Some of the Great Natural Disasters of the present world

Some of the worst natural calamities to strike the world since 1900 is listed in the followings . Hurricanes, volcanic eruptions, tsunamis, cyclones, earthquakes and other storms are all clearly natural phenomena. According to the definition, floods and famines as well as flu pandemics  have been included for our purposes on the assumption that disasters that are not man-made are natural. The death tolls from disasters in the long past are, at best, rough estimations. But we can be sure that our pre-1900 fore-fathers endured some appalling calamaties such as the bubonic plague (The Black Death) that spread through Europe beginning in 1348 A.D and wiped out an estimated one-third of humanity, or about 2.5 crore people. However, some of the deadliest natural disasters of the present world are listed below :

1.Hurricanes, cyclones and floods.

Fig : Hurricane

May 3, 2008. According to U.S. predicts, Cyclone Nargis, swept along by winds that exceeded 190 km/h and waves 6 metres high struck the Burmese peninsula and may have killed about 100000.

Oct. 26-Nov. 4, 1998. the deadliest hurricane to hit the American was Hurricane Mitch. It killed 11,000 in Honduras and Nicaragua and also destructed 2.5 million as homeless.

Aug. 5, 1975. Yangtze River in China killed about 85000 people. This disaster was kept secret by the Chinese government for 20 years.

August 1971. It was estimated that about 100,000 died when heavy rains resulted to severe flooding around Hanoi in what was then North Vietnam.

Fig : Floods

Nov. 13, 1970. An estimated 500,000 were killed along the Bhola cyclone in the Ganges delta in Bangladesh.

June, 1938. Under the direction of  Chiang Kai-Shek, nationalist chinese soldiers blew up dikes around the Yellow River to stop Japanese troops from advancing. The heavy flood killed more than half a million people .

May-August 1931. almost 4000000 were dead by theMassive floods of China's Yellow and Yangtze rivers due to drowning, disease and starvation. In 1911 and 140,000 in 1935,the flooding of the Yangtze also killed an estimated 100,000.

 

2. A 7.0 Earthquake of Haiti

Haiti was strucked by 7.0 earthquake leveling buildings, degrading the communications and leaving the world wondering about the state of this ridiculously affected country.Buildings were destroyed and many people were injured acording to the witness.The lack of communications led to determine the full extent of damage and destruction of that place.According to Hal Donaldson, founder and president of Convoy of Hope, “Our Haiti country director is on the ground and we are working closely with our partnersto check on the children we feed and also to assist victims with immediate needs". Several more containers filled with relief supplies and after full preparation, shipped immediately to Haiti in the next few days. Haiti is the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere. Many of its nearly 10 million residents live in great poverty.Initial reports indicate that many buildings, homes and walls toppled under the strain of the earthquake. For several years,the President has worked in Haiti and currently feeds 11,000 children there each day.

Fig: Yellow River flood

3.Yellow River flood  in 1887  Deads : 9 lakhs - 20 lakhs

Due to the broad expanse of largely flat land around it, the Yellow River in China is prone to flooding. The 1887 Yellow River floods killed between 900,000-2,000,000 people devastating the area . It was one of the extreme  natural disasters ever recorded. The farmers living near the bank of Yellow River had built dikes to contain the rising waters, caused by silt accumulation on the riverbed for centuries.

Effects on economy

The natural disasters in all forms , whether made-made or natural where they strike and in a chain-reaction on overall economies because of the complex demands that have to be addressed to bring relief as perfect as possible have an immediate direct effects on the economies .Firstly, we should look at some of the different types of natural disaster faced by the humans all over the world over and  economical effects due to natural disaster are being specified in this topic. It also includes the natural calamities like earthquakes , volcanic eruptions , floods, tsunamis , landslides, new rise of dangerous diseases and even lightening among other natural phenomena. These natural disasters cause devastation to people, their properties and adversely affects their living standard and the natural environment on its early strikeness. In most of its occurence economies are strained to provide relief and rehabilitation and other humanitarian aid to the affected people and for the repair of damaged infrastructures as a result or product of the natural disaster.

Precautions

Disaster Precautions Tips :


Disaster precautions is important in preventing the loss of human lives and minimizing the damage to property during the occurence of a natural disaster. In todays world, there are so many types of natural disasters. In some cases, we cannot be able to take any precautions. So, safety measures or precautions should be pre-planned before the disaster strikes. However, some of the precautions to be taken before a natural disaster occurs are listed below :

1.The people should be sure that all breakalbes are stored safely, foodstuffs and water are prepared and big items need are on the floor.

2.Green vegetations like trees surrounding houses should be pruned regularly or even cut down if they are in state for damaging property if disturbed, for example wind .

3.Trustful information regarding natural disasters is always published on the news. Professionals who relay information to the media always closely monitors volcanic eruptions and hurricanes . Instructions and advice are also given on the emergency news as to how to prepare safe during occurence of natural disasters.

4.In the event that the gas or electricity becomes hazardous,everybody should also familiarize themselves with turning off the gas and electricity supply to their houses .

5.The originals or copies of valuable certiticates like bitrh certificates,marreage certificates, passports, citizenship,etc should not be left behind in an eacuated house but always carried on the person in the event that there is no return.

6. Learn how to shut off gas, water and electricity in case the lines are damaged.

7. If power is lost, turn off major appliances and keep refrigerators and freezers closed.

8. Check your home for cracks and damage, including the roof, chimneys and foundation.

Disadvantages

Disadvantages of natural disasters :
Natural disasters are the naturally occuring events that occur in an accidental way and changes the state of the natural environment and brings drastic change in the life of human beings. The natural disasters like volcanic eruptions,landslides,tornadoes, floods, droughts, tsunamis, hurricanes or any other kind of natural disasters can only do one thing i.e.cause destruction or calamity and there can be most probably only a few advantage from any kind of disaster whether it being man-made or natural for that matter. In my opinion, there are some of the major disadvantages of natural disasters which are given below in the points :

1.Loss of lives and property besides
causing of serious trauma and mental depression.

2.Maximum degradation of natural resources

3.Drastic change in the lifestyle of humans from general case to violenceful cases

4.Due to swept away of basic properties i.e. food, clothing,etc it directly leads to increase in social crimes and bad evils in the society for own's survival.

Advantages

Advantages of natural disasters:

In a general term, narural disasters do not result out many advantages. But when it is taken in a broad sense, there are some of the advantages hidden behind it. However, some of the advantages are listed below :

1.We get to know how to prepare ourselves for future calamities in the best way.

2.We learn what kind of social problems we have.

3. We find out better respond to future problems.

4.These disasters combine communities together.

5.It reminds us that we are out in charge of nature

Prevention

We are surving and running in the arms of the 21st century, the time where our society is able to bring the full force of technological and scientific advances to reduce the number of human tragedy and adverse affects on the economy due to natural disasters. A broad, advanced  and diverse approach is to be taken to reduce disasters, and support in bringing new emphasis to research on disasters, on pre- planning. To include disaster education and preparedness of the public as well as early warning systems is directly depended on us, in which people at risk receive, understand, and act upon the warning information conveyed. Natural disasters are the results or effects of natural hazards. These natural disasters represent a serious breakdown in sustainability and disruption of economic and social progress and they signify to the great loss of human lives and their properties. The massive number of dead, seriously injured and homeless people after the strike of a natural disaster and the large amount of money to be spent for reconstruction and rehabilitation equates to a natural disaster.Lastly, these are the extreme environmental events that impact human activities.

Root Causes

Natural Disasters and their Root Cause:

This is a fact that natural disasters occur everyday somewhere in the world. Flooding, hurricanes, typhoons, earthquakes, and more occur these disasters. Natural disasters can directly or indirectly cause severe threats to public health and well-being. These are the naturally occuring events and here I want to inform you of the many causes of natural disasters and how their impact affects the world. There are mainly two broad categories of natural disasters. The first category is climatic disasters. Floods, hurricanes, and droughts are the major climatic disasters that affect countries on a large scale. Floods are caused when excessive rainfall or snowmelt allows rivers to overflow their banks. The large storms that form in the tropical and subtropical regions of the world are hurricanes where the water is warm. These hurricanes need a constant supply of plenty of warm water in order to stay intense. Hurricanes is weakened by any ineraction with land or colder water. The effects of hurricanes are the most strongest near coastlines, on islands, and in mountainous regions, but the effects on each of those regions are different. Droughts affect agriculture and the gradually destroys the fertility of land which results in famines and starvation. Climatic disasters affect people, and are dominant through forces of wind and water.The second category or another main cause of natural disasters is geological disasters. Geologic disasters include earthquakes, volcanoes, and the disasters that occur as a result of geologic changes. The most significant geological disasters are earthquakes. An earthquake is the shaking of the land caused by an abrupt shift of rock along a fracture in the Earth. However, the direct effects of an earthquake depends on the economy of the region.