Natural Disasters and Post-Traumatic Resilience in Children

By Daniella Rueda, CEI Intern 

As we come close to the end of hurricane season and as we consider the loss of lives and disruption produced in recent California wildfires, it becomes critical to discuss a topic that is often disregarded: The post-disaster trauma children experience. More specifically, what happens with children? How are their lives and schooling disrupted and what are the long-term consequences?

In the recent years, with global warming and radical climate change, the disastrous effects brought on by hurricanes have increased dramatically. Consequently, an estimated 175 million children will be negatively affected by weather related disasters in the coming decade (Kousky, 2016). These effects come in the form of physical and psychological trauma due to the loss of homes and loved ones as well as detriments in well-being.

References

Kousky, C. (2016). Impacts of natural disasters on children. The Future of Children, 26, 1, 73-92.

Mccausland, P., Gamboa, S., Acevedo, N. (2018). Lives interrupted: Hurricane left kids scrambling for normal. NBC News.

Peterson, S. (2018). About child trauma. The National Child Traumatic Stress Network.

Powell, T.M. & Bui, T. (2016).Supporting social and emotional skills after a disaster: Findings from a mixed methods study. School Mental Health 8,106.

Timsit, A. (2018). The life-changing class teaching Texas kids resilience after Hurricane Harvey. Quartz.