Unexpected Benefits: Post-Disaster Growth

Even in the face of devastating destruction, natural disasters also trigger industrial growth and economic opportunities. The investigations that follow every catastrophic event, including fires, floods, hurricanes, and the like, reveal and clarify the specific causes of those damages and often suggest how the extent of their failures could have been reduced or even prevented. As industries evolve in light of the new data, whole sectors frequently change course to embrace new practices. New businesses typically spring up to fill in the recently identified gaps in products and services.

Immediate Demand Triggers Industrial Growth

Analysis of recent catastrophes indicates that several support industries have arisen or expanded in their aftermath. While victims benefit from immediate responses, communities also benefit in the long run from the emergence of new companies developed specifically to address still-existing threats and catastrophe-related consequences.

Restoration Businesses

These service providers are often first on the scene after the safe removal of debris. Where damage is done but structures remain, mold, mildew, and instability arise as concerns for future residents and users. Restoration companies provide the services that remediate these issues, optimally returning the structures to their previous, undamaged state.

As natural disasters have grown more dangerous and caused greater levels of destruction, restorers have often adopted high-level technologies to assist them in their work. For example:

• Many now deploy sensors to detect mold and mold-inducing environments; the data will direct their next remediation steps.
• Others deploy high-tech drones to assess affected sites and destroyed areas that were inaccessible before the technology became commonplace. Their data reveals an accurate record of the destruction and often suggests where the next steps should occur. Their use also prevents injury or worse to their operators.

As disasters continue to happen and become more destructive, the restoration industry is expected to grow from US$ 41B in 2023 to US$75B in 2034.

Power Generation Companies

Power is often lost, sometimes for weeks, as a consequence of a natural disaster. Consequently, generator companies frequently experience growth in the aftermath of the event. Home generators are typically the first step toward normalcy after the electrical system fails. As a temporary fix, they keep the lights on, and the heat turned up. These backup support devices are easily accessed and have evolved adaptations based on the nature of their location and anticipated need. More than half (57%) are ‘dual-fuel’ types, for example, meaning they can run on more than one type of fuel, typically gasoline and propane. Studies indicate that two-thirds of the nation’s rural areas and over half of its urban settings (52%) would require such a backup resource in the event of a catastrophe. Demand for these assets is growing, and their market is expanding from US$2.8B in 2024 to an estimated US$7.1B in 2033.

Engineering Firms

Engineering companies also often do well after a catastrophe hits. In most cases, whole infrastructure systems are disabled or destroyed by the event, so even those who haven’t lost a home or business will lose access to critical civic services. This extensive type of damage is particularly important to repair as quickly as possible; a lack of services can sometimes lead to even more damage.

Engineering firms pursue several trajectories in their response to a disaster, and often rely on data collected by early warning systems (EWS). These extensive and comprehensive systems are designed for and implemented in anticipation of a disaster-type challenge. Data indicates that their use can both reduce damages and minimize the loss of life. Some EWS sensors register seismic activity to warn nearby populations of an impending earthquake, while others track water and soil movement in anticipation of a flood or mudslide. These early notifications give people time to evacuate the area before the threats to their lives and possessions escalate.

• During the immediate aftermath of a destructive event, engineering companies use drones and other technological vehicles to both assess the situation and perform tasks deemed too dangerous for a human to attempt. Robots can capture images from the air to give responders accurate information about the location of survivors; they can also traverse and scan the damaged sites to determine how or if trained personnel can move into the area.
• Artificial Intelligence is rising as a tool in these instances, as well, as it can provide a clearer picture of where threats might lie in time for communities to take preventative action.

Long-term efforts see property restorers, power source providers, and engineering firms assessing the effectiveness of earlier actions to determine how to improve the recovery phase of a natural disaster. In most cases, innovations improve systems and evolve based on the disaster-management lessons learned in the field, which can lead to stronger, more resilient communities.

Attaining a ‘Functional Recovery’

Over the past several decades, as science has recorded both the causes and effects of natural disasters, the industries that comprise the ‘built environment‘ have been making changes in their activities to reflect the new data. Those analyses have resulted in a new design philosophy that strives to improve building performance standards in response to previous building failures. This new thought process of ‘functional recovery’ looks beyond actual damage to assess the fundamental robustness of the structure itself, as well as the soundness of its safety and operational elements. The purpose of the evaluation is to avoid rebuilding using flawed practices and materials (based on their performance failures during the catastrophic event). Instead, and especially in the engineering discipline, the research suggests how experts can design and rebuild not just for resistance to damage but also for a swift and comprehensive return to function as quickly as possible after the threat subsides.

Currently, two frameworks are used for these investigations: the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s P-58 protocols for earthquake activity (FEMA P-58) and Arup‘s Resilience-Based Design Initiative (REDi) for earthquakes, floods, and windstorms. Pursuing these resilience-focused best practices during the post-disaster rebuild period should set a stronger foundation for a faster and more effective functional recovery after the next catastrophe hits.

Grieving after any calamity that causes human or property losses is expected. Today’s built environment professionals are working to alleviate some of that grief by rebuilding with resilience and loss prevention in mind. Their efforts should give every community hope that it can not just survive a disaster but also thrive in its aftermath.