Can communities ever recover fully from serious natural disasters?

Natural disasters range from droughts, floods, hurricanes and tornadoes to geological disasters like earthquakes, volcanoes and tsunamis. The effects of natural disasters can both affect the victims over short and long periods of time and in most cases lead to negative economic outcomes. Natural disasters are costing countries millions of dollars in repair costs as well as thousands of citizens inevitably losing their lives to such events. First and foremost, natural disasters such as the 2011 Earthquake and Tsunami in Japan can dramatically impact the natural resources that a community disposes of. For instance, flash floods wash away fertile soils and destroy existing crops and livestock. Consequently, the agricultural productivity of the region affected is halted. It may take decades for the fertility of the soil to return to its original state and hence food shortages may arise. Furthermore, significant increase in price of food products in turn affect the economic stability of a community. Consequently, these communities become dependent on others, unable to return to their previous lifestyles. Furthermore, natural calamities such as droughts threaten the lives of the citizens of a community. Droughts are most certainly financial setbacks due to the lack of water for the agricultural sector. In developing countries, the impact of drought is drastic since the majority heavily rely on agriculture. With the advent of droughts, the growth of the economy in poor communities is derailed because of their dependence on agriculture. Droughts may persist for decades and hence cause famine, which brings significant alterations in the way of living of people and the economy. Additionally, natural disasters have negative effects on the population of communities. Countless lives are lost during these occurrences, hence people have fear instilled into them. After witnessing or discovering the death of loved ones, the morals of the people are affected. In these cases, many are unwilling to partake in festivities and get married. This behaviour in turn influences the fertility rate of a population. Also, natural calamities force people out of their former homes and consequently they are obliged to find a new place to found a family, which takes unnecessary additional time. Hence, the fertility rate of many communities end up declining significantly. Moreover, an immediate concern with natural disasters is the sheer amount of damage that they do to both public and private infrastructures. Such events can cost up to billions of dollars in damages. Small developing countries are not fitted with the adequate equipment and facilities to deal with the aftermath of such events. For instance, the 2008 Cyclone Nargis left Myanmar in a pitiful state as it could not properly deal with the repercussions of the cyclone and was unable to obtain assistance due to its bad relations. More than 138, 000 deaths were counted and more than ten billion in damages. Till this day, the country has been unable to recover completely from the trauma it suffered. In March 2011, a tsunami following an earthquake in Japan caused a nuclear disaster. The twin disaster caused a meltdown at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant which resulted in one of the worst nuclear disasters humanity encountered. The sheer amount of radioactive waste that was released due to the explosion resulted in a cascade of issues in the surrounding ecosystem waters. Nearly twenty thousands were killed in the cataclysm and many lost their homes as well as employment. Till this day, news anchors still talk about the incident which shows that the world has not yet recovered from the trauma. The effects of natural disasters can last either for a few days or a lifetime. Damage dealt to the infrastructures of a country can have a long term impact on the economy and people will continue to mourn the loss of their loved ones. No communities can return to their previous state as there are things that cannot return once gone.