Natural disaster

About: Natural disaster is a research topic. Over the lifetime, 5456 publications have been published within this topic receiving 104808 citations. The topic is also known as: natural calamity & natural hazard.

Disaster Risk Management: National Systems for the Comprehensive Management of Disaster Risk and Financial Strategies for Natural Disaster Reconstruction

Abstract: This report was commissioned by the Natural Disasters Network of the Regional Policy Dialogue. This report constitutes Phase 2 of this project. While the first phase of the study discusses the components of a national system, the second focuses on instruments for financing reconstruction after a disaster. The research compares centralized, government-directed management systems with those that are localized and decentralized, and also analyzes the factors affecting the financial and political stability of alternative approaches. As natural disasters may result in major resource gaps for governments facing the task of financing reconstruction, the report presents case studies of four countries-Bolivia, Colombia, the Dominican Republic, and El Salvador-to highlight the various policy options. Alternative sources of ex ante funding are identified, including reserve funds, contingent credit, and insurance. These innovative methods of funding are compared with ex post funding possibilities through international aid, loan diversions and increased external debt, budget reallocations, and tax increases.

Managing the health impacts of drought in Brazil.

Abstract: Drought is often a hidden risk with the potential to become a silent public health disaster. It is difficult to define precisely when it starts or when it is over, and although it is a climatological event, its impacts depend on other human activities, and are intensified by social vulnerability. In Brazil, half of all natural disaster events are drought related, and they cause half of the impacts in number of affected persons. One large affected area is the semiarid region of Brazil’s Northeast, which has historically been affected by drought. Many health and well-being indicators in this region are worse than the rest of the country, based on an analysis of 5565 municipalities using available census data for 1991, 2000 and 2010, which allowed separating the 1133 municipalities affected by drought in order to compare them with the rest of the country. Although great progress has been made in reducing social and economic vulnerability, climate change and the expected changes in the semiarid region in the next few decades call for a review of current programs, particularly in public health, and the planning of new interventions with local communities. This study reviews the literature, analyzes available data and identifies possible actions and actors. The aim is to ensure there will be sufficient and sustainable local adaptive capacity and resilience, for a population already living within the limits of environmental vulnerability.

Community Vulnerability to Floods and Landslides in Nepal

Abstract: We addressed the issue of differential vulnerability to natural disasters at the level of village communities in Nepal. The focus lay on the relative importance of different dimensions of socioeconomic status and in particular, we tried to differentiate between the effects of education and income/wealth, the latter being measured through the existence of permanent housing structures. We studied damage due to floods and landslides in terms of human lives lost, animals lost, and other registered damage to households. The statistical analysis was carried out through several alternative models applied separately to the Terai and the Hill and Mountain Regions, as well as all of Nepal. At all levels and under all models, the results showed consistently significant effects of more education on lowering the number of human and animal deaths as well as the number of households otherwise affected. With respect to the wealth indicator, the picture was less clear and particularly with respect to losses in human lives, the estimated coefficients tended to have the wrong signs. We concluded that the effects of education on reducing disaster vulnerability tended to be more pervasive than those of income/wealth in the case of floods and landslides in Nepal.

Impacts of flood disasters in Nigeria: A critical evaluation of health implications and management.

Abstract: Floods lead to tremendous losses of property, infrastructure, business and increased risk of diseases. Floods are also the most frequent natural disasters, affecting over 2.8 billion people in the world and causing over 200 000 deaths over the past three decades. The World Health Organization categorised the 2012 flood disaster in Nigeria as the worst flood to have hit the country in the past 50 years. This study reviews flood disasters in Nigeria and how they have been managed over the past two decades. The extensive review of the literature is complemented by data obtained from Ajegunle, a community in Ajeromi–Ifelodun Local Government Area. Because of its proximity to water bodies, its large population and its small land mass, the Ajegunle community is highly susceptible to floods and outbreaks of waterborne diseases. The study also discusses the institutionalisation and development of disaster management in Nigeria. Further, it critically evaluates the disaster management framework and other current disaster management policies as well as the effectiveness and functions of the disaster management focus areas and government response. The study takes a historic approach to flood disasters, linking disaster management to human health with a special focus on flood-related infectious diseases, isolating waterborne diseases as being predominant. Quantitative and qualitative data were collected to develop an understanding of how the people of Ajegunle are affected by flood disasters. This study reveals poorly managed health reforms and argues that in spite of government’s disaster management policies, there is an absence of organised and coordinated institutional structures to plan and respond to flood emergencies. It also revealed that diarrhoea outbreak was the predominant waterborne disease associated with flood disasters. Although Lagos State has been said to have the best flood preparedness plan in Nigeria, it has failed to reduce the yearly flood disasters and their impact on the health of the people. The article suggests a holistic approach by the government to get stakeholders, especially the health sector, more actively involved in disaster management planning.

10th Anniversary Review: Natural disasters and their long-term impacts on the health of communities

Abstract: Long-term health impacts in communities that have experienced natural disasters are often overlooked. Recovery from natural disasters is often a long, drawn-out process. Recovery plans need to address these interruptions in the return to pre-disaster functioning and make provisions for addressing ongoing health problems. The following review will examine illness patterns that may arise, directly or indirectly, in the months and years following a disaster event. The objectives of the review are: (i) to identify the burden of long-term community ill-health following natural disaster events; (ii) to evaluate current gaps in the ongoing process of health monitoring for populations affected by disaster; (iii) to review approaches that would provide ongoing surveillance of physical and psychosocial ill-health.