The impact of disasters on communities and economies

SAFETY

Disaster Management

Natural and human-induced disaster cause major damages; they are usually concentrated in facilities or areas where they are of great significance to the impacted society. Sudden onset disaster like hurricanes, floods and earthquakes cause more impact socially and economically than slow-onset disasters like drought. Different types of hazards have different consequences and impacts, but to some extent some attributes are common across all types of disasters.

Impacts of disasters

The society has institutions that shape different access to different resources; these institutions determine the social impacts of disaster. Different communities are structured by a myriad of social relationships, competition and obligation that shape social characteristics associated mostly with vulnerability and loss; in disaster prone areas. Some impacts are loss of heritage because of cultural architecture due to floods or earthquake like in Prague university floods caused destruction of books; they erode social networks and community integrity. Disasters cause deaths of many people and causes vulnerability to survivors. Survivors are left in the good will of others to survive this causes; discrimination, residential segregation, social inequalities and racial-based stereo types due to societal structures. This leads to further diversity causing minority status. Hazards lead to evacuation which causes social disruption. This affects output and continued labor from the population. Hazards also cause differentiated gender impacts.

Political impacts are associated with pre-disaster impact. After disasters, political leaders have the ability to avoid critics, or even benefit from disasters without playing any role. Disasters can act as a catalyst for political change. Disasters can also force change in practice and disaster management policies. Disasters also cause corruption in many parts, because political leaders interfere with food relief programs or sometimes sell the relief to people. Disasters can also act as a catalyst to highlight inequality, incompetence and corruption. Post-disaster decisions are made at the top with insufficient participation. The affected populations are also not given the chance to participate in giving views in respect to their rights and perspectives.

Economic impacts come from the loss by a community or the country. Disasters cause economic disruptions. Disasters overcome the coping capabilities of insurance companies; this poses a challenge to developing countries that have traditional and modern setup. Disasters in developing countries cause two major consequences; a set back in development indicators and it creates additional gap to be filled between social, physical and economic investment. Disasters destroy assets and cause losses and reduced flaws in fulfillment of basic human resources. Hazards cause natural and environmental conditions, which have, negative implications in terms of, capacity of individuals in a society to recapitalize the ability of government to fund losses and access to credit.

The impact of disasters in developing countries often exuberate the suffering of the population, and similarly social roles that people adopt during the disaster periods become exaggerated. In the last three decades, human made disasters have claimed millions of lives this has caused huge economic losses. Humanity resides on areas where assets are located, hence becoming a focus on much destruction and loss. Disasters will have a greater population impact in the future because, environmental change and rapid urbanization is turning number of human settlements to disaster hotspots.