What to expect after a disaster? I was a Red Cross Volunteer doing large scale disaster work. Spent a month in New Orleans during/after Katrina and another month in Miami after Hurricane Wilma. Also worked many blizzards, floods and other assorted incidents.

The most serious things I encountered were not the loss of water, fuel, communications or shelter. The hardest to deal with were less tangible.

Expect to be tired. Very very tired. This leads to irritability, errors in judgment, lowered resistance to disease and accidents. And it is not just you that will be tired, but everybody will be tired. Bone dead tired. Imagine being in a town where everyone is stressed. Small incidents bloom into confrontations. People make stupid mistakes which irritate others. Everyone becomes edgy.

Confusion will be extreme. It will be almost impossible to find out what is really happening. Rumors will circulate so many times you will begin to believe the most ridiculous stories. You will spend energy going someplace to get something that is not available. Not once or twice but many times. Making important decisions will be very difficult. You (and others) will become disoriented. Nothing will be as it was. After Katrina there were no street signs. Something as simple as giving someone travel directions was a real challenge. Your everyday reality will be distorted and frightening.

It will be dangerous. Live electrical wires, polluted drinking water, flooded roads, downed trees, broken glass, blocked roads. All this will make any “normal” task difficult and dangerous. It took us several days to move a communications vehicle a short distance (blocks) because of the tangle of downed power lines, trees and debris.

Nothing will be routine. You will have to view each and every action in a new perspective. You will not be able to assume that a simple trip down the block to help a neighbor will be safe and easy.

You will not have any news. Most communications will be gone for a few days and that is when you need information the most. Soon some radio stations will be on the air,, but they will be overwhelmed with technical problems and staff shortages.

Your personal contacts will be limited. The worry about others that are not easily contacted will be very difficult and painful. Where is my daughter, is she alive? How are my friends doing?

Food will be bad. Not dangerous, but not what you are used to either. Limited cooking facilities, lack of refrigeration and repetitive meals will replace your normal fare.

Your living conditions will be uncomfortable. No showers and perhaps very limited water to do even minimal bathing. Privacy may be non-existent. Others may be sharing your living space. Noise, body smells, sleeping on the floor, not having personal space all contribute to tension and discomfort.

You will be doing hard physical work. Much more that you are used to. Long hours, infrequent rests, poor food will make work difficult.

Some supplies will be missing. Perhaps not the big stuff like water, but other less planned for items like toilet paper, proper clothing, parts for equipment that gets broken. Small inconveniences that add up to more stress.

Getting along with others will be difficult. The normal roles we are used to will change. Some will become “boss” when you know a better way. It will take a long time to make group decisions. Everyone will want things just a bit different, and have very good reasons why their needs are just. The normal workplace type “human problems” will be much more difficult to resolve.

Lines of authority will be confused. Who is really in charge? What are the rules? Who decides who gets what? What should be done first? How should group resources be allocated and who decides?

Poor communication skill will obscure intent. When people try to describe situations outside their normal world, the ability to communicate clearly becomes difficult. This is especially true of people thrust into leadership positions that are not used to creating clear, concise and unambiguous instructions.

Social control becomes difficult. Some will need things desperately enough to steal. Others will see the weak as prey. Stress will cause some to act irrationally and violently.

Life becomes very scary. When the normal routine of life is gone, when people are stressed, when the correct path is obscured, when family or friends are killed or missing, when normal social roles are distorted, then life becomes very scary indeed.

What you expect will probably not be what you encounter. But the situation becomes a bit easier when you know that the “normal” will not be normal and that stress will become a very large part of your life.