How can youth help during Natural Disasters

Sitting on the 10th floor in a fancy office, on a regular working day, I had absolutely no clue that an earthquake would rock my world. It was obviously something that nobody had thought about, it was also something that most of the people took as a joke, thinking much less about what catastrophe it must have brought to the area where it actually started. Human beings often take very long to realize the consequences of things. Natural disasters are something that have unfortunately and inevitably become a part of our life lately. Blame it on the climate change or on the human beings acting recklessly, we all have to live with it and more than that fight with nature to save our existence.

Often regarded as the strongest part of the society, the youth, can be of much help during these times. It isn’t about how youth and its ideas can change the society, but about how youth can help the society go back to normal life after undergoing a big tragedy. The youth might just be as clueless as the rest of the society but they could use their unparalleled courage and be of much more help to the society than what they already are.

Be calm

Figuring out what is actually happening will have to be the first step towards helping yourself and rest of the people out of the situation. This would come at the time when the calamity is actually taking place or has just begun. Chaotic places will need some people who know how to be calm and take leadership. You will have to calm other people down, plan the escape and also help the people who seem terrified and caught.

Always keep a plan in place

Whichever place you go will have a natural disaster control mechanism of some sort. Your workplace, your home, a market place everything has some way or the other to escape the disaster. Keep an eye open for trouble and help everyone if god forbid you happen to be in such a situation. The older people and kids will definitely need more attention. Look out for places to make them feel safe first.

Help the government agencies

The government is usually the first one to start taking the preventive measures and arranging safety camps, the problem arises because of their lack of reach. The government agencies have limited reach and thus they are able to help only a certain people. Being resourceful at such a time will help not only you, but the entire nation. Work with these agencies, help them save people, provide medication, transportation, help and set up shelter camps.

Report the actual situation

At such a time most of the people are somehow unaware of the situation and the youth could take up the task of reporting the actual situation in the city and the locality. A lot more lives can be saved if united action is taken via the available medium. Social network proves to be a boon at this point and radio and phones might help too. So all the texting ninjas, social media experts and people with friends in the radio could help save their city and the locality.

Reiterating the safety procedure for other people

There are other people who are far less privileged than you, they are uneducated, they have more members in their families and almost no resources. Also, they do not have the knowledge of how to act in a situation of crisis. At this time, the youth can volunteer and help the victims of Natural disasters. There are camps and NGOs already set who need volunteers to be able to increase their reach, work with these (genuine) NGOs and save the society.

Natural disasters usually catch everyone by surprise and no matter what age group you belong to, you will get flustered, but what counts is how soon you react to the situation. The youth is believed to be stronger than the other age groups because it knows how to resurface and take control of the situation and it is exactly because of these two qualities that the youth can help the society overcome the calamity in much lesser time and reduce the risk alongside.