DRRM: WEEK 2 L4-6

Displacement

• Population displacement is one of the most immediate effects of natural disasters.

• When a certain country or place is ravaged by earthquakes and other powerful forces of nature, many people have to leave/evacuate their homes and seek shelter in other place.

• A big influx of refugees can disrupt everything from accessibility of health care and education to food supplies and basic hygiene.

• Bigger evacuation centers are common for all natural disasters, and only those who are fortunate enough will survive and face a range of challenges following disaster’s widespread.

Health Risk

• The secondary effects can be just as damaging as the obvious danger that natural disaster brings.

• Typhoons, storm surge, and tsunamis often cause severe flooding that becomes the cause in the spread of waterborne bacteria and malaria.

• As a result, health complications will be prevalent among victims or survivors of natural disasters, who need the help of emergency relief not only from national level but also from international aid organizations, and even if the immediate danger has passed, death tolls may rise.

Food Scarcity

• After natural disaster, scarcity of food follows.

• As a result of loss possessions, destroyed crops and a loss of agricultural supplies, thousands of people around the world go hungry. Hunger can be tremendous.

• the lives and health of the following potentially vulnerable groups are at risk:

  • Children, pregnant and nursing women, unaccompanied children, widows, elderly people without family support, disabled persons;

  • The poor or marginalized people.

Post-traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)

• Natural disasters can be traumatic especially for young children.

• Many of them develop - - a serious psychological condition resulting from extreme trauma during a disaster.

Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA)

according to - -, before and after a disaster or crisis, it is common for the children, adults, and first responders to feel emotional distress.

warning signs of emotional distress: adults

• Eating or sleeping too much or too little.

• Feeling guilty, helpless, and hopeless.

• Avoiding family, and friends.

• Losing interest in daily activities.

• Crying spells or burst of anger.

• Pulling away from people and things.

• Having low or no energy.

• Having unexplained aches, pains, such as constant stomach aches and headaches.

• Excessive smoking, drinking, or using drugs including prescription medications.

• Worrying a lot of the time; feeling guilty but not sure why.

• Thinking of hurting or killing yourself or someone else.

• Having difficulty re-adjusting to home or work life.

warning signs of emotional distress: children (6-11)

• Withdrawing from playgroups and friends.

• Competing more for the attention of parents or teachers.

• Being unwilling to leave home.

• Being less interested in schoolwork.

• Becoming aggressive or disruptive (home and school)

• Having difficulty concentrating.

• Become withdrawn.

• Resist authority.

• Experiment with high-risk behaviours such as underage drinking or prescription drug misuse and abuse.

Flood Plains

• are lands most subject to recurring floods, located beside or adjacent to rivers and streams

• lands that are inundated by water

• the large area of flat land on either side of a river that is sometimes covered with water when the river becomes too full

Flood Prone

very hazardous to development activities if the acceptable level of vulnerabilities exceeds

Landslide

• is also known as a landslip. It is a geological phenomenon that includes a wide range of ground movements

• rock falls, deep failure of slopes, and shallow debris flow were common, can occur in offshore, coastal, and onshore environments

• occur when the stability of the slope changes from a stable to an unstable condition. A change in the stability of a slope can be caused by a number of factors, acting together or alone

natural causes of landslides

• groundwater (pore water) pressure acting to destabilize the slope

• loss or absence of vertical vegetative structure, soil nutrients, and soil structure

• erosion of the toe of a slope by rivers or ocean waves

• weakening of a slope bc of saturation, snow melt, glacier melting or heavy rains

landslide are aggravated by human activities, such as:

• deforestation, cultivation and construction, which destabilize the already fragile slopes

• vibrations from machinery or traffic

• blasting

• earthwork which alters the shape of a slope, or which imposes new loads on an existing slope