There is an increasing focus in the disaster recovery field on the importance of not just restoring buildings and services, but also the hidden trauma of large-scale events. An article in CityLab looks at the aftermath of disaster in the city of Fargo, and the mental effects the 2009 flood had on residents. “As climate change makes natural disasters more common and more extreme, cities and communities are working to improve their resilience—their ability to withstand disaster, and bounce back quickly when it occurs. But disasters don’t just cause physical damage; they can leave communities struggling mentally and emotionally, as well,” writes Nicole Wetsman in CityLab.
Some experts are calling for designing resilient cities not just in buildings and infrastructure, but also providing resources for securing the mental health of its citizens. In Fargo, this approach was built into flood preparations. “Before the 2009 flood hit, the North Dakota team organized its work around a few principles of community resilience,” writes Wetsman. “It structured its messaging with the goal of communicating ‘hopeful realism’: recognizing that there was danger ahead, but stressing confidence in preparations. That helped build public trust in the civic groups making decisions.” Officials gave daily briefings including advice from a mental health expert on behavioural preparation for the flood, and volunteering was used as a means of bolstering community support and togetherness.
“If a community can’t stand on its own two feet psychologically, all the work on having stronger buildings isn’t going to get you anywhere,” Gerald Galloway, a professor of civil and environmental engineering in the Center for Disaster Resilience at the University of Maryland, told CityLab.
