BA2 Learning Log – Disasters – 26/10/16
Theme: DisastersKey Learning:
Political Factors and Economic Impact I found the input on ‘disasters’ extremely interesting from the very start of the presentation. The way in which it was delivered was engaging and I was keen to gain more of a knowledge and understanding about these ‘natural disasters’ and how they impact people’s lives. A natural disaster is a major adverse event resulting from natural processes of the Earth: examples include floods, hurricanes, tornado, volcanic eruptions, earthquakes, tsunami’s and other geological processes. A natural disaster can cause loss of life or property damage and typically leaves some economic damage in it’s wake, the severity of which depends on the affected populations resilience, or ability to recover/rebuild the available infrastructure. An adverse event will not rise to the level of a disaster if it occurs in an area without vulnerable population. In a vulnerable area, an earthquake can have disastrous consequences and leave lasting damage which requires years to repair. As I live in Scotland, I along with many other people am very fortunate that we live in an area that is rarely affected by natural disasters. I found this topic very beneficial as it made me aware that just because we are not affected by many disasters, there is still a lot we can do to help people who are. The disaster classification is where human society is severely impacted through social disruption, material damage, and loss of live whereby there are damages of £1million or more and 100 or more deaths. After discussing the different variations of natural disasters, we discussed whether we as humans impacted towards these. I persoanally would’ve always believed we are not to blame for ‘natural’ disasters however due to the contributions we make towards Global Warming, Urbanisation, Deforestation and Mangrove Destruction then yes, I do believe that we are a contributing factor. It is clear that we cannot predict when disasters are going to exactly occur, nor can we identify just how severe they can be however there is preparation to some degree in which the government can organise. After looking at the Haiti Case Study, it was clear that the government did very little to prepare for the disaster that wiped out an entire village and also did not support Haiti after it was so badly affected. Although make-shift camps were set up for the people, they were not maintained properly which caused an outbreak of disease due to poor sanitation and decomposing bodies of those who had sadly lost their lives in the vicinity. The government’s response was very poor which caused a lot of confusion amongst those affected as their decisions were not made on humanitarian principles. The government were aware that there was a disaster approaching however they made no effort to evacuate their people and handed the airport control over to the US Military where flights were turned away which highlighted poor prioritization. However, in turn to the lack of help from the government, the response from International Aid was rapid and they sent as much help as possible to look after people who had lost everything. The Haitian government appeared to be extremely corrupt and even called off the search party for any survivors on the 23rd January 2010, however after a staggering 2 weeks, the last survivor was rescued. Although this disaster caused billions of damage, and thousands lost their lives, the village of Port Au Prince was already neglected by it’s own government and even now, there are currently still 500,000 survivors living on the streets and a further 500,000 living in make-shift camps.
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Impact on my views/lifestyle/practice: After reading the case study about Haiti, I was shocked and saddened to realize how neglected they were before, during and after this horrendous disaster that destroyed their country. Although I was aware of the story and watched tragic scenes on the news on the television, I had no understanding of just what these people went through and how at a time of need, the government did not look after their people.
This highlighted to me how our country and the United Kingdom is in a very fortunate position to not be on the cusp of being impacted by these kind of disasters however I would hope that if we were ever affected greatly by one that our government would step up and do all they can do look after our people. The government’s role should be:
If the United Kingdom is ever affected, then the government should be able to carry out the above steps in order to support the country. Going by any previous damages caused by flash floods or storms, the government are usually quick to step in and send aid which is a massive relief for those who have been affected or lost their homes. |
Areas of interest to explore further/develop: I aim to explore all of these areas in more depth as I found all of it very interesting. It is important to understand that Aid and Relief can only be sent internationally to those affected so long as it can be afforded and a great way to continue to support International Aid is by simply donating or volunteering, even if it is a small gesture it can make a huge difference. |