"A natural disaster is the highly harmful impact on a society or community following a natural hazard event. Some examples of natural hazard events include: flooding, drought, earthquake, tropical cyclone, lightning, tsunami, volcanic activity, wildfire."
The impact of natural disasters, such as floods, earthquakes, and hurricanes, on housing and the environment, and strategies for mitigating their effects.
Types of Natural Disasters: A comprehensive understanding of different types of natural disasters such as earthquakes, hurricanes, floods, wildfires, etc. and the aspects of their impacts on housing.
Vulnerability Assessment: The process of identifying different risks and hazards associated with natural disasters that can damage or compromise housing infrastructure.
Hazard Mitigation: Measures taken to minimize or reduce the impact of natural disasters on housing, including structural resilience, fireproofing, and landscaping.
Emergency Preparedness: Preparation and response strategies that can help housing structures and inhabitants remain safe when a natural disaster strikes.
Building codes and land-use policies: The guidelines and regulations set by the government that ensure safety in the housing infrastructure against different natural disasters.
Disaster recovery: The process of rehabilitation and restoration of housing infrastructure and communities following a natural disaster, including housing assistance programs and funding.
Urban Development: Study about how sustainable urban development can contribute to building resilient and adaptive housing structures as well as shelter strategies in urban areas.
Environmental degradation: Understanding environmental degradation of the planet and its impact on the occurrence of natural disasters such as hurricanes, floods, wildfires, and tsunamis.
Climate vulnerability: How climate changes affect natural disasters and ultimately housing. Additionally, measure to battle climate change and adapt to the changed climate.
Sustainable Infrastructure: Study about sustainable social housing strategies, including eco-friendly construction materials, green architecture, and energy-efficient design to create a more sustainable and more resilient built environment.
Floods: Floods are natural disasters where excessive water flow causes water bodies like rivers, streams, and dams to overflow and damage houses and properties in the surrounding areas.
Hurricanes: Hurricanes are violent tropical storms that occur in the Atlantic region, characterized by strong winds that can cause immense damage to houses and other buildings.
Tornadoes: Tornadoes are rotating, funnel-shaped clouds that can cause immense damage to homes, especially in regions with no basements.
Drought: Droughts are periods of prolonged dryness that can cause agricultural lands to dry up, resulting in crop failures and subsequent housing deterioration.
Earthquakes: Earthquakes are a sudden and violent shaking of the earth's surface that can cause immense damage to houses and buildings.
Landslides: Landslides are movements of rocks or earth down a slope which can cause damage to houses or homes situated at the bottom of the slope.
Forest Fires: These are large-scale wildfires that can quickly spread and destroy or severely damage homes and other buildings in regions that are dry and fire-prone.
Tsunamis: Tsunamis are large waves caused by earthquakes or volcanic eruptions, and these waves can cause severe damage to waterfront homes and structures.
Volcanic eruption: Volcanic eruptions occur when magma and volcanic ash are released from a volcano that can cause damage to nearby communities and homes.
Extreme Heat: Extreme heat waves can cause severe dehydration or heat exhaustion and affect the housing infrastructure by causing cracks in the building materials, particularly in regions where the temperature is severely high.
Extreme Cold: Harsh winters in certain regions can cause immense damage by freezing water that collects in basements or foundation, which may damage the housing infrastructure.
Tidal waves: Tidal waves are the ferocious waves caused by changing tides and can cause profound damage to houses and other buildings situated immediately near the coastline.
Lightning: Lightning causes immense damage to houses and properties, particularly in states that experience frequent thunderstorms.
Epidemics: Epidemics, such as the Covid-19 pandemic, can cause widespread damage to societal infrastructure, including housing, due to the loss of income, low housing developments, and reduced housing availability in general.
"A natural disaster can cause loss of life or damage property, and typically leaves economic damage in its wake."
"The severity of the damage depends on the affected population's resilience and on the infrastructure available."
"Scholars have been saying that the term natural disaster is unsuitable and should be abandoned."
"Instead, the simpler term disaster could be used, while also specifying the category (or type) of hazard."
"A disaster is a result of a natural or human-made hazard impacting a vulnerable community."
"In modern times, the divide between natural, human-made and human-accelerated disasters is quite difficult to draw."
"Human choices and activities like architecture, fire, resource management and climate change potentially play a role in causing natural disasters."
"In fact, the term natural disaster has been called a misnomer already in 1976."
"Natural disasters can be aggravated by inadequate building norms, marginalization of people, inequities, overexploitation of resources, extreme urban sprawl, and climate change."
"The rapid growth of the world's population and its increased concentration often in hazardous environments has escalated both the frequency and severity of disasters."
"Extreme climates (such as those in the Tropics) and unstable landforms, coupled with deforestation, unplanned growth proliferation, and non-engineered constructions create more vulnerable interfaces of populated areas with disaster-prone natural spaces."
"Developing countries which suffer from chronic natural disasters often have ineffective communication systems combined with insufficient support for disaster prevention and management."
"An adverse event will not rise to the level of a disaster if it occurs in an area without a vulnerable population."
"Once a vulnerable population has experienced a disaster, the community can take many years to repair, and that repair period can lead to further vulnerability."
"The disastrous consequences of natural disaster also affect the mental health of affected communities, often leading to post-traumatic symptoms."
"These increased emotional experiences can be supported through collective processing, leading to resilience and increased community engagement."
"Developing countries which suffer from chronic natural disasters often have ineffective communication systems combined with insufficient support for disaster prevention and management."
"Extreme climates (such as those in the Tropics) and unstable landforms, coupled with deforestation, unplanned growth proliferation, and non-engineered constructions create more vulnerable interfaces of populated areas with disaster-prone natural spaces."
"The rapid growth of the world's population and its increased concentration often in hazardous environments has escalated both the frequency and severity of disasters."