Disaster fatigued? How to manage the mental impacts of storms

Author: Luke Kirkness,
Publish Date: Thu, 11 May 2023, 2:58PM

One of the best ways to manage disaster fatigue is to be as prepared as you can for the next disaster.

That’s the expert advice as the clean-up from the latest destructive storm of 2023 continues in the Bay of Plenty after heavy rain on Tuesday blocked roads, caused slips and flooding, closed schools and forced club members to evacuate.

The deluge caused a state of local emergency to be declared in Auckland while, in Northland, teenager Karnin Ahorangi Petera was tragically swept to his death in floodwaters during a school trip to Abbey Caves.

This week’s storms follow Cyclone Gabrielle in February and heavy rain on Auckland Anniversary weekend in January, which caused millions of dollars worth of damage to public infrastructure in the Bay of Plenty and took lives in other parts of New Zealand.

Massey University emergency management lecturer Dr Lauren Vinnell described disaster fatigue as a “specific type of exhaustion” when events of the same nature repeated or multiple different events happened at the same time.

“It’s a general term. It’s not a specific disorder that you might get diagnosed with so it can look different for different people in a different context.”

Symptoms included tiredness, lack of sleep, difficulty making decisions and unusually strong emotions.

Vinnell, of the Joint Centre for Disaster Research, said these impacts were not uncommon following an event like this week’s major flooding.

It was when these symptoms persisted and had a negative impact on people day-to-day that it became a problem.

Vinnell said it was important people kept track of how they’re feeling and “if it’s not getting any easier over time” to start seeking help by talking to friends and family or professional help.

“There are things that people can do just generally to help themselves feel better when they’re moving on from these sorts of events.

Massey University emergency management lecturer Dr Lauren Vinnell. Photo / Supplied

“Things like practising self-care, which I know is a bit of a buzzword that basically just means if you can find time to do things that make you happy and refresh you, whatever that might look like.

“It’s really important that people don’t overload themselves with negative information. You need to know enough to know what’s going on but spending too much time scrolling social media or whatever can be harmful.”

It was worth thinking about what steps people could take so that if it happened again they were more prepared to psychologically deal “with these quite daunting problems”.

Vinnell said people should prioritise making a plan with their family or household so everyone knew what to do in an event.

Massey University School of Psychology senior lecturer and clinical psychologist Dr Ian de Terte told the Science Media Centre it was “really helpful” for communities to be prepared and organised before disasters occurred.

“If emergency management says you should evacuate an area, listen to them. Don’t be shy to check on neighbours.

“And don’t be afraid to ask for support if you need it. For example, getting essentials or picking children up.

“We know from the Canterbury earthquakes that you’re more likely to get through things if you have the support of other people in a similar situation.”

Vinnell and de Terte’s advice comes as cooler, wintery conditions move across the country heading into the weekend.

A property on Shaw Rd in Hawkes Bay following Cyclone Gabrielle in February. Photo / Warren Buckland

After what Niwa described as an “exceptionally wet” summer in the North Island and a wet and humid start to May, a reprieve from the most recent deluge is on the horizon.

MetService meteorologist Andrew James told the Bay of Plenty Times there was the possibility of a few showers and thunderstorms including hail for the region today as cold air from the Southern Ocean “takes charge” of the country’s weather.

“Towards the weekend high pressure starts to take over and we have pretty clear weather through Friday and Saturday.

“We get a couple of cold days as this air arrives from the south and goes back to normal temperatures for this time of year but because it’s been so warm for the start of May it will feel cold.”

In Tauranga, the odd shower was expected today and possibly thunderstorms and hail before clearing to fine towards the evening with westerlies turning southerly for a high of 14C and low of 6C. Tomorrow’sconditions were fine with a high of 16C and low of 7C with southwesterlies.

Conditions in Rotorua were similar with occasional showers, possible thunderstorms and hail, clearing to fine in the evening and westerly winds also turning southerly for a high of 11C and low of 2C. Tomorrow’s weather would be fine with southwesterlies, a high of 12C and low of 2C.