Abstract
Humans are living in an uncertain world, with daily risks confronting them from various low to high hazard events, and the COVID-19 pandemic has created its own set of unique risks. Not only has it caused a significant number of fatalities, but in combination with other hazard sources, it may pose a considerably higher multi-risk. In this paper, three hazardous events are studied through the lens of a concurring pandemic. Several low-probability high-risk scenarios are developed by the combination of a pandemic situation with a natural hazard (e.g., earthquakes or floods) or a complex emergency situation (e.g., mass protests or military movements). The hybrid impacts of these multi-hazard situations are then qualitatively studied on the healthcare systems, and their functionality loss. The paper also discusses the impact of pandemic’s (long-term) temporal effects on the type and recovery duration from these adverse events. Finally, the concept of escape from a hazard, evacuation, sheltering and their potential conflict during a pandemic and a natural hazard is briefly reviewed. The findings show the cascading effects of these multi-hazard scenarios, which are unseen nearly in all risk legislation. This paper is an attempt to urge funding agencies to provide additional grants for multi-hazard risk research.
Highlights
Human existence involves exposure to many hazards [1], and various low to high risk scenarios
While multiple complex emergencies have developed since the start of the pandemic (e.g., U.S.-China tensions, U.S military movements in the Middle East), only those directly affected by the spreading of COVID-19 inside U.S borders are discussed in this paper
Two major ideas are qualitatively proposed for future detailed research: (1) the need for resilience models that explore the healthcare system under multi-hazard risk, potential forms of functionality loss, and the recovery duration; and (2) the need for pandemic-specific evacuation and sheltering models that cover the risks posed by natural hazards (NH)
Summary
Human existence involves exposure to many hazards [1], and various low to high risk scenarios. While understanding a hazard and its associated risks may help prevent or reduce adverse consequences, in many instances, people are unaware of the risks involved, making it difficult to fight against an invisible enemy. Planning for risks becomes even more challenging when considering that we live in a multi-risk world with infinite natural and man-made hazards, many of which we cannot control and can occur at any time. There were multiple natural hazards (NH) around the country, including two devastating dam failures in Michigan and over 500 earthquakes in western Nevada Res. Public Health 2020, 17, 5635; doi:10.3390/ijerph17165635 www.mdpi.com/journal/ijerph. Res. Public Health 2020, 17, 5635 notable conditions included the ongoing climate crisis and economic contractions due to nation-wide stay-at-home orders.
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