Question

The flooding in Louisiana is an example of a natural disaster. Discuss with your classmates how natural disasters affect the health of a community.

Answer 1

The common misconception among the people and the natural disasters is that the diseases will spread automatically just after the event. But in reality, the outbreaks really happen due to lack of consumable water and sanitation facility. Even if just one person is suffering from a communicable disease during the natural disaster, it is enough for it to spread to the entire community. The community will not have the access to the healthcare system as well. This increases the risk of the disease getting spread in the community and lead to deaths. The dead bodies do not pose a huge threat to the community the natural disaster and we need to worry about them only if the people have died because of some deadly diseases. The natural disaster can lead to malnutrition as well and the people in the area will face severe food shortage. Most of the problems faced after the event will be related to water and sanitation. Some of the major diseases like diarrhea, Hepatitis, and fever will happen due to the shortage of fresh water. The event can have a huge impact on the mindset of the people and lead to trauma. The community might also face the problem of the injuries within them and they might become an issue with they are left untreated for a long time.