Natural disasters are events of powerful forces of nature that almost always have a lasting effect on the people, families, and communities they strike. They all use at least one of the forces of nature and have enough power to rip apart houses, buildings, roadways, neighborhoods, and lives, costing thousands to even millions of dollars to repair the damage that has been done. With one earthquake, tornado, or flash flood, hundreds or thousands of people living in the area that was affected can be stranded without the necessities they need and are forced to give up their livelihood just to rebuild a small portion of what they had lost. Thankfully, there are many different ways to raise the funds needed for natural disaster relief! To help you find the relief you need, we at Wishbazaar have compiled some information and tips to help you raise the most funds possible for your natural disaster relief efforts so you and your community can quickly and effectively find your way back on your feet.
TYPES OF NATURAL DISASTERS:
TORNADOES: Tornadoes, nature’s chaos, are the most destructive and quickest form of storm. They are caused by powerful thunderstorms and can rip apart cities, neighborhoods, and communities, disrupting the lives of hundreds to thousands and leaving those affected by economic hardships for long after the storm has finished. Tornadoes appear as a rotating, funnel-shaped cloud that spins from a thunderstorm to the ground below with winds that can reach upwards of 300mph. Because tornadoes can develop so rapidly, seeking refuge early may not always be an option, leaving many stuck in its grasp. This storm demolishes buildings, homes, schools, and can even wipe cars, trees, power lines, and (in a very dire case) people away with its rapid winds, causing large amounts of damage with even fatalities and leaving many civilians in debt and in loss.
FLOODS –When collected at such a high level, water is a very destructive form of nature. One way it becomes a natural disaster is when it takes the shape of a flood; floods can occur as a result of when a structure, such as a dam, breaks. It can wash away cars, homes, eliminate buildings, and destroy any type of life that may be in its path, ultimately tearing apart the communities and lives it affects. Floodsmart.gov states that floods are the number 1 most common natural disaster that occurs in the USA and from 2011 to 2015, the average flood claim amounted to more than $46,000. As it usually takes a bit of time for large amounts of water to accumulate (for example, with rainfall), there is often quite a bit of time for people in the affected area to evacuate. On some occasions, though, for example with flash floods or storm surges, that extra time that may have been available before isn’t always allotted, making it hard for residents of the community or city to seek refuge.
TSUNAMIS: The next natural disaster on our list, the tsunami. Tsunamis are destructive surges of water caused by underwater earthquakes that occur along the tectonic plate boundaries. They comprise of a series of ocean waves that sends surges of water (which can reach upwards of 100+ feet) on land and can cause widespread destruction when hitting land, knocking out cities and communities along the coast. Tsunamis can travel across the sea at up to 500 miles per hour and can travel long and far across oceans; they do not usually slow down during the journey. Unfortunately, when a tsunami hits a coast, it is very hard to tell it has arrived; a sure way to know it is there is when the whole beach is exposed and all the water has traveled back. If you see that, be aware - a tsunami is brewing in the distance and alert your area to begin to evacuate.
HURRICANES: Hurricanes are like tornadoes with a vengeance; they comprise of large, swirling storms with winds reaching 74 mph or higher. These storms form over warm ocean waters and can strike land with a force that can devastate areas stretching over hundreds of miles. If a hurricane manages to reach land, it tends to push walls of ocean water ashore, aka a storm surge. Storm surges mixed with the heavy rain from a hurricane’s many thunderstorms can cause major flooding and wipe out buildings, cars, landscapes, and even people. NASA states that hurricanes are categorized into five types based on how fast its winds are blowing and a Category One hurricane is the smallest, while a Category Five hurricane is the biggest. There are three parts to a hurricane: the eye, the eyewall, and rainbands. The eye is the calm of the storm and usually, within the eye, the winds are very low, the sky is mainly clear, and the air is very still. The next piece of the hurricane isn’t so beautiful, though, as the eye-wall is actually the most devastating portion of a hurricane. The eye-wall is comprised of a ring of thunderstorms and has the strongest level of rain and wind of any portion of the hurricane and is where storm surges mainly take place. Lastly, we have the rainbands, the part of the hurricane that stretches for hundreds of miles. This portion is comprised of clouds and thunderstorms and can even contain tornadoes that tear up the land it passes over. Hurricanes cause loads of damage and leave many it affects with nothing.
EARTHQUAKES: Earthquakes are a very common form of natural disaster and happen every day at very small magnitudes all around the world. They take the shape of sudden rolling/shaking events caused by movement under the earth’s surface along the fault lines. Earthquakes usually can be felt over large areas and usually last under a minute, although smaller earthquakes following bigger ones called aftershocks can continue for weeks, months, and even years after the major earthquake occurred. Many countries throughout the world are prone to earthquakes (some more than others) and earthquakes can occur at any time of the year on any day and at any time of the day. They’re measured based on their magnitude; the higher the magnitude an earthquake is, the more damage it causes and the more devastating the outcome can be. Earthquakes can cause buildings to collapse, rip apart roads and highways, and even cause fatalities if bad enough, leaving many devastated without shelter, food, or a clean source of water.
DROUGHTS: The second driest natural disaster on our list, the drought. This natural disaster can form in virtually every climate and can take a major toll on the communities it affects. Even though there isn’t just one exact definition of a drought, according to David Miskus, a drought expert and meteorologist at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Climate Prediction Center, “a drought is caused by not only lack of precipitation and high temperatures but by overuse and overpopulation.”
There are four main categories droughts are put into and they all represent a different way the drought was formed or how it affects a population. The categories are:
- METEOROLOGICAL DROUGHT: This drought is generally specific for different regions.
- AGRICULTURAL DROUGHT: This drought accounts for water needs of crops during different growing stages.
- HYDROLOGICAL DROUGHT: This drought occurs when there are persistently low water volumes in streams, rivers, and in reservoirs; human activities, such as drawdowns of reservoirs, can worsen hydrological droughts.
- SOCIOECONOMIC DROUGHT: This drought occurs when there is a higher demand for water that exceeds the supply.
Droughts take time to develop but are devastating for certain communities over others, especially for those which rely on farming or agriculture to sustain their areas and droughts in strong agricultural areas can further affect larger areas in the long run as crops that are necessary cannot grow.
WILDFIRES: Nature’s next powerful force are wildfires. This type of storm occurs when uncontrolled blazes of fire fueled by weather, wind, and dry underbrush ravages through areas of land, burning everything in its path within seconds. On average, there are over 100,000 wildfires that occur which clears four to five million acres of land in the US per year and they can move up to 14 mph, consuming everything, including trees, buildings, cars, and even people, in its path. Wildfires need three conditions to start and to continue to burn: fuel, oxygen, and a heat source. According to National Geographic, four out of five wildfires are started by people and one of the most common way wildfires start are from cigarettes flicked into patches of dry grass or shrub. Wildfires are one of the hardest natural disasters to recover from and can leave communities in devastation for long periods of time.
HUMAN IMPACT
Natural disasters leave many people without shelter and food, causing many different physical, mental, and emotional problems. Many who were affected were most likely not prepared for the natural disaster that struck their area and therefore have access to little to no resources that they may need to help them recover, such as extra food, water, or medical supplies. Another thing, many who live through a natural disaster are heavily affected emotionally and can even develop levels of PTSD, making it much more difficult to recover from this phenomenon.
Natural disasters also affect water supplies, contaminating drinking water and spreading disease to areas where populations were already vulnerable. Food and resources also tend to become scarce, as hospitals and grocery stores are damaged and therefore cannot be accessed when needed most; in the long run, this can become very dangerous as resources are not replenished and medical help is not readily available.
ECONOMIC IMPACTS OF NATURAL DISASTERS:
Natural disasters inflict serious damage on businesses, hospitals, homes, roads, landscapes, and unfortunately people and take quite a bit of time and thousands, even millions of dollars to recover from and depending on the area hit, they may never really recover. According to Swiss Re, a reinsurance company, economic losses from natural and man-made disasters in 2010 topped off $218 billion, more than three times bigger previous year's price tag of $68 billion. As the years continue on and the natural disasters get worse, the cost of recovery from a natural disaster continues to take a toll on the people stuck in its grasps and makes it harder to develop back the quality of life once experienced before it struck.
Natural disasters destroy farmland and factories which can be devastating for towns and cities that rely on them to survive; if resources aren’t replenished after the disaster occurs, then prices of necessary items that are needed for day to day life for most families skyrocket, furthering the depression of living conditions for the communities affected. Areas that are generally affected at the highest level are usually less-developed as they were not protected, to begin with, from conditions like the ones which present themselves during natural disasters; natural disasters tend to contribute to poverty in lower income countries as the damage lingers for years, making it very difficult for people living in the communities to fix the damage that occurred and furthering the level of poverty they have to live through.
IMMEDIATE AND LONG TERM AFFECTS
When a natural disaster occurs, there is an immediate reduction of the quality of life. The three most important needs that occur from a natural disaster are water, food, and medical assistance, and sometimes these needs can be the hardest to find for many who are in grave need. Thankfully, there are many disaster relief teams that show up to help communities work to get back on their feet and through search-and-rescue missions, clean-ups, and through bringing necessities to the areas affected, these teams are able to help the communities on a smaller level. Unfortunately, in the long run, though, many of the communities that were affected still are forced to fight to regain a similar quality of life they had before the natural disaster struck and many are left in poverty and in pain.
Most Natural disasters also destroy buildings and infrastructures, leaving many without medical care, access to food and water, and shelter. For more developed countries, this allows them to rebuild their buildings with natural disasters in mind, furthering the protection the ceiling and walls bring and helping them withstand higher winds and heavier rain. Unfortunately, the communities that are less-developed are not as fortunate and may not have the resources to rebuild the infrastructure that was damaged, leaving them in a devastating situation which is very hard to break out of.
HOW YOU CAN HELP
There are so many different ways to help a community, whether it’s yours or one across the world, recover from a natural disaster. Here are some of the ways that can quickly and effectively bring aid to a community that was affected by a natural disaster:
- Donating funds
- Crowdfunding/fundraising campaigns
- Sending over resources and donating items
- Volunteering
- Donating blood
One of the best ways to help with the recovery process of a natural disaster is to crowdfund. Crowdfunding is a super easy way to raise money around the world for a cause or charity and is helpful for getting your story out to members to everyone. Through the process of donating as well as sharing, your natural disaster story has a very good opportunity to go viral, allowing you to receive funds for your wish or story from anyone in any corner of the world. One easy-to-use and quick platform to get your cause or wish out there is through Wishbazaar! Wishbazaar is a perfect place to create your crowdfunding campaign as donating and receiving funds are a breeze and writing out your story with pictures and even a video is just a click away. Check out Wishbazaar for all of your fundraising needs and also check out the blog for even more tips and tricks for different types of fundraising!
We hope this blog post has helped you in some way find relief from natural disasters. We know natural disasters are difficult and sometimes nearly impossible to recover from and that’s why we are here to help because when you pass aid, a message, or anything forward, you can help change the world.