IMPACT OF DISASTERS

THE PHYSICAL DESTRUCTION, LOSS OF LIFE, AND INJURY TO PEOPLE

BROUGHT BY A DISASTER IS IMMEDIATE BUT THE PHYSICAL,
BIOLOGICAL, ECONOMIC, SOCIO-CULTURAL, AND PSYCHOLOGICAL
IMPACT OF DISASTROUS EVENTS LINGER FOR WEEKS, MONTHS, AND
EVEN YEARS. IN THE CASE OF YOLANDA, FOR EXAMPLE, THE NATIONAL
RISK REDUCTION AND MANAGEMENT COUNCIL REPORTS THAT IT WILL
TAKE AT LEAST THREE YEARS TO FULLY IMPLEMENT THE REHABILITATION
PLAN FOR YOLANDA AFFECTED AREAS (YAR ).
PHYSICAL IMPACT
THE IMMEDIATE IMPACT OF NATURAL DISASTERS IS DAMAGE TO
PRIVATE AND PUBLIC PROPERTY AND INFRASTRUCTURES. BRIDGES
AND PORTS ARE DESTROYED, ELECTRIC POLES ARE TOPPLED, HOUSES
ARE WASHED AWAY, ETC. SOMETIMES THE DAMAGE DONE IS SO SEVERE,
THE ENTIRE PHYSICAL STRUCTURE OF THE COMMUNITY IS
OBLITERATED. SUCH IS THE CASE, FOR EXAMPLE, WHEN A TSUNAMI
STRUCK ACEH, INDONESIA IN 2004.
 ONE OTHER EXAMPLE IS THE TRAGIC AFTERMATH OF POMPEII WHEN
MT. VESUVIUS ERUPTED IN 79 AD. POMPEII, A BUSTLING ANCIENT CITY
OF ROME, WAS BURIED MILE THICK DEBRIS OF VOLCANIC ASH AND
ROCK. POMPEII COULD NOT BE LOCATED AGAIN FOR ANOTHER 1500
YEARS UNTIL A SPANISH ENGINEER, ROCQUE JOAQUIN DE ALCUBIERRE,
DISCOVERED ITS RUINS IN 1599.
 THE DESTRUCTION OF PRIVATE PROPERTY AND PUBLIC
INFRASTRUCTURES IS AMONG THE IMMEDIATE IMPACTS OF WAR. BOTH
NATURAL AND HUMAN CAUSED DISASTERS CAUSE PHYSICAL DAMAGE.
BUT WHILE A COMMUNITY CAN QUICKLY BEGIN REPAIRING DAMAGED
PROPERTIES AND PUBLIC INFRASTRUCTURES AS SOON AS A NATURAL
CATASTROPHE IS OVER, NO EFFECTIVE PHYSICAL RECONSTRUCTION
CAN BE DONE IN A COMMUNITY FOR AS LONG AS WAR PERSISTS. IN
PLACES WHERE THERE THERE IS INTENSE CIVIL STRIFE, THE RUBLLE
LEFT BY WAR STAYS FOR YEARS.
BIOLOGICAL IMPACT
SEVERE TYPHOONS, FLOODS, AND TSUNAMIS PHYSICALLY DESTROY
PLANT AND ANIMALS. BUT SINCE THE PHYSICAL IMPACT OF DISASTERS
CAN SIGNIFICANTLY CHANGE THE CHEMICAL MAKEUP OF SOIL AND
LAND TOPOGRAPHY, IT ALSO SIGNIFICANTLY IMPACTS THE ECOSYSTEM
OF THE AFFECTED REGION. SUCH IS THE CASE, FOR EXAMPLE, WITH THE
VOLCANIC ERUPTION OF MT, PINATUBO. THE ERUPTION DUMPED MORE
THAN 0.7 CUBIC MILES OF DEBRIS ON THE LOWLAND SURROUNDING
AREAS OF THE VOLCANO. IT RENDERED AGRICULTURAL LANDS
UNUSABLE FOR FARMING
 IT CREATED TEMPORARY DAMS, SILTED STREAMS AND LAKES,
DIRECTLY AFFECTING THE HABITAT OF TERRESTRIAL AND AQUATIC
ORGANISMS.
WHEN A COMMUNITY IS STRUCK BY A SEVERAL NATURAL DISASTER,
ITS RESIDENTS ARE GATHERED INTO EVACUATION CENTERS. HOWEVER,
EVACUATION CENTERS CREATE A NEW SET OF PROBLEMS CONNECTED
WITH HEALTH AND SANITATION. HERDING PEOPLE IN LARGE GROUPS,
SOMETIMES THEIR FARM ANIMALS TOO, RESULTS IN THE CONSEQUENT
RISE OF MICROORGANISMS THAT FEED ON HUMAN PHYSICAL AND
BIOLOGICAL WASTE.
 EVACUATION CENTERS ALSO CONTRIBUTE TO THE SPREADING OF
CONTAGIOUS DISEASES. THE COMMON MICROORGANISMS THAT
EXPLODE IN EVACUATION CENTERS ARE E. COLI, STAPHYLOCOCCUS
AUREUS, SHIGELLA DYSENTERIAE, SALMONELLA TYPHI, VIBRIO
CHOLERA, BACILLUS CEREUS, HEPATITIS A VIRUS, HEPATITIS B VIRUS,
ETC.
TO ILLUSTRATE THE BIOLOGICAL IMPACT OF HUMAN CAUSED
DISASTERS, THREE EXAMPLES WILL BE BRIEFLY DISCUSSED IN THIS
SECTION.
 THE ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT OF AGENT ORANGE (A CHEMICAL
POISON USED IN VIETNAM WAR), THE CHERNOBYL NUCLEAR DISASTER,
AND THE OTHER IS ABOUT THE BIOLOGICAL IMPACT OF INTRODUCING
INVASIVE SPECIES INTO AN ECOSYSTEM.
AGENT ORANGE
AGENT ORANGE IS A CHEMICAL COMPOUND LACED WITH
TETRACHLORODIBENZODIOXIN (TCDD), A TOXIC DIOXIN COMPOUND
USED PRIMARILY AS AN INGREDIENT FOR MANUFACTURING
HERBICIDES. IT IS CALLED AGENT ORANGE BECAUSE OF THE ORANGE-
STRIPED BARRELS USED TO TRANSPORT THEM. IT IS A DEFOLIANT , A
HERBICIDE USED IN VIETNAM WAR BY THE US ARMY TO DESTROY
CROPS, BUSHES, AND TREES WHICH COVERED AND CONCEALED THE
LOCATION AND MOVEMENTS OF THE COMMUNIST INSURGENTS DURING
THE VIETNAM WAR FROM 1961 TO 1971.
 APPROXIMATELY ONE-FOURTH OF THE WHOLE OF VIETNAM WAS
SPRAYED WITH AGENT ORANGE. DEFOLIATION DESTROYED 5 MILLION
ACRES OF MANGROVE AND UPLAND FORESTS, AND 500,000 ACRES OF
CROPS. THE MOST SERIOUS BIOLOGICAL IMPACT OF THIS POISON,
HOWEVER, WAS ON THE VIETNAMESE PEOPLE BECAUSE UP TO THIS DAY,
GENERATIONS OF VIETNAMESE CONTINUE TO SUFFER FROM ITS
DELETERIOUS HEALTH EFFECTS.
 AGENT ORANGE IS A CARINOGENIC SUBSTANCE. IT HAS BEEN
LINKED TO 15 CLASSES OF MALIGNANT TUMORS. IT DAMAGE THE
NORMAL CHROMOSOMAL FUNCTIONING OF HUMAN CELLS WHICH
CONTRIBUTED TO THE UNUSUAL INCIDENCE OF PHYSICALLY DEFORMED
BABIES, MENTAL ILLNESS, HERNIAS, AND OTHER HEALTH
COMPLOCATIONS AMONG THE SUCCEEDING GENERATIONS OF
VIETNAMESE PEOPLE.
 THE HERBICIDE ALSO DESTROYED THE ECOLOGICAL EQUILIBRIUM
OF SPRAYED REGIONS. IN PARTICULAR, IT SIGNIFICANTLY REDUCED
ANIMAL DIVERSITY. IN A STUDY DONE BY HARVARD BIOLOGISTS, ONLY
24 SPECIES OF BIRDS AND 5 SPECIES OF MAMMALS WERE FOUND IN
SPRAYED REGIONS. BUT IN TWO UNSPRAYED ADJACENT REGIONS,
THERE WERE 145 AND 175 SPECIES OF BIRDS AND 30 AND 55 SPECIES
OF MAMMALS.
 BECAUSE THE DIOXIN HAS ENTERED THE FOOD CHAIN THROUGH
THE PLANTS AND ANIMALS LIVING IN SPRAYED AREAS, THE BIOLOGICAL
AND ECOLOGICAL DAMAGE OF AGENT ORANGE LINGERS UP TO THIS DAY.
CHERNOBYL NUCLEAR ACCIDENT

BECAUSE DIRECT AND INDIRECT EXPOSURE TO AN ENVIRONMENT

CONTAMINATED BY NUCLEAR RADIATION CARRY HARMFUL EFFECTS ON
HEALTH, THE SITE AN VICINITY OF NUCLEAR ACCIDENT MUST BE
ABANDONED AND QUARANTINED. RESIDENTS MUST BE EVACUATED AND
THE REGION IN WHICH THE PLANT IS LOCATED MUST BE CORDONED OFF.
 A HABITAT ABANDONED BY HUMANS AND CORDONED OFF FROM
HUMAN INTRUDERS BECOMES AN OPEN NICHE IN WHICH PLANT AND
ANIMAL ORGANISMS GROW IN ABUNDANCE. WITH HUMAN GONE, THE
OLD HUMAN HABITAT BECAME GRADUALLY TAKE OVER BY NATURE.
VINES CRAWLED INTO BUILDINGS, WEEDS GREW ON ROADS AND
PAVEMENTS, FOXES, BEARS, AND WILDLIFE ACQUIRED LARGER FEEDING
GROUNDS. OVER ALL, A NEW ECOSYSTEM, NOT DOMINATED BY HUMANS,
EMERGED FROM THE REGION OF THE CHERNOBYL ACCIDENT.
FERAL PIGS OF AUSTRALIA
THE EARLY EUROPEAN SETTLERS WHO MIGRATED TO AUSTRALIA
IN THE LATE 1700S CARRIED WITH THEM THEIR FOWLS AND FARM
ANIMALS INCLUDING DOMESTIC PIGS. SOME OF THEIR DOMESTIC PIGS
WERE ACCIDENTLY SET LOSE IN AUSTRATLIA WHERE, IN THE WILD, THEY
GREW IN LARGE POPULATIONS AND EXPANDED INTO NEW TERRITORIES.
BY 1880S, THEY CAN FOUND IN 38% OF THE CONTINENT.
 IN THE SPAN OF 200 YEARS, THE POPULATION OF FERAL PIGS
INCREASED EXPONENTIALLY SUCH THAT RECENTLY THERE WERE MORE
FERAL PIGS THAN THERE WERE PEOPLE IN THE WHOLE WORLD OF
AUSTRALIA. IN 2007, THERE WERE APPROXIMATELY 23 MILLION OF
SUCH ORGANISMS BUT THERE WERE ONLY 21 MILLION PEOPLE
INHABITING THE ENTIRE THE ENTIRE CONTINENT.
 TODAY, THE FERAL PIGS OF AUSTRALIA ARE CONSIDERED PESTS.
THEY ARE AN INVASIVE SPECIES THAT DOMINATED AND DAMAGED THE
NATIVE ECOSYSTEM BECAUSE THEY HAD NO NATURAL PREDATORS AND
BECAUSE THE FERAL PIGS HAD A COLLECTION OF TRAITS THAT
ALLOWED THEM TO OUT-COMPETE NATIVE SPECIES.
 THESE FERAL PIGS ARE DAMAGING TO AGRICULTURE AND THE
ENVIRONMENT BECAUSE THEY
• ERODE SOILS AND FOUL WATERING HOLES WITH THEIR WALLOWING
•CREATE DRAINAGE CHANNELS IN SWAMPS
•FEED ON AGRICULTURAL CROPS
•EAT FROGS, BIRDS, INSECTS, AND SMALL MAMMALS
•SPREAD WEEDS AND POSSIBLY DISEASES SUCH THE FOOT-AND-
MOUTH DISEASE
• THE DAMAGE BY FERAL PIGS ON AGRICULTURE IN AUSTRATLIA IS
APPROXIMATELY 100 USD A YEAR
ECONOMIC IMPACT
THE IMMEDIATE CONSEQUENCE OF PHYSICAL DAMAGE TO
PRIVATE PROPERTY AND PUBLIC INFRASTRUCTURE DUE TO DISASTERS
IS A REDUCTION IN THE ECONOMIC PRODUCTIVITY IF THE AFFECTED
REGION. DESTROYED PUBLIC INFRASTRUCTURES REDUCE
MANUFACTURING OUTPUT AND DECREASE CONSUMER ACTIVITY.
WITHOUT ELECTRICITY, FOR EXAMPLE, ECONOMIC ACTIVITIES AT NIGHT
TIME ARE NO LONGER VIALBLE.
 IN EFFECTS, A BIG SLICE OF A COMMUNITY’S ECONOMIC LIFE IS
PUT TO A STOP. DESTROYED BRIDGES AND ROADS IMPACT THE
TRANSPORTATION OF GOODS, SERVICES, AND MOVEMENT OF
CONSUMERS. DESTROYED BUILDINGS CLOSE COMMERCIAL SPACES.
OVERALL, DISASTERS, ESPECIALLY SEVERE DISATERS, ESPCIALLY
SEVERE DISASTERS, RESULT IN THE CONTRACTION OF ECONOMIC
OUTPUT.
 THE ECONOMIC DISASTER WHICH IS NOT OFTEN DISCUSSED IN
OTHER LITERATURE ON DISASTERS IN HYPERINFLATION. THE SOCIAL
UPHEAVAL IN GERMANY BEFORE THE OUTBREAK OF WW II WAS
PRECDED BY HYPERINFLATION. THE SUFFERING OF A PEOPLE THAT HAD
TO CONTEND WITH SPIRALING PRICES PARTLY MADE GERMANY RIPE
FOR EXPLOITATION BY DEMAGOGUES IN THE 1930’S. THERE HAD BEEN
55 INCIDENTS OF HYPERINFLATION IN PEACETIME SINCE WW II.
SOCIETIES UNDER SEVERE HYPERINFLATION, FOR THE MOST CASES,
CAME TO BE GRIPPED BY SEVERE SOCIAL UNREST.
HYPERINFLATION IS A RAPID INCREASE IN THE PRICE OF GOODS AND
SERVICESAT A RATE MORE THAN 50% A MONTH. IN PEACETIME, IT IS
CAUSE BY A COLLAPSE IN MONETARY SYSTEM.
SELECTED HYPERINFLATION EVENT IN
PEACETIME
HYPERINFLATION EVENT, PLACE DAILY INFLATION RATE
AND TIME
•HUNGARY 1945-1946 207%, PRICES DOUBLE EVERY
15 HOURS
•ZIMBABWE 2007-2008 98%, PRICES DOUBLE EVERY
25 HOURS
•YUGOSLAVIA 1992-1994 65%, PRICES DOUBLE EVERY
34 HOURS
•PERU 1990 5%, PRICES DOUBLE EVERY
13 DAYS
•NICARAGUA 1986- 1991 4%, PRICES DOUBLED EVERY
16 DAYS
•VENEZUELA 2014 TO PRESENT 9.17%, PRICES DOUBLED EVERY
8 DAYS
CONSEQUENCE OF HYPERINFLATION
IMMEDIATE CONSEQUENCE IMPLICATIONS
•CURRENCY BECOMES NO INCENTIVE TO SAVE MONEY
WORTHLESS
•SHORTAGE OF GOODS AND THE SHORTAGE OF GOODS
SERVICES BECAUSE OF PRICE LEADS TO ECONOMIC CONTRAC-
INSTABILITY -TION AND DRIVES PRICES EVEN
HIGHER INTENSIFYING HYPER-
-INFLATION
•HIGH UNEMPLOYMENT DUE TO PEOPLE RESORT TO THEFT,
THE CLOSURE OF BUSINESS ROBBERY, AND VIOLENCE TO
ESTABLISHMENTS AND SERVICES ACQUIRE BASIC NECESSITIES
•PEOPLE RESENTS GOVERNMENT GOVERNMENT RESORTS TO
GOVERNMENT POLICY AND SUPPRESSION CREATING
DEMANDS CHANGE MORE CIVIL UNREST, LEADING
TO BREAKDOWN OF LAW AND
ORDER.
SOCIO-CULTURAL IMPACT
WHEN THE AFFECTED COMMUNITY CANNOT QUICKLY REORGANIZED
AND RECOVER FROM SEVERE DISASTERS, ITS MEMBERS EITHER STAY
INDEFINITELY IN EVACUATION CENTERS OR MIGRATE TO DISTANT REGIONS
NOT AFFECTED BY THE DISASTERS.
IN EVACUATION CENTERS, THE OLD SOCIAL STRUCTURE IS
TEMPORARILY BROKEN. THE INFLUENCE OF POLITICAL LEADERS OF IMPACTED
COMMUNITIES IS TEMPORARILY REDUCED BECAUSE THE MANAGEMENT OF
EVACUATION CENTERS IS LEFT TO REGIONAL OR NATIONAL GOVERNMENTS.
IN EXTREME CASES WHEN THE LARGER GOVERNMENT STRUCTURE IS IN
ITSELF SEVERELY IMPACTED, THE MANAGEMENT OF EVACUATION
CENTERS IS LEFT TO SUPRANATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS SUCH AS THE
UNITED NATIONS, THE RED CROSS, OR TO NON-GOVERNMENTAL
ORGANIZATIONS.
 THE TEMPORARY DISSOLUTION OF OLD SOCIAL STRUCTURES
FORCES PEOPLE TO ESTABLISH NEW SOCIAL CONNECTIONS IN
EVACUATION CENTERS. AN ESPRIT DE CORPS EMERGES; THE DISASTER
COMPELS PEOPLE TO ACT COLLECTIVELY FOR SURVIVAL. THE
AFTERMATH OF A DISASTER CAN BE AN OCCASION FOR THE OLD
BAYANIHAN SPIRIT TO COME TO LIFE AGAIN.
HOWEVER, IT SHOULD NOT BE IGNORED THAT A COMPLETE SOCIAL
DISINTEGRATION CAN ALSO FOLLOW A DISASTER. THE IMMEDIATE
AFTERMATH OF YOLANDA IN TACLOBAN CITY LEYTE, FOR EXAMPLE,
DISPLAYED A NEAR COMPLETE BREAKDOWN OF SOCIAL ORDER WITHIN
DAYS OF THE DISASTER. STORES AND GROCERIES WERE LOOTED.
WAREHOUSES OF RICE AND CORN WERE FORCIBLY OPENED.
 INTERESTINGLY, JUST TWO YEARS BEFORE YOLANDA, JAPAN WAS
STRUCK BY AN EARTHQUAKE AND TSUNAMI. THE COMBINED FORCE OF
AN EARTHQUAKE TSUNAMI LED TO THE NUCLEAR MELTDOWN OF
FUKUSHIMA DAIICHI POWER PLANT. THREE DISASTROUS EVENTS
STRUCK JAPAN WITHIN HOURS OF EACH OTHER AND YET THE JAPANESE
SOCIETY DISPLAYED ORDER AND CALM WHICH WHERE A MARVEL TO
WATCH FOR THE REST OF THE WORLD.
TWO CONTRASTING SOCIAL BEHAVIOR OF IMPACTED
COMMUNITIES CAN ARIES WITHIN DAYS OF A DISASTER. ONE IS
ANARCHY, THE OTHER SOLIDARITY.
PSYCHOLOGICAL IMPACT
ACUTE STRESS REACTION (SHOCK)
THE MOST FREQUENTLY OBSERVED INITIAL REACTION TO THE
AFTERMATH OF A DISASTER IS SHOCK. IN PSYCHOLOGY, SHOCK IS
WHAT IS REFERRED TO AS ACUTE STRESS REACTION , A
PSYCHOLOGICAL REACTION ARISING FROM A TRAUMATIC OR
TERRIFYING EVENT, OR WITNESSING THE UNFOLDING OF ONE.
THE COMMON SYMPTOMS OF AN ACUTE STRESS REACTION ARE
EMOTIONAL DETACHMENT, MUTENESS, AMNESIA, FLASHBACKS, AND
AVOIDANCE OF STIMULUS THAT REMINDS THE AFFECTED PERSON OF
THE TRAUMATIC EVENT. THESE SYMPTOMS OFTEN APPEAR WITHIN 4
WEEKS AFTER THE DISASTROUS EVENT.
THERE ARE TWO TYPES OF ACUTE STRESS: SYMPATHETIC AND
PARASYMPATHETIC REACTION.
 A SYMPATHETIC REACTION IS WHAT IS NORMALLY REFERRED TO
AS A FIGHT OR FLIGHT RESPONSE. IT IS A CHARACTERIZED BY
INCREASED AWARENESS, ACCELERATED PULSE AND HEART RATE,
DILATED PUPILS, AND HEIGHTENED ANXIETY (MATINDING
PAGKABALISA). A PARASYMPATHETIC RESPONSE IS SOMETIMES
CALLED REST AND DIGEST REACTION. IT IS CHARACTERIZED BY
DECREASED HEART AND RESPIRATION RATES AND SOMETIMES BY A
TEMPORARY LOSS OF CONSCIOUSNESS (HINIMATAY O NAWALAN NG
MALAY) .
POSTTRAUMATIC STRESS DISORDER
(PTSD) SYNDROME
WHEN AN ACUTE STRESS REACTION PERSISTS FOR MONTHS, IT
CAN LEAD TO POSTTRAUMATIC STRESS SYNDROME. PERSONS
AFFECTED BY PTSD FREQUENTLY EXPERIENCE PANIC ATTACKS, EXTREME
STARTLE REFLEX, ANXIETY, DEPRESSION, FLASHBACKS OF THE
DISASTER, AND CONTINUED AVOIDANCE OF ANY STIMULUS THAT
REMINDS THE OF THE DISASTER.
PSYCHOLOGICAL IMPACT AND SYMPTOMS
PSYCHOLOGICAL IMPACT SYMPTOMS
•ACUTE RESPONSE SYNDROME EMOTIONAL DETACHMENT,
MUTENESS, AMNESIA,
FLASHBACKS, AND AVOIDANCE
OF STIMULUS THAT REMINDS THE
AFFECTED PERSON OF THE
TRAUMATIC EVENT.
SYMPATHETIC REACTION-
INCREASED AWARENESS, ACCELERATED PULSE AND HEART RATE,
DILATED PUPILS, AND HEIGHTENED ANXIETY.
PARASYMPATHETIC REACTION-
DECREASED HEART AND RESPIRATION RATES AND SOMETIMES
BY A TEMPORARY LOSS OF CONSCIOUSNESS.
•POSTTRAUMATIC STRESS PANIC ATTACKS, EXTREME
DISORDER (PTSD) SYNDROME STARTLE REFLEX, ANXIETY,
DEPRESSION, FLASHBACKS OF
THE DISASTER, AND CONTINUED
AVOIDANCE OF ANY STIMULUS
THAT REMIND THEM OF THE
DISASTER.
THANK YOU !!!

BY: ANGELO SERVANO G 12