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DRR Lesson 3

Natural disasters can have devastating effects including loss of life, destruction of infrastructure, and long-term health and economic impacts for communities; they often displace populations and disrupt access to necessities while also increasing risks of disease, food insecurity, and mental health issues like post-traumatic stress disorder. Proper disaster preparedness and planning through measures like hazard identification, developing emergency plans and kits, training, and regular exercises can help reduce risks and improve responses.

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Diana Hernandez
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174 views

DRR Lesson 3

Natural disasters can have devastating effects including loss of life, destruction of infrastructure, and long-term health and economic impacts for communities; they often displace populations and disrupt access to necessities while also increasing risks of disease, food insecurity, and mental health issues like post-traumatic stress disorder. Proper disaster preparedness and planning through measures like hazard identification, developing emergency plans and kits, training, and regular exercises can help reduce risks and improve responses.

Uploaded by

Diana Hernandez
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
Available Formats
Download as PPTX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Disasters and

Its Effects
A natural disaster can bring about many devastating effects.
Among these are deaths, destruction of infrastructures, loss of
livelihood and services, and other physical and nonphysical
effects. Since we are partly responsible for the disasters
happening around us, we must change some of our ways, in order
to prevent or minimize the effects of disasters in our lives.
Think of a disaster that you had
experienced, watched, or read
in the past two years. What did
you feel while experiencing,
watching, or reading it.
What troubling situations reminded you of the scenarios?
A disaster is a damaging event that occurs suddenly and involves loss
of life and property. It can be of two types, natural and man-made.
Natural disasters can destroy a whole community in an instant.
Examples of natural disasters are volcanic eruptions, tsunamis,
earthquakes, and typhoons which are destructive to people's lives.
Man-made disasters on the other hand are caused by human beings.
Some of the man-made disasters are bomb explosions, terrorism, wars,
leakage of poisonous chemicals, pollutions, industrial accidents, and
epidemics. They are identified as man- made disasters because they
happen due to human actions and not by natural forces.
A hazard is a dangerous situation or event that
carries a threat to humans. A disaster is an event that
harms humans and disrupts the operations of society.
Hazards can only be considered disasters once it
affected humans. If a disaster happened in an
unpopulated area, it is still a hazard.
The Human Effect of Natural
and Man-Made Disasters
1.Displaced Populations
One of the most immediate effects of natural
disasters is population displacement. When countries
are ravaged by earthquakes or other powerful forces of
nature, many people need to abandon their homes and
seek shelter in other regions. A large influx of refugees
can disrupt accessibility of health care and education, as
well as food supplies and clean water.
2. Health Risks
Aside from the obvious immediate danger that
natural disasters present, the secondary effect can be
just as damaging. Severe flooding can result in stagnant
water that allows breeding of waterborne bacteria and
malaria carrying mosquitoes. Without emergency relief
from international aid organizations and others, death
tolls can rise even after the immediate danger has
passed.
3. Food Scarcity
The aftermath of natural disasters affects the food
supplies. Thousands of people around the world are
hungry because of destroyed crops and loss
of agricultural supplies, whether it happens suddenly in
a storm or gradually in a drought. As a result, food prices
rise reducing families’ purchasing power and increasing
the risk of severe malnutrition or worse.
The impacts of hunger following an earthquake,
typhoon or hurricane can be tremendous, causing
lifelong damage to children’s development.
4. Emotional Aftershocks
Natural disasters can be particularly traumatic for
young children. Confronted with scenes of destruction
and the deaths of friends and loved ones, many
children develop post-traumatic stress disorder
(PTSD), a serious psychological condition resulting
from extreme trauma. Left untreated, children
suffering from PTSD can be prone to lasting
psychological damage and emotional distress.
Great damage caused by a disaster can be
reduced if everyone will take responsibility in
anticipating its effects. Here are some ways
on how to plan ahead of a disaster:
1. Check for hazards at home.
2. Identify safe place indoors and outdoors
3. Educate yourself and family members
4. Have Disaster kits/supplies on hand.
5. Develop an emergency communication
plan.
6. Help your community get ready.
7. Practice the Disaster Preparedness Cycle
Disaster Preparedness Cycle

It starts with the identification of a need for emergency preparedness and response planning.
Once this need has been identified, plans are developed, and those entities having roles and
responsibilities prescribed in the plan are organized and trained on the plan.
When this training is complete, the plan is then exercised to evaluate not only this training, but also
the effectiveness of the plan in meeting the need that was identified at the beginning of the preparedness
cycle.
After the exercise, the plan is evaluated and improved and the preparedness cycle starts over.
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