Cost of Non-Property Post-Disaster Problems in the United States

Introduction

The economic devastation that a disaster creates is not limited to property damage and lives lost. The devastation encompasses nearly every aspect of a region's economical ecosystem. Some economical impacts are short-lived, such as disruptions in business activities (Hystad and Keller, 2006), while others have a long-term impact on the economical viability of a region's economy, such as the destruction of a market's environmental assets. (Eisenberg, 2005). In order to properly gage the economical impact that a disaster has on a local jurisdiction, costs and losses associated with non-property post-disaster problems, like medical costs, tourism industry losses, insurance industry losses and cost adjustments and environmental costs and losses, need to be assessed and added to the costs and losses generated by physical property lost and lives lost. The complexity of these non-property post-disaster problems makes it difficult to estimate precise costs and losses, however, estimates of the value of these losses can be made using data collected from a variety of sources including pre-disaster statistics and post-disaster statistics.

Mental Health and Physical Health Post-Disaster Costs and Losses

Physical Health Care