9/11 and Hurricane Katrina Disaster Evaluation

9/11 and Hurricane Katrina Disaster Evaluation
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9/11 and Hurricane Katrina Disaster Evaluation
Natural and unnatural disasters cause different psychological impacts in contemporary society. The disasters can overwhelmingly cause traumatic experiences which destabilize the mental growth of individuals. Disasters are specific disruptions to society or community functioning, causing environmental, economic, and human losses (Makwana, 2019). Natural and unnatural disasters such as hurricanes and terrorist attacks cause different near-death experiences, shocks, and disorientation. Furthermore, the victims may feel sad, fear, panic, or show different psychological problems. Other signs may also include irritability and lack of sleep. The paper considers natural and unnatural disasters, including Hurricane Katrina and the 9/11 attacks, respectively, and probes the key elements of the two disasters, resources for their victims, psychological impacts on children and adults, and media integration. The paper shows the need for preparedness for unnatural and natural disasters to avoid devastating psychological impacts.
Summary of the Disasters
9/11 Attacks
September 11 attacks, also noted as 9/11, is one of the significant man-made disasters in the United States in 2001 based on different ideologies and lack of preparedness. It involved well-coordinated suicidal attacks. The disaster occurred on Tuesday morning, whereby the Islamic terrorist group hijacked passenger jets in Washington DC and New York City. The group crushed two planes leading to the death of approximately 3000 individuals (Jacobson et al., 2018). The disaster contributed to different psychological consequences which are experienced until today. The attacks disoriented most of the Americans and the government due to a lack of adequate preparation.
Additionally, the 9/11 attacks occurred due to ignoring different warnings and inadequate preparedness to prevent terrorist attacks. Based on the available evidence, the United States ignored a specific warning from Rand and Clarke, some of the most known security experts, after their security alerts (Jacobson et al., 2018). Ignoring alerts from the top security experts is detrimental and showed the government inconsistency in dealing with terror attacks contingently. It means that the government could limit the attacks by taking the right actions from security alerts. Therefore, it is necessary to justify that the causative agent of the attack was ignorance and comprised of specific psychological symptoms, including panic, fear, and anxiety.
Hurricane Katrina
Hurricane Katrina is one of the largest natural disasters in the United States linked to ignorance, lack of preparedness, and psychological symptoms. It was a landfall that occurred in Louisiana on 29th 2005 (Lai et al., 2015). It was a category three storm with high-speed winds which destroyed many structures in the United States. It is considered one of the worst storms in the United States due to American history's huge loss of lives. The approximate number of deaths from the storm was 1200 and damaged huge American properties worth billions of shillings (Lai et al., 2015). Its aftermath consisted of different controversies such as blames for the government and lack of preparedness. Controversies on the government effort also consisted of the aftermath. Many Americans lost their lives and properties, leading to different psychological symptoms such as anxiety disorder and PTSD. Therefore, Hurricane Katrina impacted the psychological status of most victims.
Additionally, Hurricane Katrina occurred due to a lack of preparedness. In 1955, the government attempted to reduce hurricanes (Lai et al., 2015). Some of the strategies were effective drainage planning and reducing the vicinity of any storm. However, the government never implemented them due to existing clashes and fear among the residents on the stormwater. The government could have collaborated with the different experts and the community to reduce the impacts of Hurricane Katrina. It means that the citizens were not ready for Hurricane Katrina and its devastating impacts. Other than preparedness, the lack of collaboration in restoring the country's position also promoted the inability to sustain the storm.
Long-Terms of Effects of the Disasters on Overall Well-Being and Mental Health of Victims and Rescue Teams
The major long-term effects of 9/11 and Hurricane Katrina are psychologically related. PTSD is the common long-term effect of both disasters. For instance, most of the Hurricane Katrina victims experienced traumatic and stressful events. Most victims claimed that they experienced at least two traumatic events (Raker et al., 2019). Based on critical analysis, PTSD among the victims of the disasters originated from different sources. The destruction of their properties was the key element for their mental health, leading to different psychological disturbances. Additionally, family separations were also a key contributor to PTSD. The victims had to be separated from their neighborhoods due to the damages, thus impacting their mental health. On the other hand, the rescue workers contacted the dead, sick, and hurt individuals impacting their psychological well-being. For instance, the death of approximately 3000 individuals destabilized the rescue team mentally, thus having a long-term memory and adverse impact. Therefore, PTSD is a critical disorder that impacted the psychological well-being of the rescue team and the victims of the two disasters.
Additionally, 9/11 and Hurricane Katrina exposed the victims and the rescue workers to psychological distress. Psychological distress refers to emotional suffering conditions that exist in an individual for a more extended period. The direct exposure to the victims and rescue workers forced most of them to develop fear and anxiety, thus affecting their well-being. For instance, Raker et al. (2019) identified that the victims could suffer from psychological distress 12 years after Hurricane Katrina. The victims still showed different signs of distress, such as stress and anxiety. Lowell et al. (2018) noted that inadequate community support reduced the recovery rate from the disasters. Psychological distress among the victims is also accompanied by different elements of poor mental flexibility, which refers to the inability to adjust to a new psychological world. Most researchers found that the victims of Hurricane Katrina and 9/11 experienced poor cognitive processing and poor mental stability (Lowell et al., 2018). The increased psychological disturbances make it difficult to recover from the disasters fully. Therefore, it is necessary to focus on well-planned and organized psychological interventions and support to allow the victims and rescue workers to improve their psychological well-being.
Depression was also a key long-term effect from the victims of the disasters. It is a mental state whereby one loses interest in activities. Most of the victims of the disasters, such as the 9/11 attacks, showed signs of social withdrawals, which occurred for a longer period (Lowell et al., 2018). Social withdrawal is a common sign of depression whereby individuals stop engaging others in the community. It develops as a long-term effect of a traumatic event. Social withdraw...