Katrina and Rita hurricane events of 2005. The purpose was to explore
and describe what the impact was to relief workers who provided relief services to victims of the

McLawhorn 5

hurricanes (Clukey). Emotional reactions were a common reoccurrence for these volunteers.
These volunteers showed a lot of stress and grief after dealing with so much. They also showed
an angry response to leadership, but the volunteers also experience a life changing experience.
As relief workers are called upon to help in times of great need, it is imperative that researchers
and organizational leaders work together to find ways to support and assist volunteers so they
leave the experience knowing they have been appreciated and supported (Clukey).
In conclusion, the observer saw that families affected by the hurricane go shopping, and
saw how hurt they were by Hurricane Matthew. The hurricane hurts these families, but they still
need to feed themselves, so they put their priorities in food supply. The observer noticed that the
people here do not have power in their houses, and since half of Kinston is flooded, that some of
these people might be kicked out of their houses. He eventually interviewed Aaron Griffin, who
explained just how him and his family were affected. Aaron was emotional about his city and
the people in it. The WDR 2014 shows that preparing for these disasters help. Also, the WDR
helped show the risks of hurricanes, and how to prepare for them. FEMA is one of the many
organizations to help during hurricanes. FEMA helps by giving out flood plans to communities
to help them prepare for the next hurricane. FEMA consists of many volunteers, especially after
Hurricane Katrina and Rita. Many of these volunteers, however, face problems like stress which
can lead to depression. These articles give a little insight into volunteer agencies, as they can
really help those in need of aid. Since Kinston is hurt by Hurricane Matthew, people could learn
from the WDR 2014. FEMA, however, is helping over the globe but also loaned their helping
hands to Kinston.

McLawhorn 6

References
Hallegatte, Stephane, Rentschler, Jun. Risk Management for Development- Assessing Obstacles
and Prioritizing Action. 25 August 2014. Volume 35, Issue 2, doi: 10.1111/risa.12269.
Linder, John H., Mountz, Thomas W. Partnering to Update Flood maps. Public Works.
November 2004, 46-50. Retrieved from https://librarylink.uncc.edu/login?
url=http://search.proquest.com.librarylink.uncc.edu/docview/218841786?
accountid=14605
Clukey, L. Transformative experiences for Hurricanes Katrina and Rita disaster volunteers.
Disasters, 2010 34: 644656. doi:10.1111/j.1467-7717.2010.01162.x
Griffin, Aaron. Personal Interview, October 2016.