The Phases of Disaster

• Predisaster - Community, family, and individual conditions prior to disaster.

• Warning - Media gives word of the impending disaster.

• Threat - Immediately precedes the actual impact.

• Postdisaster - Survivors take inventory of events.

• Rescue phase - Survivors and emergency workers join to save those affected by the disaster.

• Remediation - The American Red Cross, insurance adjusters, Federal Government, and local relief efforts take action.

• Recovery period - Physical structures are rebuilt, and families and individuals begin to cope.

National Institute of Mental Health (1983)