Floods in Eastern Cape, South Africa
   As of October 21st there have been a total of eight people found dead with the eighth being a five year old boy.  The flooding is actually pretty bad due to the fact that it continues to rain.  1000 people were evacuated fron Nelson Mandela Bay which shows good forecasting and planning by local agencies to get people into safe areas; but with the constant amount of rain that is falling a dam eventually burst and flooded the local area.  this particular storm also has damaged several roads and houses along the way. 
   In this certain sitation you start with a natural hazard because of all the rainfal but than you have a technological hazard when the dam broke out and put a bunch of other people at risk.  I think when this situation was looked at in a deeper route you can almost apply certain aspects of the swiss cheese model because you first had all the rainfall and storm, but with that yo were followed by damaged roads where you could not even drive on them anymore; than the dam broke out causing other people that needed to be evacuated.  All of these factors could have caused rescue efforts to have been stalled but luckily it was not that bad.

Safety and Preparedness/Winter Safety

     I feel with the winter months right around the corner that it would be appropriate to talk about some safety precautions that you can do or look out for before and after a blizzard strikes.  In the breif article I was reading, the author stated that "winter can paralyze a city where there is insufficeint preparation."
   A few things you can do before a blizzard strikes is to have an adequate weather service where you can look at updated forecasts; one of the things to remember for this is to have new battaries for your radios.  Under emergency supplies you can make sure you have firewood easily available along with non-perishable food items; also under home preparation you should look at your pipes, roof, and indoor comfort items.  Proper insulation and storm windows are necessary along with space heaters in case the power goes out.
    After the storm you need to be extremely careful when driving your vehicle as the roads may be very slippery and dangerous.  All of the things that we are talking about can relate to the big three in terms of mitigation, protection, and adaptation.  Under protection we can upgrade our houses with insulation or storm windows and make sure we have adequate flashlights and batteries.  Also, when we talk about adaptation; that is where forecasts and warning systems come into play to keep up to date about what is happening outside.

http://www.weather.com/life/safety/winter/winter-safety_2011-10-05