The Effects of Natural Disasters

By Vincent Chan

People everywhere understand that the effects of disasters are formidable. That’s not just pecuniary loss; indeed, an intense natural disaster always involves countless sufferers and casualties. Common natural disasters such as earthquakes, hurricanes, typhoons, tornados and tsunamis are disasters which human beings have to struggle with. Environmental scientists concentrate on searching for all the data and signs to forecast disasters. Nevertheless, even though nowadays the science and technology have been improving a lot, some disasters are still unpredictable. There are three common effects from natural disasters: the collapse of buildings, pecuniary loss, and human suffering.

An earthquake or a tornado can destroy buildings. Too many people have lost their houses because those disasters happened abruptly. When a place becomes a disaster area, can you imagine what will happen afterwards? Sufferers don’t have houses to live in. They live in some temporary tents and wait for the rescue. Otherwise, rebuilding housing and buildings or even the whole disaster area will give an extremely heavy load to sufferers and the government.

Pecuniary loss is another important effect after a disaster happens. For sufferers and residents in a disaster area, they may struggle with losing their property. It is unbearable. Moreover, the national economics in that country will become a serious problem to deal with. An actual example was the earthquake that happened in Sichuan, China, in 2008. After the earthquake, many people died, roads were blocked by rock slides, no electricity and drinking water, manufactories, schools and other companies all stopped working. Those above-mentioned instances are rationales why disasters would stop the movement of a country.

Nothing can compare with the importance of casualties. While a person is covered up in building fragments but luckily he/she is still alive, there are several disadvantages that he/she is facing. That person may probably face no water, fresh air and food. Moreover, he/she may get severely injured in a building collapse; therefore, his/her life all depends on the rescue team. So now we comprehend that in a vital crisis, the faster the rescue, the higher the living rate.

In conclusion, Nature is just like a wild animal. It doesn’t have humanity. There is no cue to stop disasters from happening. If we can exactly forecast disasters in advance, or people are aware of the intense effect, the casualties from disasters will be declined to a minimum rate. We are not able to struggle with the environment. Anyhow, human lives are fragile. For this reason, knowing how to protect yourself is essential for saving your life.