Communities natural disasters, impact

In contrast, the impact of natural disasters on communities—lingering disruption, persisting long after the causative event itself and exceeding the communities ability to recover unaided—is determined as much or more by societal behavior and practice as by nature per se. The negative impacts of natural hazards can, at a minimum, be mitigated or, in some instances, prevented entirely. Natural disasters kill and inflict human suffering. In addition, they destroy property, economic productivity, and natural resources, and they harm the environment. Disaster response also diverts assets... 

In the whole, it is possible to conclude that there are more towns with a highest level of capability support than towns with a lowest level, which can be read as a good indicator of the resistance capability of local communities to the impact of natural and technological disasters. The role of the municipal governments, mainly after the Carnation revolution of 1974, has to be emphasized. Also, after Portugal integration in the European Union in 1986, many structural funds were... 

Lindell, M.K., and C.S. Prater. 2003. Assessing community impacts of natural disasters. Natural Hazards Review 4 176-185. 

Hospitals and other health care facilities may further classify disasters as either internal or external. External disasters are those that do not affect the hospital infrastructure but do tax hospital resources due to numbers of patients or types of injuries (Cans, 2001). For example, a tornado that produced numerous injuries and deaths in a community would be considered an external disaster. Internal disasters cause disruption of normal hospital function due to injuries or deaths of hospital personnel or damage to the physical plant, as with a hospital fire, power failure, or chemical spill (Aghababian, Lewis, Cans, Curley, 1994). Unfortunately, one type of hospital disaster does not necessarily preclude the other, and features of both internal and external disasters may be present if a natural phenomenon affects both the community and the hospital. This was the case with Hurricane Andrew (1992), which caused significant destruction in hospitals, in clinics, and in the surrounding community when it struck south Florida (Sabatino, 1992), and Hurricane Katrina (2005) when it impacted the Gulf Coast, rupturing the levee in New Orleans (Berggren, 2005). 

The scope of a disaster can vary greatly and is partially dependent on the location of the disaster. A disaster in a rural community may not be considered a major event in an urban area because of the greater resource availability characteristic of urban areas. Conversely, an event that would have an impact in an urban setting may have next to no impact in rural areas because of low population densities. State, regional, and federal support does exist and will likely be made available in the event of a disaster (Richards, Burstein, Waeckerle, Hutson, 1999). However, because a required chain of notification must be completed to obtain outside support and because it takes time for state or federal officials to marshal the proper resources, disasters are usually local for the first days (Auf der Heide, 1989, 2006 Kaji Waeckerle, 2003), which was exemplified by the federal response to Hurricane Katrina. After the first few days, the extent of the support may be limited by the nature of the disaster. A widespread infectious epidemic may require that... 

Disasters that are due to natural causes often result in significant losses, physical destruction of dwellings, social and economic disruption, human pain and suffering, injury, and loss of life. This chapter presents the reader with a broad overview of the most frequently occurring natural/ environmental disasters, their impact on communities, and... 

Geoscientists have a great responsibility towards society in the natural hazards management and their role is cmcial to reduce the impact of natural phenomena and to improve the resilience of communities to future disasters (Peppoloni and Di Capua 2012 Jordan 2013 Wyss 2013). 

The effectiveness and efficiency of conununity recovery following a disaster is shaped not just by nature and scale of the physical impacts of the event but also on how the social environment supports the complex and protracted processes of recovery (Olshansky et al. 2006 Patmi et al. 2014). Recent research following a number of disasters has highhghted the complex nature of community recovery and the... 

Earthquakes can create large volumes of debris and solid waste. Depending on the severity of the earthquake and the nature of the built environment, waste volumes can be the equivalent of many times the annual waste generated by an affected community. Improved standards for built infrastructure are decreasing the probable impact of earthquakes in many communities. However, increased urbanization and dependence on complex infrastructure networks increase a community s vulnerability to a disaster. This also increases the likely amount of waste produced. 

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