Hurricane Paula

After destroying homes in Honduras, Hurricane Paula is heading towards the Yucatan Peninsula in Mexico traveling at 10 mph.  Paula started out as a Category 1 storm today and has moved up to Category 2 this afternoon.  Winds up to 75 mph have been reported.  Paula is the tenth hurricane of the 2010 season.  The government of Mexico has issued a hurricane warning for the Caribbean coast ranging from Punta Gruesa to Cabo Catoche and includes the island of Cozumel.

There are different types of crises.  Acts of Nature are one of them.  A crisis can be defined as intentional and unintentional.  A hurricane is unintentional because it cannot be prevented.  A storm can be prepared for but never prevented.  Crises are also defined as violent and non violent based on loss of life and property damage.  Based on the reported 19 homes damaged and no lives lost so far from Hurricane Paula, I would define this crisis as unintentional and non violent.  This definition can change depending on how much damage Paula inflicts on Mexico.

Even though hurricanes are unintentional crises, they can still ruin an organizations reputation after the fact.  After Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans in 2005, FEMA and George Bush were both heavily criticized for how slowly they responded to the crisis.  Even 5 years later, FEMA is still talked about negatively in regards to Hurricane Katrina.  So, by knowing this the governments of Honduras and Mexico should be preparing for the worst so they can quickly help any victims of Hurricane Paula in their countries. 

Read the full article here.