Natural disasters, which usually abruptly cause severe harm and cost lives, have been shown to affect governmental popularity by sometimes leading to additional governmental popularity and sometimes to a loss of popularity. By considering the various theoretical propositions and empirical findings about this nexus together in a systematic review, here we pinpoint which factors determine whether a government gains or loses popularity after a natural disaster. The review shows that a government's operational and symbolic reactions increase the governmental popularity after a natural disaster but suggest that symbolic actions do so more strongly. On the contrary, in a society with significant political knowledge, a government has fewer opportunities to increase their popularity when using only symbolic means or cheap talk.