The impact of natural disaster on human development
Natural disasters are adverse actions that occur as a result of natural occurrences of the earth. Such deadly hazards include volcanoes, tsunamis, and earthquakes. Although they are dangerous to humans, they usually shape the planet and have a great impact on how and where the affected live. The occurrence of this disaster may lead to several adverse effects of which their severity depends on the population of the affected, their resilience, their infrastructure and also their ability to recover from the disaster. In this article, we discuss the impact of those disasters to human development. Read on to learn more.
Population displacement is one of the most immediate effects of natural disasters. In the event that a country experiences earthquakes, floods and other powerful force of nature, several people have to leave their homes and seek alternative shelter in other places. This may result to a large population of displaced refugee which may disrupt education, clean water, food supplies and accessibility to health care. This may deter their development since they are not able to carry on their initial activities
Scarcity of food
When natural disasters take place, food shortage often occurs. Several affected people go hungry because of destruction of crops, agricultural supplies losses since they cannot afford to sustain themselves during that period in case they happen suddenly or slowly in drought. This can lead to the rising of food prices, which in return reduces the purchasing power of the people. The effect of hunger can be hazardous since it can lead to long life impact to the development of children and severe risk of malt nutrition.
Apart from the immediate danger that the natural disaster may cause, some of the secondary effects can be as well damaging. Flooding, for example, can lead to stagnation of water that can be a potential breeding ground for waterborne diseases and malaria-causing mosquitoes that may affect the human health. Without fast relief from aid organizations and other international well-wishers, several deaths may be experienced in case such flooding occurs. Poor health will affect the daily routine of the affected.
Natural disasters can cause trauma particularly to women and young children. When they face destruction scenes and death of family members, loved ones and death of friends they may suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder a condition resulting from excess trauma. If they are not treated the affected may be prone to long-lasting psychological problems and emotional disorders.
Loss of property
Natural disasters can lead to massive loss of personal and public property. Floods, earthquakes, landslides cyclones and volcanic eruptions can lead to massive destruction of homes beyond repair or make the homes to take a long time to be livable again. Personal documents, memorabilia, and vehicles may also be damaged. Public properties such as roads, schools, and religious places may also become inaccessible. This may have a great impact on the lives of the affected people since they may have to start construction and purchasing of the destructed properties, making them stretch further their financial needs in order to go back to the lives they lived before.