Story after story from cities large and small across the United States indicates that every day, millions of Americans could be one job loss, one major illness, one family divorce or death, one fire, one natural disaster or accident away from falling into DISASTER. This constant near-proximity to disaster is often unrecognized by the general population, and consequently, effective responses are not addressed in enough detail to provide lasting results.
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introduction The nature of each type of disaster leads to varying circumstances within each location and context, but a commonality among most is often reduced to the need for basic shelter and sanitation. Regardless of the scale, such episodes often result in homelessness or poverty in some form or another. The United States is regarded as one of the most prosperous nations in the world, yet every night there are hundreds of thousands of citizens who do not have a safe place in which to sleep, a secure source of food, a way to maintain basic hygiene, adequate health services, and secure storage for belongings. Once a person enters this cycle, he or she frequently loses access to the cohesive structure needed to regain footing in society. Without a network of reinforcement, people have extreme difficulty overcoming these hurdles.
context
Additionally, thousands of smaller scale events with disastrous effects happen every day with little to no awareness from the majority of the population. For the people involved, however, the effects can be permanent.
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job loss, property loss, injury, chronic illness, poverty, addiction, depression, and broken family and support networks.
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Commonly overlooked are the less-visible array of after-effects spurred by disaster events, which often have equally devastating results:
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The most commonly recalled disasters are the largest scale events with highly visible, widespread effects: the September 11 attacks on the World Trade Center, Hurricane Katrina, the BP oil spill, the earthquake in Haiti, or flooding in Pakistan.
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Entering this project on the topic of disaster consequences and relief efforts, a taxonomy was created to chart types of disasters and results. It quickly became apparent that no location on Earth exists without the potential of a disastrous occurrence. Whether natural or man-made, they can occur at any place and at any time. One can strike in an instant or creep up in a slow progression; however, no matter the time frame, the effects can be devastating for an individual and an entire nation.
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