After a disaster: what to do

Displacement

Recovery

Safety

Earthquakes, floods, fires and storms can change everything in a few minutes. This guide is about what to do next: staying safe, getting help, caring for your family and your feelings, and starting to recover together.

Other guides that can help

• Before the next one: the Being prepared: emotional & practical readiness guide
• Feelings and reactions after storms, floods and fires: the Natural & climate disasters guide
• Shootings, attacks and other crisis events: the Mass violence & crisis events guide
• Months and years later, losing everything financially, and homelessness: the Rebuilding after big setbacks guide
• The first 24 hours after any shock: the “After a hard moment: first steps” guide
• War, fleeing home and resettlement: the War, conflict & displacement guide

The “After a hard moment: first steps” guide covers the first 24 hours after any shock. After a disaster, there are a few extra things to keep in mind as the days unfold.

A gentle order of things

1. Safety first: stay out of damaged buildings and floodwater, and away from downed power lines
2. Check on people: text loved ones and your out-of-town contact
3. Basic needs: water, food, shelter, warmth, rest
4. Get any injuries checked, even small ones
5. Photograph damage before cleaning up, for insurance
6. When you’re able, apply for help (see “Aid, insurance and paperwork”)

Start by realising that you survived, and that life doesn’t have to stop. SAMHSA says talking with people who accept and understand your feelings is the best way to help yourself, and moving your body, even with deep breathing, gentle stretching or walking, is the next best.

Going home and cleaning up bring their own dangers. Go home only when officials say it’s safe, and take these steps slowly.

Before you go in

1. Wait until daylight to return to buildings
2. Stay out of damaged buildings until an official says they’re safe
3. If you smell gas, leave right away and call emergency services
4. If electrical equipment got wet, turn off power at the main breaker, but never while standing in water

Ready.gov says profound sadness, grief and anger are normal reactions to an abnormal event. Almost everyone affected by an emergency feels distress, and for most people it improves over time.

SAMHSA says anxiety, sadness and trouble sleeping are the most common responses, along with headaches, stomach aches, overeating or loss of appetite. If you lost a loved one, grief may come and go intensely for at least a year.

People cope differently. SAMHSA notes anger is more common in men and self-blame more common in women, and some people keep comparing life now with life before. The Natural & climate disasters guide describes reactions in the days, weeks and months after in more detail.

Signs you may need more support

• Confusion, or trouble focusing or communicating
• Drinking or using drugs more
• Frequent mood swings or constant crying
• Health problems getting worse
• Not wanting to leave home, or fear of crowds or being alone
• Overwhelming guilt, self-doubt or hopelessness

Ready.gov says parents are almost always the best source of support for children in disasters, and that children’s reactions often mirror how their parents are coping. Most reactions are temporary.

For how children react at different ages, see “Helping a child after” in the After danger or violence guide. Here are disaster-specific steps.

Children most often fear that…

• Someone they love will be hurt or killed
• The disaster will happen again
• They will be separated from their family

What helps

• Correct rumours and misinformation
• Extra hugs, and extra time at bedtime
• Get back to routines like meals together and school, and explain any changes
• Give age-appropriate jobs in the recovery, and praise their help
• Give them chances to talk about what happened, and answer questions honestly and simply
• Let them draw, play or tell stories about it
• Let them help make the family recovery plan
• Limit news coverage, and watch together when they do see it

About 1.1% of U.S. households were displaced by disasters between December 2021 and July 2024. Most returned quickly, but 20% took more than a month, and 14% had not returned when surveyed.

SAMHSA notes that after a large disaster, everyday routines may not return to normal for months or even years. Temporary housing can disrupt daily life and shift roles in a family, which can strain relationships.

Research after Hurricane Katrina found some mental health problems grew in the year after the first survey, linked to housing and money stress that was still going on nearly two years later. Getting your life back is part of mental health recovery.

SAMHSA notes that seeking financial help to rebuild can add to already high stress and frustration. Breaking it into small steps, and keeping a simple log, helps.

Disasters can bring a special kind of guilt: your home survived and your neighbour’s didn’t, you got out and someone else didn’t, or you feel you should have done more.

Ready.gov’s advice is direct: do not hold yourself responsible for the disaster, and don’t blame yourself for not being able to help directly in rescue work.

Ways to turn guilt into care

• Help a neighbour with a practical task
• Let yourself accept help too, if you need it
• Share what you have: a spare room, a meal, a ride
• Volunteer when you’re ready (see “Recovering together as a community”)

A major review of research on 60,000 disaster survivors found that ongoing stresses after the event, and weak or worn-down support networks, made problems more likely. Among young people, family factors mattered most.

The researchers urged communities to think beyond individual therapy, designing support for whole communities and saving specialist care for those who need it most.

You don’t need to wait until things are unbearable. Reach out if stress lasts more than a few weeks, if daily life is hard to manage, or if you’re worried about someone.

Help lines (U.S.)

• 211: local help with housing, food and bills
• 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline: call or text 988
• Disaster Distress Helpline: call or text 1-800-985-5990, 24/7. Press 2 for Spanish; interpreters in over 100 languages; ASL users can connect through their preferred relay service
• FEMA Helpline: 1-800-621-3362, or DisasterAssistance.gov

The Disaster Distress Helpline is for anyone in the U.S. and its territories feeling distress after a natural or human-caused disaster, including responders, relief workers and families. You can call for yourself or for someone else.

Outside the U.S.? Find A Helpline (findahelpline.com) lists free, confidential helplines by country.