Natural Catastrophes and Their Impact on Humans and Animals
Natural catastrophes have not only affected humans, but also animals whose habitats have been put in jeopardy. The monsoon disaster flooding caused widespread devastation in Nepal, India, and Bangladesh, killing 18,000 people (Newman, 2017). People were ordered to evacuate places that were likely to be affected by government disaster planning techniques, and they were moved to relief camps, a move that almost undoubtedly saved their lives. It is regrettable, however, that people were reluctantly leaving these regions, raising the question of whether or not they required assistance. In a population that heavily relies on rice production, the destruction of this crop in millions of tons further caused a hopeless situation not only for the people in the relief camps but also to indirectly affected sections of the population.
Impact on Education and Infrastructure
The monsoon disaster further caused a long-term problem through the destruction of more than 18,000 schools in the affected regions (Huq & Dewan 2017). The impact of this structural destruction is the prevention of more than 1 million children from going through the schooling system. Measures suggested to ease the impacts aiming at coming up with a charity to rebuild and empower the children. Some of the effects of the monsoon might, however, spiral out of control like children dropping out of school as a result of the shortage of funds and the duration taken to rebuild the schools' structures. The governments in this region are likely to have overstretched facilities and likely to incur huge debts in the reconstruction processes (Correll, 2016). With the destruction of crops particularly in Bangladesh, relief food will be in high demand before people can rise again and carry out their economic activities.
Impact on Animals
The outcomes of Typhoon Hato proved that even animals are at equal risks whenever a disaster strikes. It is reported that thousands of cockroaches could be seen marching on the sea wall as the storm hit Macau and Hong Kong (Newman, 2017). The video of cockroaches extending for several feet in all directions of the wall showed the crawling insects attempting to flee the ground that has been soaked by the Typhoon Hato. These animals could, however, not succeed running away from the disaster as high waves came crashing on to the wall. There was nothing that could be done to save these insects, but there was a valuable lesson to be picked up by the observers, not only in this region but also in all parts of the world. Various policies are being made to rescue animals during natural disasters because they are often neglected (Irvine, 2006).
Conclusion
Conclusively, the world is being affected by many catastrophic natural disasters in the modern era. The impacts of these disasters have both short-term and long-term effects that often call for immediate response. Disasters like the Typhoon Hato caused mass suffering not only for human beings but also crops and animals like the cockroaches. Disaster preparedness measures ought to focus on how to reduce these negative impacts that can extend to years in the future generations. A good example is the effect of the destruction of schools in Bangladeshi that will make learners quit school, shattering dreams of many talented, creative, and innovative minds in the developing nation. However, it is worth recommending the current measures in various parts of the world in the issuance of warning and the rescue missions after disasters strike.
References
Correll, R. (2016). Preparing for and Responding to Flood Disasters: A Tale of Two Floods.
Huq, N. A., & Dewan, A. M. (2017). Launch disasters in Bangladesh: A geographical study. Geografia-Malaysian Journal of Society and Space, 2(1).
Irvine, L. (2006). Animals in disasters: Issues for animal liberation activism and policy. Animal Liberation Philosophy and Policy Journal, 4(1), 1-16.
Newman, S. (2017). Earthweek: Diary of a Changing World, 1.
