Damage to homes from floods, bushfires and cyclones can negatively affect people’s health for years

Embargoed until: Publicly released: 2023-06-06 08:30

Australia; VIC

Tatiana Gerus, CC BY-SA 2.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0>, via Wikimedia Commons

People whose homes had been damaged by climate-related disasters such as floods, bushfires, or cyclones, experience significant negative effects on their health and wellbeing, with some effects lasting 1-2 years after the disaster, according to Australian research. Having a home damaged by climate disasters was linked to poorer mental health, lower social functioning and worse emotional well-being. These effects were more severe for people who had housing affordability stress or were living in poor-quality housing before the disaster. The study also found that for homeowners with a mortgage, housing affordability stress was significantly increased in the first two years after the disaster year, while for renters there was an increase in relocations and forced moves due to eviction, unavailable properties, or rental payment arrears.

Media release

From:

Journal/
conference: The Lancet Planetary Health

Organisation/s: The University of Melbourne

Funder: This research has been conducted with funding support from the Australian National Health and Medical Research Council Centre of Research Excellence in Healthy Housing (grant number 1196456), Affordable Housing Hallmark Research Initiative Seed Funding, Australian Research Council’s Centre of Excellence for Children and Families over the Life Course (grant number CE200100025), and Lord Mayor’s Charitable Foundation (proactive grant).

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