community-based disaster risk management and the media media kit

chapter 1. introduction to disaster risk management
• Damage to national infrastructure and disruption to governmental
systems
• National economic loss
• Sociological and psychological after-effects
Impact to Environment
Disasters impact the environment in a number of ways: e.g. destruction
to infrastructure (homes, buildings); decreased quantity and quality
of water supply; destruction of agricultural crops and food stocks;
increased mortality of livestock, wildlife and marine species and damage
to their habitats; and the presence of unburied human bodies or animal
carcasses. These impacts vary from disaster to disaster.
Impact to Public Health
The sudden onsets of disasters cause not only widespread death but
also injuries, outbreaks of epidemic disease and famine. Different types
of disaster have different effects on health. Post-disaster potential
health risks do not occur at the same time. Instead, they tend to arise
at different times. Casualties occur mainly at the time and place of
impact and require immediate medical care. Earthquakes regularly
cause many injuries requiring medical care, while fl oods, storm
surges and tsunamis cause relatively fewer injuries but may cause
secondary effects such as an epidemic due to population movement
and environmental changes. However, the risks of increased disease
transmission take longer to develop and are greatest where there is
crowding and reduced standards of sanitation.
Economic, Social and Political Impacts
Disasters disrupt economies. After a disaster, normal economic activities
are severely curtailed; people must leave their jobs and devote their time
to disaster-related activities, such as evacuation, search and rescue, or
to the care of survivors and victims. Most often, in poor communities,
whole livelihoods and houses are destroyed, and the basic necessities
like food and shelter will be lacking. Oftentimes, for poor households,
disasters bring about more poverty. On a larger scale, whether or not
an economy can recover quickly depends on the losses sustained.
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