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I'm interested in better understanding the ongoing geological processes that shape St. Louis and the Mississippi Valley region. So far, I've been looking into the history of seismicity in the region, focusing on the fascinating but little known history of the New Madrid earthquakes of 1811 and 1812 -- the most devastating earthquakes to have hit the US east of the Rockies. I've also been exploring how St. Louis and surrounding areas are dealing with the possibility of another earthquake occurring in the future. According to one article I read, one of the biggest uncertainties is what would happen to the heavily engineered Mississippi River in the case of another major tremblor. The shaking could break the levees, flooding wide areas along the river and creating cascading effects. The flow of the river might also reverse completely, as occurred during the New Madrid earthquakes.

On these possibilities and the lack of scientific consensus surrounding intraplate seismicity in this zone, see this article in The Atlantic.

On current efforts to create earthquake hazard maps in St. Louis, see this overview on the US Geological Survey site.

For a deeper dive into the history of the New Madrid earthquakes, see this book by historian of science Conevery Bolton Valencius. 

there are some pollutants that affect the community and in other places:

• particle pollution and ground-level ozone pollution
• sulfur dioxide and nitrogen dioxide
• lead
• carbon monoxide

nothing was really done to prevent anything from happening. The river was known for its dirty and polluted waters which occured due to years of industrial toxin buildup in the waters. 

one of the main vulnerabilities is that there is a large amounts of sewage and trash polluting the water and it gets sucked into the overflow system that are used to prevent flooding. this further pollutes the surrounding are and further poisons the environment. 

New York governor Andrew Cuomo ordered over 2000 National Guard troops were deployed to Long Island, New York City , and the hudson valley. Defense secretary Leon panetta had issued a prepare-to-deploy order in case the hurricane relief effort needed more support. Each service had to have 6,500 active duty troops ready in case they were called upon. 

the community as a whole, along with the CSO, can be seen as a resilience due to the fact that the CSO community and many peopole in the community as a whole have helped to improve the system that is currently in use especially since many of the systems  are outdated. granted, there are those who could care less in the community, but there are those that are taking steps toward the end goal of cleaning up our environment.

Hazards/risks are distributed among different groups through geography. for example, areas near the Eastern shoreline like places in New Jersey are in a group because their zone damage is much more than those further away from the Eastern shorline like places in Nevada.

Newark helped to set up the JFK Center as a shelter with the help of the American Red Cross. further more, "Booker also urged residents to check on their neighbors, particularly the elderly, to be sure they have adequate supplies and protection during the hurricane"

many recommendations are also being made by the city of Newark to advize their citizens

as stated in the article two things have been done to help prevent sewage in overflow systems.one is that, "Nearly 65 overflows already have been permanently closed off, according to the Dept. of Environmental Protection." also, many other communities spent millions of dollars to install grates and shields on the overflow pipes. this would help prevent most trash from entering the system.