Impacts of disasters

IMPACTS OF DISASTERS

The primary impact of disasters is destruction of the environment. Environment encompasses the physical environment with all the natural sources and the living environment covering all the plants, animals and microorganisms. The social, economic, political, environmental, human health and psychosocial impacts of disasters are discussed below.

SOCIAL IMPACTS OF DISASTERS

Disasters can be extremely stressful, disruptive and traumatic for the affected people in a community. Social impacts of disasters is reflected in people experiencing increased mental health issues, alcohol misuse, domestic violence, chronic diseases, unemployment, family violence and environmental damage. Disasters entail social costs larger than direct financial impacts. Social impacts of disasters can be unbelievably stressful, disruptive and traumatic for the affected people. Entire communities can be uprooted, friends and family divided along with loss of homes, livelihoods and lives. People may experience shock and disbelief, fear and apprehension, anger, shame and guilt in the early days after a disastrous event. The cocial impacts of disasters can be summarized as:

• Changes in individual's role
• Disruption of social fabric
• Isolation
• Change in marital status
• Sexual abuse and domestic violence
• Orphans
• Single parent children
• Family and social disorganization
• Migration
• Lifestyle changes
• Breakdown of traditional social status

 ECONOMIC IMPACTS OF DISASTERS

On the surface, natural disasters cause serious damage and appear to be bad for the economy. They destroy tangible assets as well as the human capital. Sometimes, the damage is severe enough to cause closure of companies and manufacturing facilities. However, the academic evidence concerning the economic impacts of disasters is mixed. Certain studies report that natural disasters may promote growth. This is because of improvement of productivity of the corporate sector of the economy due to updation of capital stock coupled with adoption of new technologies. This is called 'creative destruction'. If natural disasters expel inefficient firms (following the law of natural selection), the average corporate productivity increases.
In conclusion, the recovery of the economy after natural disasters is closely intertwined with policy measures taken and the underlying economic conditions.The economic impacts of disasters can be summarized as:

• Loss of life
• Unemployment
• Loss of livelihood
• Loss of property or land
• Loss of household articles
• Loss of Crops
• Loss of public infrastructure

 POLITICAL IMPACTS OF DISASTERS

Natural disasters generally affect an individuals political trust and satisfaction with the government. Past research has studied the impact of disasters on long-term political impact of government and its policies. This has been achieved by way of examining retrospective voting and changes in attitudes towards civic engagement. At times, the effects on political trust occur immediately after a natural disaster.
ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTS OF DISASTERS

The environmental impacts of earthquakes are listed below:

• Collapsing buildings, property damage, loss of power, mudslides, floods, tsunamis, erosion, heavy flooding of inland areas, contaminated water supply, loss of habitat, toxic gases released into the environment, diseases, 
• Water resources may be contaminated with toxins or  be rendered unusable for human consumption
• Any disaster has an adverse impact on the local biodiversity and forestry
• There might be occurrences of landslides, avalanches and Glacial Lake Outburst Flood (GLOF)
• The built environment may be damaged to different extents at different locations
• The health, safety and well-being of human beings and live stock may be put to grave danger
• The groundwater resources are at a risk of being contaminated
• The disaster may damage the hydro-power projects

HEALTH IMPACTS OF DISASTERS
Any disaster natural or man-made invariably has an adverse effect on human health. Health impacts due to disasters may be broadly classified as:

• Physical injuries and
• Infectious diseases due to inhalation of contaminated (particulate matter or toxic gases) air or ingestion of contaminated (particulate matter or toxins or infectious worms/microorganisms/parasites) water
• Other hazardous situations (slippery terrain, etc)

PSYCHOSOCIAL IMPACTS OF DISASTERS

• Any disastrous event is beyond the scope of normal human experience causes traumatic stress
• More than 90% of the people affected by a disaster show untoward psychological effects
• The extent and severity of the event affect the likelihood of people suffering from  the effects of the disaster
• Some of the vulnerability factors include:
• Witnessing death
• Being trapped
• Stigmatization of victims
• Lack of availability of social support networks
• People may suffer from psychological and behavioural syndrome
• People may be affected with psychological disorders
• People may suffer from persistent insomnia, anxiety, PTSD and depression
• self-destructive coping skills that include excessive alcohol and substance use and excessive work
• Despair, panic, survival guilt
• Inappropriate anger or resentment
• Aggressive or assaultive behaviour
• Lack of regard for other's comfort or dignity 
• Being uncooperative, defiant, rigid when dealing with problems or responding to requests for help
• Unprofessional demeanor
• Recurrent conflicts
• Difficulty with authority
• Inability to ask for or receive help
• Irritability, moodiness, verbal abuse
• Isolation
• Physical deterioration
• Distress
• Flashback
• Intrusion/Avoidance
• Hatred/Revenge
• Dependence/Insecurity
• Grief/Withdrawal/Isolation
• Guilt feeling
• Hypervigilance
• Lack of trust
• Helplessness
• Hoplessness