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Disaster Fatigue Is Real--and the Coronavirus Could Make It Worse
GIZMODO
Samantha Montano
55 minutes ago
Hurricane season has begun with a roar. The West is threatened by wildfires. Arizona is blanketed in a heat wave. Rains overwhelmed unmaintained dams in Michigan. At the same time, we are living through a combined health, political, economic, racial, and climate crisis.
The U.S. disaster management system is strained. Disaster management experts have questioned the ability of the government to respond to these and future disasters, but they are only one part of the response system. Volunteers, mutual aid networks, and the nonprofit sector are equally important when it comes. to disaster response. The pandemic threatens to stretch them thin, leaving communities that experience additional disasters without enough help at a time when need has never been greater.
Contrary to Hollywood’s depiction of disasters, research shows that people overwhelmingly respond in pro-social, altruistic ways. When disaster strikes, help emerges from within the affected community and converges from surrounding communities. Disaster researchers have documented this phenomenon for decades, describing the influx of help as a “mass assault” for how significant the flow of people and resources can be, even to the point of overwhelming the community. It is not just a few people. Forty-thousand people spontaneously converged on Ground Zero following 9/11 and more than a million people volunteered along the Gulf Coast after Hurricane Katrina hit the region hard and caused levee failure in New Orleans.
After disasters, an eclectic mix of national disaster nonprofits, foundations, local organizations, grassroots groups, and mutual aid networks work to meet the needs of survivors. Collectively, volunteers help—and often lead—a variety of relief efforts, including shelters, search and rescue, medical assistance, distributing donations, clearing debris, and rebuilding.
The U.S. disaster management system is strained. Disaster management experts have questioned the ability of the government to respond to these and future disasters, but they are only one part of the response system. Volunteers, mutual aid networks, and the nonprofit sector are equally important when it comes. to disaster response. The pandemic threatens to stretch them thin, leaving communities that experience additional disasters without enough help at a time when need has never been greater.
Contrary to Hollywood’s depiction of disasters, research shows that people overwhelmingly respond in pro-social, altruistic ways. When disaster strikes, help emerges from within the affected community and converges from surrounding communities. Disaster researchers have documented this phenomenon for decades, describing the influx of help as a “mass assault” for how significant the flow of people and resources can be, even to the point of overwhelming the community. It is not just a few people. Forty-thousand people spontaneously converged on Ground Zero following 9/11 and more than a million people volunteered along the Gulf Coast after Hurricane Katrina hit the region hard and caused levee failure in New Orleans.
After disasters, an eclectic mix of national disaster nonprofits, foundations, local organizations, grassroots groups, and mutual aid networks work to meet the needs of survivors. Collectively, volunteers help—and often lead—a variety of relief efforts, including shelters, search and rescue, medical assistance, distributing donations, clearing debris, and rebuilding.
Read more: https://earther.gizmodo.com/disaster-fatigue-is-real-and-the-coronavirus-could-make-1844079719/amp
