Crises and Catastrophes

 “We are running from the wave, and we can see the water right behind us. We run toward the other side of the island. When we get about halfway across, we meet people running and screaming from the other direction. Then we see the water in front of us too. The waves meet, and we are under water.

On December 26, 2004, one of the worst natural disasters in history spread over Southeast Asia, India, Indonesia, and Africa. It started when a powerful earthquake struck deep under the Indian Ocean, trig- gering massive tsunamis that obliterated cities, seaside communities, and holiday resorts. Approximately 320,000 people in a dozen countries were killed; thousands of survivors were injured and traumatized in the process.

Eight months later, Hurricane Katrina stampeded through the Gulf Coast of the United States with winds of up to 175 miles per hour, devastating areas in Florida, Mississippi, Alabama, and Louisiana and killing nearly 2,000 people. In New Orleans, the surge breached the levees, flooding 80% of the city and neigh- boring parishes. Causing an estimated $81 billion in damage, Hurricane Katrina became the costliest natural disaster in U.S. history. It was not, of course, the last. Floods, tornadoes, tsunamis, earthquakes, and fires that rage out of control are part of life in many regions of the world.

The intense stress that natural catastrophes impose on a population can also be caused by human beings. Sometimes the disaster that strikes is acci- dental—as in the massive BP oil spill of 2010 that gushed millions of gallons of oil into the Gulf of Mexico, killing wildlife and causing billions of dollars in damage. At other times, human-caused disasters result from malicious motives.