REPORT ON

THE IMPACT OF DISASTERS

 The impact of natural disasters :
•Natural disasters can have a life-altering impact on the individuals and families fortunate
enough to survive them.
•But the effect of natural disasters can be felt at the community, city and state level, or many
times can impact an entire country.
•Natural disasters can have huge environmental impacts as well, even when human communities
are relatively unaffected.
•How well the impact of a disaster event is absorbed has much to do with the intensity of the
impact and the level of preparedness and resilience of the subject impacted.

Significance :
•Even before the industrialization of the modern world, natural disasters have been a fact of life.
•There are records of the migratory travels of Native Americans away from coastal Florida
specifically to avoid seasonal hurricanes.
•However, with the modernization of many societies worldwide and the changes our industrial
activities have brought to the environment, many weather related natural disasters have gained
in both frequency and intensity.
•This translates to in increased global impact of natural disasters at all levels.
Individual Impact :
•At the individual level, the impact can often be felt physically, mentally and emotionally.

•Natural disasters cause destruction of property, loss of financial resources, and personal injury
or illness.
•The loss of resources, security and access to shelter can lead to massive population migrations
in lesser-developed countries.
•After experiencing a natural disaster, many individuals develop severe post-traumatic stress
disorders or withdraw into states of depression. Others develop negative associations with the
environment, in more developed nations; this can also lead to significant population migrations.

Community Impact :
•Communities that experience a natural disaster must also absorb the impacts of these
destructive events.
•Many local communities lose so much in economic resources that recovery becomes difficult, if
not almost impossible.
•Some communities find opportunity in the aftermath of a disaster to rebuild better and
stronger communities than before.
•Communities must often recognize population, demographic, and cultural shifts as a result of
the impact of the natural disaster on their individual citizens.
Economic Impact :
•In 2005, Hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans and the Mississippi gulf coast.
•In New Orleans alone, more than 200,000 homes were destroyed; over 70 percent of the
resident population had to be at least temporarily relocated outside of the greater New Orleans
area.
•In addition, huge sums of federal assistance were necessary to help jump start recovery efforts
in the city and surrounding region.
•Estimates of over $105 to $150 billion in reduced tax revenue, loss of infrastructure, expense of
reclamation efforts, and loss of normal revenue were lost to the city.
•Beyond the economic losses to New Orleans, it is estimated that the United States economy
suffered a 2 percent loss of overall gross domestic product within one year of the disaster as a
direct result of the hurricane and its impact on this important international port city.
Environment :
•Just as a natural can change the landscape of our personal lives as well as aspects of our
community, so too can different types of disasters drastically alter the natural environment.
•The cyclones that occurred in Myanmar in 2008, or the wildfires that spread throughout
California in 2009 are examples of how areas of land that detail whole ecosystems can be
dramatically damaged or transformed from a single disaster event.
•On a larger scale, the debate regarding how to address global climate change and the resulting
natural impacts is further punctuated by estimates of sea level increases that will completely
swamp some island nations.

•Furthermore, the rapid desalination of salt water oceans caused by melting glaciers could
deprive the world of 30 percent or more of its edible fish supply, and the loss of coral reefs from
the same cause would put numerous coastal regions in jeopardy of tidal waves and surges.
 Effects due to earthquake :
Man-made disasters:
•When the disasters are due to carelessness of human or mishandling of dangerous equipment’s
they are called man-made disasters. Common examples of these disasters are train accidents,
aero plane crashes, collapse of buildings, bridges, mines, tunnels, etc.

 The impact of man made disasters :

Impact on the environment:

•Leakage of toxic chemicals from the industries and accidents in the nuclear reactors has short-
term and long-term effects on the environment and human health.

• Short-term effects on human health relate to casualties and diseases like blindness, cancer,
paralysis, heart trouble, gastric and respiratory abnormalities.
•Long-term effects include genetic imbalances in humans and its impact on the future
generations.
•Soil and water sources also remain polluted for long durations of time.
 Non Structural Element its Behavior during an Earthquake :
•ABSTRACT :
Non structural elements in a building are those members which come in to the path of
earthquake force affected by it but do not take part in the dissipation of energy produced during
an earthquake. Failure of these members during an earthquake causes not only economic losses
but human life too. The building will remain safe after an earthquake but may become
unserviceable for the purpose for which it has been constructed. For the earthquake resistant
design of building study of behavior of these members is necessary. It has been found that
seismic design of structure is given much attention but very little attention has been given to
protecting non structural member of the buildings1 . This article has been prepared after
studying codes and articles published in various journals. The main objective of this article is to
make design people aware of the importance of non structural element in the earthquake
resistant design of buildings.

Keywords: Non structural element, Earthquake, Behavior.

•We can imagine a person seating in a moving vehicle when the vehicle is suddenly stopped the
person seated in side without seat belt will slip away from the seat and may injure him.

•Similarly during an earthquake, waves are generated, unsecured objects are placed over the
structure will slide, topple or collide with each other and may injure to the people at the same
time fallen object may prevent the rescue operation by blocking the passage and exit.
•During an Earthquake the acceleration will be different at Different floor levels of buildings.

•The non structural element placed at different floor level will be accelerated. This acceleration
will be different than the main structure over which it is placed.

•It will experience acceleration more than 12 times that of the main structure.
•The identical members placed at different floor levels will experience different amount of
shaking.

•A body with large mass and large height than the base surface is shaken slightly it will remain
stable. When it is or shaken moderately it will slide severely and rock or even topple.
•At the floor levels. The relative movement D is in the horizontal direction and transverse to the
pipe, irrespective of direction of shaking.
•Thus as per the behavior of on structural member during an earth quake it can be broadly
classified as (i) Force Sensitive elements
(ii) Displacement sensitive element
(iii) Both force sensitive and displacement sensitive element.
Force sensitive Elements –
• These elements are stiff and heavy. They slide, rock and topple during an earthquake. The force
experienced during an earth quake by these elements increases with the increase in the floor
level of building. For example heavy storage racks overturning may cause economical and human
loss.

Displacement sensitive elements-

•These elements move or swing into translation and rotation during an earthquake. They give
impact to nearby non structural element and also pulled apart. The non structural element
connected to two adjacent buildings like sewage pipe line joints open up leading to loss of
function, Glass facade breakage can harm people.mes without bracing or shear walls for
resisting the lateral loads
From the above discussion following conclusion have been made :
(i) Non structural elements are non earthquake force resisting members of buildings. They are
Architectural members, storage facilities, electrical and mechanical equipments within and
out side the buildings.
(ii) Development of modern construction has increased the non structural part in buildings than
the structural part.
(iii) Economical and human loss due to the failure of non structural members during an
earthquake has increased.
(iv) After the development of performance based earthquake resistant buildings it becomes
necessary to have harmonious performance of non structural member with the structural
member.
(v) The same member placed at different level of floors of a building experience different
amount of forces for the same earthquake. There are a large number of non structural
members in a building. They have different and complex behavior at elastic and non elastic
range of earthquake forces. So it becomes difficult to judge the amount of force coming on it
during an earthquake. A specific guide line has to be prepared.