08-01-2016, 04:10 PM
Impact of natural disaster can be broadly classified as follows:
1) Environmental impacts
2) Medical Impacts
3) Administrative and Managerial Impacts
4) Financial impact
5) Social Impacts
6) Demographic impacts
1) Environmental impacts
• EARTHQUAKE: This causes tremors as a result of which there is a liquefaction of soil, ground rupture, landslide, salination and alteration of flow of streams, flooding of shoreline structures and damage to buildings, bridges, dams and crops. It also causes tsunamis which causes flooding and destruction.
• FLOOD/TSUNAMI: This may cause erosion of top soil, change in the course of streams and rivers and damage to human settlement and property.
• DROUGHT: It causes reduced cloud cover, increased daytime temperature, increased evaporation rate, increased likelihoods of dust and sandstorms. There is dramatic reduction in the surface water causing crop losses, food grain shortage, increased hunger and malnutrition, and losses to livestock.
• CYCLONE: It causes rapid flooding, landslides, soil erosion and damage to houses and crops which may increase salinity in sub surface water table.
2)Medical Impacts:
These are broadly classified as:
a) Traumatic injuries: Immediate medical help and even surgical assistance are needed in case of such injuries. The effects may be in the form of severe injuries, burns, effects or fractures etc. depending on the type of disaster. E.g. In case of injury due to nuclear weapon, the severity of impact depends on the weapon size, height of burst, time of day, weather conditions etc.
b) Epidemic diseases: Even though disasters may not cause immediate threat of epidemic, the source of outbreak as an after effect needs to be identified quickly. The natural disaster such as flood or manmade disasters such as biological warfare can be a cause for this.
c) Indigenous diseases: Indigenous diseases increase as a result of environmental degradation and pollution/ contamination of food, water and air. E.g. Poor sanitation and garbage disposal as well as water contamination in flood-hit regions may result in an outbreak of diseases such as leptospirosis.
d) Emotional stress and Psychological impacts: These depend on the age, education level, financial conditions, physical health and coping skills of the affected population. These include psycho-physiological effects such as fatigue, gastrointestinal upset, and tics as well as cognitive signs such as confusion, impaired concentration, and attention deficits. Psychological impacts include emotional signs such as anxiety, depression, and grief. They also include behavioral effects such as sleep and appetite changes, ritualistic behavior etc.
3) Administrative and Managerial Impacts:
• Effects on Community Leadership: The loss of leaders due to death or injury can impair disaster response especially when disasters isolate communities and require them to rely on local leadership. Intensity of post disaster conditions, loss or delayed availability of resources and lack of factual information makes it difficult for the leaders to decide about courses of actions and priorities for relief.
• Disruption of formal organizations: When a disaster strikes, large formal organizations are most disrupted due to breakdown of clear lines of authority. Disasters have impact on their premises, other assets, data and human resource.
• Damage to critical facilities and lifelines: Among these are communication installations, electrical generating and transmission facilities, water storage, purification and pumping facilities, sewage facilities etc. Loss of communication facilities can cause lack of information for decision making.
• Disruption of transportation: During the initial stages of a disaster, almost all the surface means of transportation within a community are disrupted. Bridges are knocked out and roads can be cut off by earthquake, tsunami or floods etc. The destruction of the public utilities may be caused due to terrorist activities. This restricts the movement of rescue materials and other resources.
4) Financial Impacts of Disasters
The financial impacts of disasters cannot be totally segregated from the other general impacts of disasters as there is a cost involved in every type of destruction, damage and their after-effects. The catastrophic events such as Bhuj earthquake of 2001, hurricane Katrina in 2005, Mumbai flooding in 2005 and earthquake followed by tsunami in Japan in 2011 have shown that poor as well as rich countries are vulnerable to these events, which have long‐lasting consequences on welfare, and on human and economic development. According to the World Bank, there are several factors that affect a country’s vulnerability to natural disasters: its geographic size, the type of disaster, the strength and structure of its economy, and prevailing socioeconomic conditions. In a globalized economy, all these factors, among others play into how the world’s finances will be affected. The natural disasters cause damage to infrastructure and loss of production. Climatic hazards may affect the growing manufacturing sector, as well as the agricultural and livestock sectors. These impacts cause budgetary pressures and fiscal short term impacts. They have long term implications for rehabilitation and development. They cause impact on the rate and pattern of development, reduction in revenue and increase in expenditure both during and after the disaster.
1) Environmental impacts
2) Medical Impacts
3) Administrative and Managerial Impacts
4) Financial impact
5) Social Impacts
6) Demographic impacts
1) Environmental impacts
• EARTHQUAKE: This causes tremors as a result of which there is a liquefaction of soil, ground rupture, landslide, salination and alteration of flow of streams, flooding of shoreline structures and damage to buildings, bridges, dams and crops. It also causes tsunamis which causes flooding and destruction.
• FLOOD/TSUNAMI: This may cause erosion of top soil, change in the course of streams and rivers and damage to human settlement and property.
• DROUGHT: It causes reduced cloud cover, increased daytime temperature, increased evaporation rate, increased likelihoods of dust and sandstorms. There is dramatic reduction in the surface water causing crop losses, food grain shortage, increased hunger and malnutrition, and losses to livestock.
• CYCLONE: It causes rapid flooding, landslides, soil erosion and damage to houses and crops which may increase salinity in sub surface water table.
2)Medical Impacts:
These are broadly classified as:
a) Traumatic injuries: Immediate medical help and even surgical assistance are needed in case of such injuries. The effects may be in the form of severe injuries, burns, effects or fractures etc. depending on the type of disaster. E.g. In case of injury due to nuclear weapon, the severity of impact depends on the weapon size, height of burst, time of day, weather conditions etc.
b) Epidemic diseases: Even though disasters may not cause immediate threat of epidemic, the source of outbreak as an after effect needs to be identified quickly. The natural disaster such as flood or manmade disasters such as biological warfare can be a cause for this.
c) Indigenous diseases: Indigenous diseases increase as a result of environmental degradation and pollution/ contamination of food, water and air. E.g. Poor sanitation and garbage disposal as well as water contamination in flood-hit regions may result in an outbreak of diseases such as leptospirosis.
d) Emotional stress and Psychological impacts: These depend on the age, education level, financial conditions, physical health and coping skills of the affected population. These include psycho-physiological effects such as fatigue, gastrointestinal upset, and tics as well as cognitive signs such as confusion, impaired concentration, and attention deficits. Psychological impacts include emotional signs such as anxiety, depression, and grief. They also include behavioral effects such as sleep and appetite changes, ritualistic behavior etc.
3) Administrative and Managerial Impacts:
• Effects on Community Leadership: The loss of leaders due to death or injury can impair disaster response especially when disasters isolate communities and require them to rely on local leadership. Intensity of post disaster conditions, loss or delayed availability of resources and lack of factual information makes it difficult for the leaders to decide about courses of actions and priorities for relief.
• Disruption of formal organizations: When a disaster strikes, large formal organizations are most disrupted due to breakdown of clear lines of authority. Disasters have impact on their premises, other assets, data and human resource.
• Damage to critical facilities and lifelines: Among these are communication installations, electrical generating and transmission facilities, water storage, purification and pumping facilities, sewage facilities etc. Loss of communication facilities can cause lack of information for decision making.
• Disruption of transportation: During the initial stages of a disaster, almost all the surface means of transportation within a community are disrupted. Bridges are knocked out and roads can be cut off by earthquake, tsunami or floods etc. The destruction of the public utilities may be caused due to terrorist activities. This restricts the movement of rescue materials and other resources.
4) Financial Impacts of Disasters
The financial impacts of disasters cannot be totally segregated from the other general impacts of disasters as there is a cost involved in every type of destruction, damage and their after-effects. The catastrophic events such as Bhuj earthquake of 2001, hurricane Katrina in 2005, Mumbai flooding in 2005 and earthquake followed by tsunami in Japan in 2011 have shown that poor as well as rich countries are vulnerable to these events, which have long‐lasting consequences on welfare, and on human and economic development. According to the World Bank, there are several factors that affect a country’s vulnerability to natural disasters: its geographic size, the type of disaster, the strength and structure of its economy, and prevailing socioeconomic conditions. In a globalized economy, all these factors, among others play into how the world’s finances will be affected. The natural disasters cause damage to infrastructure and loss of production. Climatic hazards may affect the growing manufacturing sector, as well as the agricultural and livestock sectors. These impacts cause budgetary pressures and fiscal short term impacts. They have long term implications for rehabilitation and development. They cause impact on the rate and pattern of development, reduction in revenue and increase in expenditure both during and after the disaster.
