Human impacts of hazards

Abstract

The impact of hazards on people is a function of the interaction between the hazard and the characteristics of the people, communities, and society that lives in harm’s way. From a social perspective, hazard impacts are influenced by several factors. Community members, businesses, and societal institutions that are prepared (e.g., household emergency plans and business continuity plans) in ways that enhance their safety and facilitate their continued functioning even when experiencing disruptive hazards consequences (e.g., ground shaking, volcanic ashfall, and flood inundation) will experience less severe impacts and will recover more quickly. Since people cannot prepare for all eventualities, the severity and duration of hazard impacts will be influenced by the availability of strategies that facilitate social and physical recovery and that accommodate the community diversity (e.g., demographics, ethnicity, and culture) that affects the distribution of hazard impacts within affected communities. Finally, strategies must accommodate the fact that the hazards that communities may face will change over time. For example, changes in land use patterns (e.g., land clearance, industrial development, and pressure for affordable housing) and factors such as climate change are changing the hazard-scape people will have to contend with. Understanding andmanaging the human impacts of hazards is thus a dynamic and iterative process.