Disaster

Chapter 1
(Overview on Disaster, Disaster Risk and

Disaster Management
What is a Disaster?
 It is a serious disruption of the
functioning of a community or
society, which involve
widespread human, material,
economic or environmental
impacts that exceed the ability
of the affected community or
society to cope using its own
resources (United Nations)
What is Disaster Risk? Elements of Disaster Risks:
This is a function of hazard,
vulnerability and exposure
What is Risk Assessment?

Estimates the impact that a
hazard would have on people,
services, facilities, and
structres.
Estimating Disaster Risk  The level of vulnerability and exposure can be
reduced by keeping people and property as far
away as possible from hazards.
The magnitude of the disaster depends
 Relocation must go hand in hand with other
on the following: mitigation and preparedness measures.
1. severity of the natural event
 People are resistant to relocation and it is
2. the quantity of exposure of the always challenging to move them to other
lements at risk (include lives and places.
property)  This would mean giving up their homes, land
3. vulnerability level or quality of and jobs.
exposure
 Often, people consider risks more acceptable
than facing the curse of starvation ,
homelessness and any absense of comfort.
Formula:
vulnerability x exposure x hazard = risk
Characteristics of Disasters:
1. knows no political boundaries
2. requires restructured and new
responding organizations
3. creates new tasks and requires
more people as disaster responders
4. renders useless routine emergency
response equipment and facilities
5. worsens the confusion over the
roles of people and organizations
6. exposes the lack of disaster
planning, response and coordination
7. inexperienced disaster
organizations often fail to see their
proper roles
Impacts of Disasters:
1. medical effects (truamatic injuries,
emotional stress, epidemic diseases
indigenous diseases)
2. damage to critical facilities
(communication installations, electric and
transmission facilities, hospitals, water
facilities, private and public buildings)
3. disruption of transportation (broken
bridges, impassable roads and streets,
restricted mobility of vehicles)
4. economic impact (disrupts normal
business operations, people leaving thier
jobs)
5. global enviromental change (severe
cyclonic storms, increased flooding and
drought, trend toward desertification)
6. social and political impact
What is Disaster Management?
Disaster management is how we deal

with the human, material, economic or
environmental impacts of said
disaster, it is the process of how we
“prepare for, respond to and learn
from the effects of major failures”.
Though often caused by nature,
disasters can have human origins.
According to the International Federation of Red Cross &
Red Crescent Societies, a disaster occurs when a hazard
impacts on vulnerable people.
The combination of hazards, vulnerability and inability to

reduce the potential negative consequences of risk results
in disaster.
(VULNERABILITY+ HAZARD ) / CAPACITY = DISASTER

Types of Disaster:
1. Natural Disasters are naturally occurring

physical phenomena caused either by rapid or
slow onset events that have immediate impacts
on human health and secondary impacts
causing further death and suffering.
These disasters can be:

 Geophysical (e.g. Earthquakes, Landslides,
Tsunamis and Volcanic Activity)
 Hydrological (e.g. Avalanches and Floods)
 Climatological (e.g. Extreme Temperatures,
Drought and Wildfires)
 Meteorological (e.g. Cyclones and
Storms/Wave Surges)
 Biological (e.g. Disease Epidemics and
Insect/Animal Plagues)
• The United Nations Office for
Disaster Risk Reduction
characterises Natural
Disasters in relation to their
magnitude or intensity, speed
of onset, duration and area of
extent e.g. earthquakes are of
short duration and usually
affect a relatively small region
whereas droughts are slow to
develop and fade away and
often affect large regions
2. Man-Made Disasters
Man-Made Disasters as viewed by the
International Federation of Red Cross & Red
Crescent Societies are events that are
caused by humans which occur in or close to
human settlements often caused as a results
of Environmental or Technological
Emergencies.
This can include:

 Environmental Degradation
 Pollution
 Accidents (e.g. Industrial, Technological
and Transport usually involving the
production, use or transport of hazardous
materials)
3. Complex Emergencies
Some disasters can result from
multiple hazards, or, more often, to a
complex combination of both natural
and man-made causes which involve
a break-down of authority, looting and
attacks on strategic installations,
including conflict situations and war.
These can include:

 Food Insecurity
 Epidemics
 Armed Conflicts
 Displaced Populations
These Complex Emergencies are
typically characterized by:
 Extensive Violence
 Displacements of Populations
 Loss of Life
 Widespread Damage to both
Societies and Economies
 Need for Large-scale, Humanitarian
Assistance across Multiple Agencies
 Political and Military Constraints which
impact or prevent Humanitarian
Assistance
 Increased Security Risks for
Humanitarian Relief Workers
4. Pandemic Emergencies
Pandemic (from the Greek words pan "all" and
demos "people") is an epidemic of infectious
disease that has spread across a large region,
which can occur to the human population or animal
population and may affect health and disrupt
services leading to economic and social costs.
It may be an unusual or unexpected increase in the
number of cases of an infectious disease which
already exists in a certain region or population or
can also refer to the appearance of a significant
number of cases of an infectious disease in a
region or population that is usually free from that
disease. Pandemic Emergencies may occur as a
consequence of natural or man-made disasters.
These have included the following epidemics:

 Ebola; Zika; Avian Flu; Cholera
 Dengue Fever; Malaria; Yellow Fever
 Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19)
Disaster management is the
organisation and
management of resources
and responsibilities for
dealing with all the
humanitarian aspects of
emergencies, in particular
preparedness, response and
recovery in order to lessen
the impact of disasters.
Aspects of Disaster Management:
1. Disaster Prevention
 The concept of engaging in
activities which intend to prevent or
avoid potential adverse impacts
through action taken in advance,
activities designed to provide
protection from the occurrence of
disasters.
 While not all disasters can be
prevented, good risk management,
evacuation plans, environmental
planning and design standards can
reduce risk of loss of life and injury
mitigation
2. Disaster Preparedness
 Refers to measures taken to prepare for and reduce the
effects of disasters, be they natural or man-made. This is
achieved through research and planning in order to try to
predict areas or regions that may be at risk of disaster and
where possible prevent these from occurring and/or reduce
the impact those disasters on the vulnerable populations
that may be affected so they can effectively cope.
 Disaster preparedness activities embedded with risk
reduction measures can prevent disaster situations and
also result in saving maximum lives and livelihoods during
any disaster situation, enabling the affected population to
get back to normalcy within a short time period.
 Minimisation of loss of life and damage to property through
facilitation of effective disaster response and rehabilitation
services when required. Preparedness is the main way of
reducing the impact of disasters. Community-based
preparedness and management should be a high priority in
physical therapy practice management
3. Disaster Response / Relief
 Focused predominantly on immediate and
short-term needs, the division between this
response/relief stage and the subsequent
recovery stage is not clear-cut. Some
response actions, such as the supply of
temporary housing and water supplies,
may extend well into the recovery stage.
Rescue from immediate danger and
stabilization of the physical and emotional
condition of survivors is the primary aims
of disaster response/relief, which go hand
in hand with the recovery of the dead and
the restoration of essential services such
as water and power
Coordinated multi-agency response is
vital to this stage of Disaster
Management in order to reduce the
impact of a disaster and its long-term
results with relief activities including:
 Rescue
 Relocation
 Provision Food and Water
 Provision Emergency Health Care
 Prevention of Disease and
Disability
 Repairing Vital Services e.g.
Telecommunications, Transport
 Provision Temporary Shelter
4. Disaster Recovery
Vulnerability of communities often continues
for long after the initial crisis is over.
Disaster Recovery refers to those
programmes which go beyond the provision
of immediate relief to assist those who have
suffered the full impact of a disaster and
include the following activities:
 Rebuilding Infrastructure e.g. Homes,
Schools, Hospitals, Roads
 Health Care and Rehabilitation
 Development Activities e.g. building human
resources for health
 Development Policies and Practices to
avoid or mitigate similar situations in future
Assignment:
Direction: Choose only one disaster and gather information from

different news clippings and internet sources about the cause and
impact of these disasters. Guide questions are provided in the next
page.
Examples:
1991 Pinatubo Eruption
Japan Earthquake and Tsunami
2013 Yolanda Typhoon
2004 Tsunami in Indonesia
Guide Questions:
1. What caused the disaster?
2. When and where exactly did the natural event originate?
3. How extensive was the area affected?
4. Was the cause of the disaster forecasted or predicted? Were there warnings issued? How did
the people react to the warning?
5. How many lives were lost? How many were injured and missing? Can the loss be quantified in
terms of pesos or dollars?
6. What could have been done to prevent the loss of many lives?
7. What was the resulting economic damage as a percentage of GNP for the year the disaster
occured?
8. Did the disaster affect the performance of the country’s economy years after it occured?
Why?
9. How much did the country spend for rescue, relief and rehabilitation works?
10. What particular loss or damage cannot be recovered or repaired?
11. How justified are pre-disaster measures and expenditures?
References:
https://www.physio-pedia.com/Disaster_Management

Disaster

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Disaster

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Chapter 1

(Overview on Disaster, Disaster Risk and

What is Risk Assessment?

Disaster management is how we deal

The combination of hazards, vulnerability and inability to

(VULNERABILITY+ HAZARD ) / CAPACITY = DISASTER

1. Natural Disasters are naturally occurring

These disasters can be:

This can include:

These can include:

These have included the following epidemics:

Direction: Choose only one disaster and gather information from

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