NATURE AND

EFFECTS OF
DISASTER
OBJECTIVES:
This learning plan is designed for you to:
1. describe the effects of disaster on one’s life;
and
2. analyze disaster from the different
perspectives (physical, psychological, socio-
cultural, economic, political, and biological.
 A disaster is any event that leads to a response beyond which
the affected community outweigh the available resource.
Earthquake, floods cyclones, storms, wildfires, volcanic eruptions and
landslides of the earth for millenniums. These natural processes can
cause natural disasters on interaction with human made features
such as settlements, agriculture, and infrastructure. Considering these
two experiences that we have; it is important that we mush be
prepared always. We can be prepared on any possible hazard that
may likely happen by knowing the effects of disaster. In this learning
plan you will learn the nature of disaster and its effect on one’s life.
TYPES OF DISASTER
• There are two different types of disasters: natural and
man-made. Natural disasters are such things as
earthquakes, tsunamis, pandemic flu outbreaks and
tornados.
• Man-made disasters include anything that a human being
has done to cause a disasters such as acts of bioterrorism,
hijackings and war.
Natural Disasters
• Natural disasters often strike without warning,
though most areas know what is “normal” for
their areas and prepare such occurrences.
Assessing is done by reviewing the history of
the region, looking at what weather and
other disasters have occurred in the past.
 VOLCANIC
ERUPTION
• Taal Volcano erupted in early
January 2020 affecting more
than 736,000 people in
CALABARZON, Central Luzon
and National Capital Region
and leading to an evacuation of
more 135,000 people, damage
to infrastructure and livelihoods.
TYPHOON
• A typhoon forms when winds blow into areas of
the ocean where the water is warm. These
winds collect moisture and rise, while colder air
moves in below. This creates pressure, which
causes the winds to move very quickly. ...
• Once a storm becomes a typhoon, wind speed
also determines the category of the storm.
MAN- MADE
• Man-made disasters have an element of human
intent, negligence, or error involving a failure of a
man-made system, as opposed to natural disasters
resulting from natural hazards. Such man-made
disasters are crime, arson, civil disorder, terrorism,
war, biological/chemical threat, cyber-attacks,
etc.
ACTIVITY 1.
Direction: There are various effects of disaster in our lives. Look at
group of words below and choose as many effects of disaster as you
can.
EFFECTS OF Human problem

DISASTERS IN • This includes physical injury, mental health

problem, illness, disease loss of life and forced
ONE’S LIFE migration.
Public Health
Problem
• This includes poor sanitation
(access to clean drinking water
and adequate wastewater
disposal), increasing breeding
ground for infectious and
emerging disease, limited or lack
of life-saving medications and
equipment, isolation from rescue
and emergency healthcare
services.
 • This include collapsed or damage to the
facilities such as bridges, buildings,

Damage to hospital, housing, irrigation, port, power

supplies, roads, school, sewage,
Infrastructure telecommunication and water supply.
 • This include destruction of animal habitat,
Environmental environmental pollution, ozone layer depletion,
Problems environmental degradation, loss of biodiversity,
climate change, acid change and global warming
Economic
Problem
• This includes
economics
shutdown,
bankruptcy, loss of
labor, loss of assets
and loss of
properties.
ACTIVITY 2
Direction. Analyze the series of events. In the first column, write 1 for the first event, 2 for second event and 3
for the last event. In the third column, write CAUSE if the events is the cause for all the other events to
happen, otherwise identify the effect of disaster describe in each event. Choose from human problem,
public health problem, damage to infrastructure, environmental problem and economic problem to identify
the effect of a disaster.
 HUMAN ASPECTS AFFECTED BY
DISASTER
1. Physical.
Human body is directly affected during the
occurrence of a disaster because of what it is made of,
flesh and bone. During an earthquake, falling objects, sharp
objects, intense ground shaking can cause physical injury.
In a contaminated floodwater, bacteria can enter the
body through wounds or cuts and can cause illness to us.
Moreover, bacteria can seep into skin pores if you are
wading or bathing through floodwater for a long time.
2. Emotional.

The usual emotions like

sadness, anger, nervousness are
considered negative emotions.
These emotions are usually
triggered by negative situations.
And when the negative situation is
over, these emotions usually go
away. However, disaster can affect
a person emotionally when the
negative emotions continue to
linger even when the situation has
improved.
3. Psychological

The extreme negative conditions such as

deaths, collapsed buildings, fire incident, poor
access to food and water can be very scary,
dangerous and overwhelming. These
conditions can cause psychological effects
which include mental stress, trauma, post-
traumatic disorder to a person. A person who
suffers from psychological effect may show
symptoms like trouble sleeping, prolonged
sadness, irritability, having no feelings, lack of
energy, hyperactivity, trouble concentrating,
feeling confused, lack of appetite, eating most
of the time, stomachaches, headaches and
prolonged body pains.
4. Sociocultural.

Disaster can bring the best in people

through their habits, traditions beliefs and
values. The spirit of mutual support called
“bayanihan spirit”, unique to Filipinos, take
place in a community during a disaster. Each
member of the community participates in
cleaning the community, rebuilding and
providing care to those affected in his own
little way. The community would make an
initiative to cope with the situation even
before the support from various organizations
would come.
 Disaster can affect people politically through projects, policies,
regulations, and laws which will be implemented to cope with the
5. Political damage caused by the distraction. During a pandemic, government
may issue a community lockdown in which all people have to stay at
home. All activities such as travels, social gatherings, church services,
schools, public transportation, shopping, restaurants, and hotels may be
closed or restricted under a community lockdown.
 6. Economic
Disaster can affect people
economically when the buying and selling
are interrupted. All businesses essentially
operate through production, consumption
and distribution of goods and services. If a
disaster like earthquake destroys major roads
for distribution of foods, then the disaster has
affected the community economically. If
there would be an outbreak of diseases in
pigs, people may not buy pork products. This
situation affected the consumption of
products and affected the economic aspect
of people through their livelihood from selling
pork products. If an earthquake caused hotel
building to collapse killing some employees,
the company owner has been affected
economically through the financial
settlement for the loss of lives and property.
7. Biological
Disaster can affect us
biologically through the
emergence of disease-causing
virus, bacteria, protozoa,
parasite, fungus. Disaster can
also allow certain animals to
survive in contaminated or
polluted areas such as insects
which can cause illness.
ACTIVITY 3.
Direction. Write the letter of the correct answer from Column B that
best describe the idea in Column A.
• Physical perspectives – it describes observable objects in a
building/infrastructure which include durability of building, fire exits availability, and
absence or presence of an important objects that would help or harm you in any
ways.
• Psychological perspectives – it pertains to the mental capacity and health of an
individual to deal with disasters. Age, perception, and self-capacity are some of
the points of considerations.
• Socio-cultural perspectives – it involves people’s beliefs, religion, traditions, social
status, and perceptions within a community with respect to considering their
response to disaster.
• Economic perspectives – it involves income, assets and liabilities, and economic
class of an individual or a community in the society.
• Political perspectives – it involves structure of the government, issues in
diplomacy, etc. in dealing with disasters.
• Biological perspectives – it involves the role of flora (plants) and fauna (animals)
in the environment, diseases, health, etc.
VALUES INTEGRATION
“I have been through with disaster, and I succeeded
coping with it so other people could do it also.”