The Four Elements

Of A
Natural Disaster

(1)
By
Robyn Quarnberg

Natural Disasters
Geography-1700, SLCC
 (2) (3) (6) (7)

(4) (5) (8) (5)

August 11, 1999 a rare F2 tornado occurred in Salt Lake City.
A large tree in front of the State Capitol was ripped up from
the tornado.
Hurricane clips, cable-tite ties and impact resistant windows
aid in the mitigation of tornadoes to help protect your home
during a future tornado from the high winds tearing off roofs
and debris breaking windows. The Governors desk and book
case made out of the tree ripped up from the tornado.
 (12)
(9) Haiti (10) Mexico City

(11) Nepal (12) (12)

The Earthquakes in Haiti (January 2010), Mexico City (September 2017) Base Isolators are used for Earthquake mitigation. They are
and Nepal (July 2017) severely destroyed builds including housing, estimated to enable the building to survive an 7.3 earthquake.
churches and their Government buildings. They didnt build with They were installed during the 2004 remodel
earthquake protection in their construction.
10 percent of fires Ground fires
are started by help the Wildfire
lightning strikes. environment mitigation like
Its estimated that by burning firebreaks is a gap
lightning strike surface litter. between the
wildfires burn up vegetation.
5.5 million acres of
land annually.
(15)

(14)

Firebreaks are
(13) used to stop
Wild Fire in Tooele
the spread of
County started by
wildfires
lightning strikes
 Soon after the Grantsville
I was one reservoir was developed
May 1984
of the and pressurized irrigation
Flooding in
volunteers instead of ditch irrigation
Grantsville,
that was started to be used.
Utah
helped
sandbag.
(16)
(17)
Grantsville also put in a
storm drainage system

(18)

The reservoir and storm

drainage systems helped
Due to a higher than average snow pack the streets of
prevent runoff flooding
Grantsville turned into rivers. High School students were let
out of school to fill sand bags. (12)
 The four elements Air, Earth, Fire and Water are not just ancient Greek symbolisms, they are the starting elements of a natural
disaster. Natural disasters start with one of the four elements.
On August 11, 1999 a rare F2 tornado ripped through downtown Salt Lake City, Utah. It was one of the most notable tornadoes to
hit west of the Great Plains in the 20th century and the second tornado to hit Utah that resulted in the fatality of a person. Over 120 homes
were severely damaged, some with roofs blown off. Over 100 people were reported injured with a dozen critically injured and one fatality.
The tornado occurred during an unusually strong summer monsoon season bring strong winds, heavy rain and hail. (1999 Salt Lake City
tornado - Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1999_Salt_Lake_City_tornado) I have shown photos of the tornado tearing through Salt
Lake City. I have also added a photo of a large tree that was uprooted in front of the state Capitol building. The wood from that tree was later
used to build the Governors desk and book case.
There are a few things you can do to help protect your home from a tornado. Installing impact resistant windows will help prevent
them from breaking due to flying debris, hurricane clips will help hold your roof to the framing and cable tite ties are used as a cabling
system that anchors your home to the ground. ((8) 6 ways to tornado-proof your home & (19) 8 Ways to Protect Your Home Against
Tornadoes and Hurricanes)
In many third world countries where prior earthquake mitigation is not used earthquakes severely destroy buildings including
residential housing, churches and their government buildings (lecture by Mr. Allred during GEOG 1700 Natural Disaster class). Like the
damage shown in the photos of the Earthquakes in Haiti (January 2010), Mexico City (September 2017) and Nepal (July 2017). During the
remodel of the state Capitol in Salt Lake City. Base Isolators where installed as part of their Earthquake mitigation. They are estimated to
enable the building to survive a 7.3 earthquake (Tour taken at the Utah State Capitol building).
It is estimated that approximately 90 percent of wildland fires in the US are caused by humans, as results from unattended
campfires, discarded cigarettes and by some intentional acts of arson. The remaining 10 percent are started by lightning strikes. Its
estimated that lightning strike wildfires burn up 5.5 million acres of land annually. (US National Park Services,
https://www.nps.gov/fire/wildland-fire/learning-center/fire-in-depth/wildfire-causes.cfm) One way to stop a wildland fire is by creating
firebreaks to prevent the fires from spreading. These are during a wildfire and also prior to one in areas that are susceptible to wildland fires
to help prevent fires from spreading. Firefighters will go into areas and remove the dead foliage and forest debris to help create firebreaks
(lecture by Mr. Allred during GEOG 1700 Natural Disaster class).
In May of 1984 the unusual heavy winter snow pack caused severe flooding in the town of Grantsville, Utah. Over 700 people
from the town rallied to fill sandbags and lay them down Cooley Street, directing the flow down the street to open fields north of town. This
turned the small town road into a river. High school students were released from class to help in the sandbagging (Grantsville Gazette, May
23, 1984, staff writer). I was part of this group and remember being amazed at the damage and destruction the flood waters caused. That
summer the construction of the Grantsville Reservoir was started along with the conversion from ditch irrigation to a pressurized water
irrigation system. In the past water from South Willow Canyon was diverted through a ditch irrigation system, but the 1984 heavy snow pack
proved too much for Grantsvilles ditch system. Grantsville later installed a storm drainage system to help with water runoff from heavy rain
storms. This storm drainage system and the reservoir have prevented another flood like the one in 1984 to occur in Grantsville.
 CITE

(1) Deviant Art by DGX; digital air-the four elements wallpaper.

https://bydgx.deviantart.com/art/The-Four-Elements-Wallpaper-414142562 (search 12/2017)
(2) Remembering Salt Lake Citys tornado 10 years later, by Ed Yeates. KSL.com
https://www.ksl.com/?sid=7487401 (search 12/2017)
(3) Time lapse: F2 tornado tears through downtown Salt Lake City 15 years ago.
Fox 13 Salt Lake City, by Ashton Edwards, August 11, 2014 http://fox13now.com/2014/08/11/time-lapse-f2-tornado-tears-through-
downtown-salt-lake-city-15-years-ago/ (search 12/2017)
(4) THE KING OF TERROR COMES TO SALT LAKE CITY? Photo by David Hsieh.
http://www.greatdreams.com/terror.htm (search 12/2017)
(5) Utah State Capitol, Capitol Preservation Board by Utah State Capitol Photography
(original photo), Photographs displayed in Capitol building photo used taken by Robyn Quarnberg student Natural Disaster GEOG-
1700 (I took pictures 11/2017)
(6) Florida Coal Cracker Chronicles; harry @everhart.com Hurricane Strap and Clip
http://everhart.blogspot.com/2013/09/house-day-33-hurricane-strap-and-clip.html (search 12/2017)
(7) Quick Tie Anchor and Cable System. The Journal of Light Construction (JLC)
By Charles Wardell. http://www.jlconline.com/products-tools/quicktie-anchor-and-cable-system_o (search 12/2017)
(8) 6 ways to tornado-proof your home; PropertyCasualty360.com
window photo taken by Shutterstock/SpeedKingz (www.Shutterstockspeedkingz.com)
http://www.propertycasualty360.com/2015/07/29/6-ways-to-tornado-proof-your-home?slreturn=1512611275&page=5 (search
12/2017)
(9) Haitian Migration To The Dominican Republic By Sabrina Callahan. January 26, 2011.
http://sabrinajohns-haitianmigration.blogspot.com/ (search 12/2017)
(10) BREAKING: Mexico Struck by ANOTHER Massive Earthquake;
The Inertia, September 19, 2017 HTTP://WWW.THEINERTIA.COM/NEWS/BREAKING-EXICO-STRUCK-BY-ANOTHER-MASSIVE-
EARTHQUAKE/ (search 12/2017)
(11) Nepal in ruins, thousands dead after 7.8 magnitude earthquake;
The Baltonmore Sun, Apr 26, 2015 by Jerry Jackson. http://darkroom.baltimoresun.com/2015/04/thousands-dead-after-7-8-
magnitude-earthquake-in-nepal/#1 (search 12/2017)
(12) Photos taken by Robyn Quarnberg, student, Natural Disasters GEOG-1700, SLCC.
(I took photo (11/2017)
(13) Photos taken by Josh Karabatsos, firefighter for Tooele Army Depot and Grantsville City.
Son in law of Robyn Quarnberg, student, Natural Disasters GEOG-1700, SLCC. (Pictures taken 6/2017)
(14) Fire Break Establishment and Maintenance, RANGE FORESTRY, LLC,
http://www.rangeforestry.com/services (search 12/2017)
(15) FEMA - 33386 - Firefighters man a fire break on the Poomacha fire in California.jpg
From Wikimedia Commons. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:FEMA_-_33386_-
Firefighters_man_a_fire_break_on_the_Poomacha_fire_in_California.jpg (search 12/2017)
(16) Photos taken by Bob Halladay, Grantsvilles local Pharmacist at the Grantsville Drug Store.
Picture taken May 1984,
(17) Local reservoirs filled to the top. Tooele Transcript Bulletin. Tooeleonline.com.
https://www.google.com/search?q=grantsville+reservoir&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiZ6t3KgvvXAhVW4mMKHZ
XHBlcQ_AUICygC&biw=1280&bih=645#imgrc=tGhAdwKhQKS3GM:&spf=1512757100121 (search 12/2017)
(18) Wheel Line Irrigation system. WheelLineIrrigation.JPG, From Wikimedia Commons,
En.Wikipedia.org https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:WheelLineIrrigation.JPG search 12/2017)
(19) 8 Ways to Protect Your Home Against Tornadoes and Hurricanes. Popular
Mechanics. http://www.popularmechanics.com/home/interior-projects/how-to/g605/8-ways-to-protect-your-home-
against-tornadoes-and-hurricanes/