From Yahoo Lifetyle:
“Volcano erupts on St.
Vincent: What happens if you get caught in a natural disaster away from home?”
St. Vincent's La Soufrière
volcano has been erupting since late last week, and the situation continues to
get worse. Officials say that a "huge explosion" rocked the volcano
and eastern Caribbean island on Monday, spewing ash and hot gas into the air. "It's
destroying everything in its path," Erouscilla Joseph, director of the
University of the West Indies' Seismic Research Center, told the Associated
Press. "Anybody who would have not heeded the evacuation, they need to get
out immediately. About 16,000 people who live near the volcano evacuated on
Thursday, but some stayed behind and refused to leave.
DJ Hannah Bronfman shared in an
Instagram Story on Sunday that she was recently vacationing on the island of
Mustique, which is near St. Vincent. "This place is magic and [people]
were evacuated by boat mid day and it was pitch black because of the ash,"
she wrote next to a video of a sunset over the water. Bronfman suggested in
another Instagram Story that her family had since left the island, writing,
"We were just in Mustique, which is an island in the Grenadines and a
volcano erupted on St. Vincent, displacing so many [families]."
St. Vincent is a popular tourist
destination in the Caribbean, drawing in people with its white sand beaches.
That raises a big question: What happens if you're caught in a natural disaster
away from home?
Psychologically, it can be more
difficult to handle than grappling with a natural disaster at home because you
don't necessarily have a comforting area that you feel safe in, clinical
psychologist John Mayer, author of Family Fit: Find Your Balance in Life, tells
Yahoo Life. "Getting caught in a natural disaster away from home has the
effects on our basic brain chemistry that puts into action our flight or fight
brain processes," he says. Couple that with the unease of being in
unfamiliar surroundings, and it can lead to even more heightened feelings of
panic and anxiety, Peter Economou, associate professor of psychology at the
Rutgers Graduate School of Applied and Professional Psychology, tells Yahoo
Life. "You're away from your support system and your normal routine,
including your coping skills," he says. "Many people who use their
gym or therapist to cope with stress may not be able to do that while traveling."
There's also a lot of uncertainty, he says, adding, "uncertainty is
petrifying in this situation." It's important to be aware that a disaster
is something that can happen while you're on vacation, Andrew Kruczkiewicz,
senior associate at Columbia University's International Research Institute for
Climate and Society, tells Yahoo Life. "Extreme events happen all the
time, around the world," he says.There is a wide range of catastrophic
events that can happen when you're away from home, and "when you're
traveling or on vacation, you are actually more vulnerable to natural disasters
because you may not be familiar with the area and the natural hazards,"
FEMA-certified natural disaster preparedness instructor Cheryl Nelson, founder
of Prepare with Cher, tells Yahoo Life. Still, there are some things you can
do. Here's what experts recommend:
Before You Travel
Think about your sources of
important disaster-related information When you travel, Kruczkiewicz
recommends thinking in advance about what would be the best source of crucial
information if a disaster were to strike. "Most people are familiar with
the mechanisms of receiving critical information in the U.S., like getting alerts
on your phone, but the process can be quite confusing and complicated
elsewhere," he says. "It's important to think if risk information
would be updated as frequently if you were elsewhere, and what sources it could
come from. Many times, there can be a mismatch between what your phone is
telling you vs. a national source." Credible information is
crucial, Nelson says. "A portable NOAA weather radio is always great to
take with you on the go," she adds.
Do your research before your
trip Nelson recommends looking for information on current conditions about
the areas you're planning to travel to. Things like droughts, a recent history
of wildfires and floods are important to know, along with how prone the area is
to tornadoes, earthquakes and active volcanoes. "Knowledge is power,"
she says. "If there has been some seismic activity recently, perhaps think
about postponing your trip."
Have a plan This doesn't
need to be elaborate, but knowing where you'd go if something would happen is
important, Nelson says. "Kind of like the hotel fire exit location maps
that are on the back of every hotel room door," she says. "Look at
things like this."
Pack a disaster preparedness
kit While most people don’t do this, Nelson says it's "always
recommended" that people carry a disaster preparedness kit, even while
traveling or on vacation. That can include things like bottled water,
non-perishable food like granola bars, a portable NOAA weather radio, cell
phone charger, mask, hand sanitizer, prescription medications, a flashlight and
batteries, a first aid kit, cash in single dollar bills and sturdy shoes.
If Disaster Strikes When
You're Traveling
Get to a safe place If
you're under a tornado warning, Nelson recommends getting to an interior room
in the lowest level of your building. "If it's an earthquake, get under
something sturdy and remain there until the shaking stops," she says.
"If it's a volcano, try to remain calm and listen to the instructions of
authorities via TV, radio or internet." If you're in an area where there’s
a volcanic eruption but you’re not in immediate danger, Nelson recommends
staying inside "until the ash has settled."
Be mindful of wind and
currents If you're dealing with a volcano eruption, Nelson recommends doing
your best to avoid areas that are downwind of the volcano and areas downstream
from a river. "Rivers are low points and lava would flow down into those
low-lying areas," Nelson says.
Reach out to friends If
you've done everything you can to ensure your physical safety, talking to
friends or travel partners about how you're feeling can help take care of your
mental health. "Rely on your resources to help you through, such as
reaching out to your travel partners, calling friends back home and helplines
provided in the area you are in," Mayer says. "Don’t try to cope with
this alone."
Try mindfulness It's hard
to think of anything but how anxious and stressed you are when disaster strikes
but, if you're in a relatively safe location, Economou recommends practicing
mindfulness, like taking deep breaths, praying or meditating. "If somebody
is able to practice mindfulness during a natural disaster, they are more likely
to have a healthy relationship with uncertainty," he says.
Experts warn against disaster
tourism — that is, purposefully traveling to an area that has been through
an environmental disaster out of curiosity. This is different from delivering
government-endorsed humanitarian aid or being part of a research group,
Kruczkiewicz says. "If you’re traveling to a location where there is
likely to be stressed systems and strain on the local population for curiosity,
then that travel should be highly reconsidered," he says. "That's a
pretty bold statement of privilege. People don't understand what it's like for
disaster to happen in lower-income countries. The last thing that is needed is
to have other people and other considerations to take priority over [the]
survival of the local population."
^ I used to have these kinds of
emergency (medical, natural, man-made, etc.) plans when I traveled with a
family member in a wheelchair. I looked up the local hospitals, doctors,
English-speakers, the local American Embassy or Consulate, routes to flee, etc.
for every major town or city we went to around the US and the world. Today,
when I travel by myself, I have a smaller-scaled emergency plan, but I do have several
plans in place for different scenarios. You can’t prepare for everything that
could go wrong, but you can have a basic plan in place that covers a wide-range
of emergencies. ^
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