health
Bombs Don't Just Destroy Buildings
Juliana Martínez Franzoni April 13, 2026
TL;DR
- Bombings cause immediate casualties and destruction, but the prolonged aftermath severely disrupts everyday life.
- The environment changes with dust, smoke, and debris, making navigation difficult and unsafe.
- Essential infrastructure like transportation, electricity, water, and communication fails, rendering formerly invisible systems apparent in their absence.
- Hospitals become overwhelmed, schools turn into shelters or morgues, and public spaces are reconfigured by urgency.
- Fear becomes a constant condition, impacting physical and mental health due to the lack of support and constant pressure.
- Caregiving tasks intensify and become more difficult without infrastructure or institutional support.
- The collapse of services highlights the fragility of seemingly guaranteed aspects of life, disproportionately affecting children and women.
- Well-being is not individual but a result of political, institutional, and material arrangements that can be destroyed by bombings.