Recovery after natural disasters: supporting children and teenagers

How natural disasters affect children and teenagers

Natural disasters can affect health and wellbeing for children and teenagers.

Immediately after a natural disaster, it’s important to make sure your child is physically OK, is safe and feels safe.

In the days, weeks and months after a natural disaster, you can focus on:

supporting your child’s mental and emotional health
taking care of your child’s physical health
returning to usual family routines
helping your child connect with others.

If your whole family has been through the natural disaster, you can get community and government support to help with your overall recovery.

Children and teenagers react in various ways to distressing or traumatic events. You can find out more in our articles on first responses to traumatic events, first responses to traumatic events for autistic children and teenagers, supporting children and teenagers after traumatic events, and supporting autistic children and teenagers after traumatic events.

Mental and emotional health after natural disasters for children and teenagers

Natural disasters can affect mental and emotional health and wellbeing for children and teenagers. These articles explain how you can support mental and emotional health in babies and toddlers, mental and emotional health in children and mental and emotional health in pre-teens and teenagers.

Coping with emotions

Practising self-compassion

Rebuilding resilience

Handling disaster news

If your child is having trouble sleeping, avoids reminders of the natural disaster or seems constantly fearful, these might be signs of childhood anxiety, teenage anxiety, childhood depression, teenage depression or post-traumatic stress. Talk with your child’s GP or paediatrician. They might refer your child to a psychologist or counsellor. Your child can also call Kids Helpline on 1800 551 800 or use the Kids Helpline webchat service.

Physical health after natural disasters for children and teenagers

After a natural disaster, it’s important to encourage your child to get enough quality sleep, nutrition and physical activity. This can help your child stay physically healthy. And if your child is physically healthy and active, this can be good for their mental health too.

Sleep

Nutrition

Physical activity

You might notice that habits like thumb-sucking or wetting the bed come back, or that your child has trouble separating from you. These things are natural responses to distressing or traumatic events and will usually go away as your child recovers.

Family routines after natural disasters

If you can, it’s important to get back to your usual family routines for daily activities like meals, play and bed. Family routines will help your child feel safe, secure and confident that things will be OK.

These articles have tips and suggestions to help:

Getting your child back to school is important after a natural disaster, because in-person learning and social interactions are good for your child’s wellbeing. You can read more in our articles on helping children and teenagers return to school after natural disasters and helping children and teenagers with additional needs return to school after natural disasters.

Friendships and community connections after natural disasters

While your community recovers from the natural disaster, your family might need to move to a new neighbourhood or your child might need to go to a new school. This will be a big adjustment, but support for new friendships and connections will help your child cope.

These articles have ideas:

You can talk with your child about whether they might like to take part in community recovery efforts. This can help your child build confidence and purpose, which is good for their overall wellbeing.

Community and government support and resources for families after natural disasters

There are many services that can help you and your family recover from a natural disaster.

You can get natural disaster recovery information and support from:

your local council, emergency service or community recovery centre
community groups or clubs
other community organisations, like Australian Red Cross or The Salvation Army.

The following resources might also help:

It’s important to look after yourself after traumatic events too. This is good for your recovery, which will also help your child’s recovery. If you’re having trouble coping, it’s important to seek help from your GP, another professional or a trusted friend. You can also call Lifeline on 131 114 or Beyond Blue on 1300 224 636, or contact a parenting helpline.