In this thesis, I enquire into how the USA ? our world?s wealthiest and most powerful nation ?  and its federal government has dealt with two of its most severe natural disasters: the drought and dust storms that plagued the Great Plains during the 1930?s, i.e. the Dust Bowl, and Hurricane Katrina, which made landfall in late August 2005. I attempt to identify differences and similarities and analyze if and, in that case, how the hegemonic politico-economic paradigm affected the federal management of these crises. This comparison is made relevant by the fact that two differing paradigms were at play during these events. In the thirties, President Franklin D. Roosevelt launched his ?New Deal?, a series of counter cyclical measures in line with the Keynesian school of economics, as a response to the overwhelming economic depression as well as the raging drought.

När Orkanen Katrina härjade i New Orleans förlorade över tusen människor sina liv och ännu fler människor förlorade sina hem och bostäder. Denna händelse fick stor plats i både svensk och amerikansk massmedia.. I amerikans press har det hävdats att svarta människor ?plundrar? medan vita människor ?letar mat?. Vi är intresserade av hur händelsen, med tyngdpunkt på etnicitet och nationalitet, skildras i svensk media..

Denna studie syftar till att utforska synen på rapporteringen kring orkanen Katrina, samt om den förändrat synen på USA och amerikanernas socioekonomiska status. Grunden är den uppmärksamhet fattiga fick i bevakningen. Metoden är kvalitativ intervju och målet är att uppnå analytisk generaliserbarhet. Viktiga teoretiska utgångspunkter är Lippmanns texter om världssyn och agenda-setting, där områden som framing och third-person effect är framträdande. Analysen visar att intervjupersonerna främst är positiva till hur bevakningen fungerat.

Through this thesis, we want to discuss how the marginalization of people, several precedent political, city planning- and engineering decisions resulted in a catastrophic outcome after hurricane Katrina in New Orleans 2005. We also put forward a case study of the Make It Right Foundation, to demonstrate how the residents of the Lower Ninth Ward are involved in the urban development of their community. We would like to draw attention to the power of citizens and how they can influence the urban development of a community after a trauma. This study also focuses on the mission of The Make It Right Foundation: which is to rebuild the Lower Ninth Ward with firm concepts on sustainable development where all dimensions are accounted: ecological, social, cultural and economic. The empirical data was collected by a field study in New Orleans 2010-03-22 and semistructured interviews were made during the same days..

The aim and purpose with this essay is to identify the natural conditions of the New Orleans City region, and to establish an understanding of the disastrous event of Hurricane Katrina in August 2005. Who lived in this area and how did this event affect the outcome of the disaster?The theory is based on two Swedish human geographers Torsten Hägerstrand and Thomas Lundén, and their theories on regional geography and political geography, also regarded as ?geopolitics?. Regional and Political Geography are explained as the relation between state and territory, power over the territory and the variables that affect the relations on different levels such as; economy, culture, technology, demography and communication.The author decided to use the quantitative method in the process of research, the essay underwent an overall analyzes of the media settings, articles, written literature and documentaries. The author has been very critical to the material and data that was presented by the American authorities, media and non governmental organisations.New Orleans City?s topography is unique in the matter that the city is constructed on a delta area, the Mississippi River, Missouri and Ohio River systems are all connected in New Orleans.

This study aimed to find out whether or not gender related theories regarding the division between men and women can be applied to three novels written by Katrina von Bredow, Syskonkärlek (1991), Som jag vill vara (2007) and Flyga högt (2011). The theories used in this research were Yvonne Hirdman?s theory and R.W Connell?s theory. Hirdman claims that there are differences between men and women at different levels in the society while Connell believes that this is a myth because, according to the writer, men and women are psychologically similar. The intent with this research was to provide a gender analysis of Bredows novels, because these novels have not been studied previously.

The tsunami in Thailand in 2004, 9/11 and hurricane Katrina in New Orleans 2005 are all reminders that no organization is immune to crises, which also means that all organizations should be prepared and know how to handle a crisis if one was to occur. A case study has been conducted, on a crisis regarding a fire that occurred on the 31st of July 2014 in Västmanland, Sweden. Through Qualitative interviews empirical data was gathered and then analyzed together with our theories and previous research. The purpose of the study is to analyze how the municipalities affected and the County Administrative Board of Sweden handled and communicated with/to the public during the fire that spread in Västmanland 2014. Our study shows that a risk analysis and analysis of surroundings is crucial in anticipating a crisis event and that it is essential for organizations to undergo training to prepare organization members on how to handle a crisis. Another conclusion is that the need for information is large during a crisis event and grows throughout the entire course of the crisis. The crisis that we studied had a lack of information, but at the same time the public?s need for information is a need that can?t be satisfied during a crisis.

Research suggests that society's vulnerability to natural disasters along coasts could increase as a result of climate change, which is likely to lead to elevated sea levels and possibly an increase in the occurance of meteorological phenomena such as storms and tropical cyclones. Following the Indian Ocean tsunami disaster in 2004 and Hurricane Katrina in 2005, both of which received considerable media attention, empirical data has indicated that coastal vegetation might be able to protect and reduce damages to coastal communities during tsunami events and tropical cyclones.The aim of the essay has been to study the function of coastal ecosystems as protection against tsunami waves and storms from a risk management perspective, meaning that I have, through an overview of scientific articles, compiled current research on how coastal ecosystems can attenuate storm surges and tsunami waves, and analysed how this knowledge can be put into practice in coastal communities from a risk management perspective, i.e. if coastal ecosystems are a viable risk reduction measure, are practically applicable, and if so, how they could be applied.There is empirical evidence suggesting that coastal ecosystems, particularly mangroves, can reduce the strength of a tsunami wave, but full scientific consensus on this issue has not yet been reached. With regard to protection against storm surges, there is extensive scientific evidence that coastal vegetation can mitigate damages and reduce the height of a storm surge, although the wave has to traverse several kilometres inland through thick vegetation for the protection to be effective. A synthesis in the form of a figure regarding the many physical factors that influence wave development through coastal ecosystems has been created in an attempt to simplify and explain the phenomenon.The conservation and restoration of coastal ecosystems can be justified from a risk management perspective, but planting new forest belts for the purpose of disaster mitigation is quite unrealistic and can rarely be sustainable, since, for protection to be effective, the forest belt must extend several kilometres inland from the coast, and would thus likely prove difficult to implement along coastal societies..