Economic Impacts of Disasters in the United States

Disasters come with destructive effects on the economy of a State. Economic losses from disasters are likely to increase basically because of the population in the United States. Some disasters such as hurricanes, earthquakes, and tornadoes happen shortly but leave major destruction in the area. Thus, disasters such as floods or droughts occur for a longer time and cause major damage for days. However, the damages vary depending on the type of disaster that occurred; it can be infrastructures and assets like factories, schools, equipment, roads, bridges and more. 

Two major Economic Impacts of Disaster in the United States

1. Direct loss: Direct losses of disaster in the United States are losses that occur due to structural or physical impact caused by the disaster. For example, the destruction of infrastructure caused by flooding, the force of high winds or ground shaking. The number of people killed due to tornadoes and the damage to natural resources caused by hurricanes.

• Indirect losses: Indirect losses happen as a result of the initial destruction of the disaster. For example, hurricanes and forests decrease soil fertility which may indirectly affect the State’s natural resources. So also, there will be a loss of market value, production and business interruption due to damaged factories and infrastructures. 

How to recover from the economic impacts of the disaster

Recovering from damages a disaster leaves on the economy is quite difficult and complicated, but still, it can be reduced. Effective and swift measures such as rebuilding and replacing destroyed assets need to be taken in order to recover or sustain the State’s economic growth. Lost livelihoods should also be revived or get new ones to sustain the general welfare of the country.

In the United States, understanding the major disaster in a particular area is very important so as to know the actions and policies to be taken to reduce the human suffering that occurs when disasters strike. Building back is sometimes seen as an opportunity for a disaster-struck country to make a developmental change.