The effects of

Disaster
N E ' S L I F E
ON O

Module 3
What is a‌
DISASTER ?
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.
Natural disasters can cause severe damage, including loss of life,
destruction of infrastructure, and disruption of livelihoods and
services. Because human activities contribute to these disasters, we
should change our behaviors to help prevent them or reduce their
impact.
What is the difference
between‌‌
HAZARD and DISASTER?
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 affects humans. If
a disaster happened in an
unpopulated area, it is still a hazard.
The effects 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
SECURITY
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.
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
DIFFERENT
PERSPECTIVES OF
DISASTERS
Module 4
1. Physical perspective

Calamities are phenomena that cause great physical

damage in a community infrastructure, its people and
their properties, e.g. houses and environmental sources
of living. These cited effects of a disaster can be easily
measured and the most common.
1. Physical perspective

Natural disasters generally affect the physical infrastructural

facilities, agricultural productivity and even lead to loss of life
and cause damage to property. Various factors influence the
effects of a disaster on a country among them are the
magnitude of the disaster, the geography of the area affected,
and the recovery efforts directed towards reducing the
immediate effects of a disaster.
Effects of Physical disasters
Injuries
Physical Disabilities
or Illnesses
Sanitation
Damage in
infrastructure
2. Psychological Perspective

Victims of disasters may suffer from Post Traumatic

Stress Disorder (PTSD) and other serious mental
health conditions, which are not being given much
attention to by the authorities or even by the victims,
themselves. (This may be a sensitive statement)
2. Psychological Perspective

Disasters are mostly unpredictable, which leave the victims in

a state of shock. They tend to deny the loss and try to escape
from reality. Being in a denial state makes the victims more
vulnerable to stress, anxiety, and other different maladaptive
reactions. Death of a closed one also leaves the victim in a
state of insecurity because the sense of love, attachment and
belongingness are deprived.
Psychological effects of a Disaster
hopelessness distress
emotional intrusion/avoidance
effects hatred/revenge
cognitive dependence/insecurities
Effects grief/withdrawn/isolation
physical Effects guilt feeling
interpersonal lack of trust
effect
helplessness
3. Socio-cultural Perspective

Filipinos are generally known as "matiisin", resourceful, helpful, optimistic, and

prayerful. These characteristics are manifested in the country's recent fight against
COVID19. Due to the National Health Emergency, Enhanced Community
Quarantine (ECQ) prevailed in the whole country. A lot of people temporarily lost
their jobs, some people stranded in different regions, repatriated OFWs were held
in different quarantine facilities in Metro Manila, and all people were restricted to
go out of their homes for months. As a result, most Filipino families would rely on
government's help for them to get by. However, limited resources and aids from
the government make people find possible ways to survive amidst the pandemic.
3. Socio-cultural Perspective

These traits help a lot of Filipinos to survive the challenge of COVID19 in the
country. To people who are used to natural calamities like typhoons, flash floods,
and volcanic eruptions most citizen would find contentment with what they have at
the moment. The culture of "malalampasan din natin 'to.." belief and bahala na and
Diyos syndrome give hope to most Filipino in the midst of a disaster. Such
perspective helps a lot especially those who belong to the marginalized sector to be
hopeful and continue fighting against any challenge at hand. Their belief that a help
from someone or from God would arrive at a time they most needed. It also helps
most people survive a lot of oddities in life..
Socio-cultural effect of disasters
Change in individual
roles
Disruption of social
relationships and
personal
connections
4. Economic Perspective

Disasters affect the economic condition of a community

because they reduce local and international trade. It can also
partially or totally paralyze a country's transportation system, just
like what happened in the COVID19 pandemic. Implementation
of a partial and total shut down of local business operations
result to a lot of people losing their means of living.
Economic effects of disasters
loss of life
unemployment
loss of property
loss of household articles
loss of crops
loss of public infrastructure
5. Political Perspective

Natural disasters are commonly thought to be less

politically argumentative than armed conflicts, yet
a closer look shows that both the effects of a
natural disaster and the resulting distribution of
humanitarian aid are profoundly linked to politics.
5. Political Perspective

Just as vulnerability to disasters is mediated by the political system of

a country, disasters can have major consequences for political stability
and political legitimacy (Hörhager, July 2017). Since agencies of
government have a significant role to play in directing disaster
preparedness, prevention and recovery. Social systems establish
vulnerability to natural disasters and governments are often
considered to be responsible for the disaster effects.
Political effects of a disaster
People who have trust in political institution will assess the
government's risk assessments as credible and accept their hazard
policies (Johnson 1999)
Low level of trust in public institutions therefore means that citizens
may ignore the recommendations and disregard the information
provided by these institutions (McCaffey 2004).
If individuals are confident that they will receive sufficient aid from
the government when a disaster occurs, they might not be
motivated to take measures on their own (King and Kang 2000).
6. Biological Perspective

The disturbing effects caused by a prevalent kind of disease or virus

in an epidemic or pandemic level is known as biological disaster.

(a) Epidemic Level: Biological disaster affects large numbers of

people within a given community or area. Ex: Dengue.

(b) Pandemic Level: Biological disaster affects a much large region,

sometime spanning entire continents or the globe. Ex: Swine Flu.
6. Biological Perspective

Biological disasters can wipe out an entire population at a short span of time.

Example of it is the COVID19 pandemic which infected millions in less than a month and
left thousands of deaths in the same duration. Viral respiratory infections can lead to
anything from a mild cough that lasts a few weeks or months to full-blown persistent
wheezing or asthma (Martin, 2020). He added that when there is a severe respiratory
infection, recovery can be prolonged with a general increase in shortness of breath-
even after normal lung function returns. Since COVID19 is a respiratory disease, the
public is advised by health authorities to do health precaution to prevent social
contamination.
6. Biological Perspective

Examples are: observing physical distancing, appropriate

washing of the hands, wearing of mask at all times once
outside of one's home, and boosting one's immune system.
COVID19 patients who have strong immune system can likely
soon recover from the disease. Also, those who follow the
health precaution strictly have less chance of being infected.
As such, the effects of a biological disaster can be reduced.
Effects of biological disasters

loss of lives
public demobilization
negative economic effect
unemployment
hunger
 Thank you
for listening
\(>O<)/