29 April 2011

Archival Gold: FEMA Photo Library

Posted by Jessica Ball

It’s been a while since I did a photo resource post, and in light of the recent swarm of tornadoes and damaging storms, I though the FEMA Photo Library would be appropriate to highlight. The collection of photos on FEMA’s website does a great job of showing the human side of natural disasters – something that’s just as important to think about as the scientific side of hazard management and mitigation. The “Photo Collections” link doesn’t have many groups of photos yet, but a search on a particular hazard – floods, earthquakes, landslides, even eruptions – will turn up hundreds of photos, many recent (there are photos from last week’s tornadoes in the Midwest, for example).

"La Conchita, CA, January 15, 2005 -- The Ventura County Fire Department Urban Search and Rescue teams stabilize structures so that they can search them in La Conchita, California where winter storms caused fatal landslides that damaged homes and roads. Photo by John Shea / FEMA News Photo"

"Braman, OK, May 18, 2010 -- Among the many items strewn about by a tornado are remnants of a plastic shopping bag and an 8-inch saw blade imbedded in the trunk. Storms sweeping across the state on May 10 produced 22 confirmed tornadoes, the fourth largest single-day outbreak in Oklahoma's history. FEMA Photo by Win Henderson"

"Millington, TN, May 7, 2010 -- FEMA Administrator W. Craig Fugate looks out over a flooded town. Mr. Fugate was in Tennessee to observe the flooded areas from the recent rain. FEMA/Bradley Carroll"

 

"Kapaau, HI, October 25, 2006- Oliver Kolly with son Oliver inspect the changed landscape in their backyard after a series of earthquakes struck this region. Adam DuBrowa/FEMA."