Chapter 1

Facts!

• Philippines – 3rd most vulnerable country to disasters

• Lies in Pacific Ring of Fire - 80% of earthquakes occur
• 20-25 typhoons ravage the country every year
• 53 known volcanoes (24 active)
• dry season is also becoming warmer, and conversely,
the wet season becoming wetter
• Sea level rise threaten the coastal areas

Source: World Risk Report of 2018

Facts!
 Hazard vs. Disaster
HAZARD
• a dangerous phenomenon, substance, human activity, or condition that
may cause loss of life, injury or other health impacts, property damage,
loss of livelihoods and services, social and economic disruption, or
environmental damage

DISASTER
• A sudden, calamitous event, bringing great damage loss, destruction and
devastation to life and property
• A serous disruption of the functioning of the community or society, causing
widespread human, economic, or environment losses, which exceed the
ability of the affected people to cope using their human resources
 DISASTER RISK

• The probability that a community structure or geographic area is to be

damaged or disrupted by the impact of a particular hazard, on
account of its nature, construction and proximity to a hazardous area

• It signifies the possibility of adverse effects in the future

• It is derived from the interaction of social and environmental

processes, from the combination of physical hazards and the
vulnerability of exposed elements
What are examples of natural processes that shape and change our
environment?

1. Plate Tectonics - mountain building, volcanism, ocean formation

2. Atmospheric Processes - cloud formation, precipitation, wind
3. Biological Accumulation - reef building, colony formation,
forestation
4. Human Activities - urbanization, extracting resources,
geoengineering
Nature of Disaster
 Nature of Disaster
Natural Disasters
 These originates from the
different “forces” of nature
 naturally-occurring physical
phenomena caused either by
rapid or slow onset events

e.g. Ground shaking, Earthquakes, Storm

surge, Tornado, Tsunami, Landslide, Typhoon,
Flood, Volcanic eruptions, Wildfires,
epidemics of infectious disease, plagues
 Nature of Disaster

Man-made and Technological

Disasters
 Occurs due to people’s actions
against human, material and
environment

e.g. Industrial explosion, Indoor Fire,

War/Conflicts, Cyber attacks, Hazardous
materials, chemical threat and biological
weapons
Risk Factors Underlying
Disaster
 Risk Factors Underlying Disaster

 Severity of Exposure
 Risk of future of mental health problems
 Highest risk are those that go through the disaster themselves
 Next are those in close contact with victims
 Lower risk lasting impact are those had indirect exposure
 Injury and life threat are the factors that lead most often to mental
health problems
 Risk Factors Underlying Disaster

 Gender and Family

 Women suffer more negative effects
 Families with children are more stressful
 Women with spouse experience more distress during recovery
 Marital stress has been found to increase after disaster
 Conflict between family members or lack of support in the home
make it harder to recover from disasters
 Age
 Age range or 40-60 are more likely distressed due to more demands
from job and family
 Children show more severe distress than adults
 Higher stress in parents is related to worse recovery in children
 Risk Factors Underlying Disaster
 Other factors specific to the survivor
 Recovery is worse if survivors:  Worse outcomes:
 Were not functioning well before the  Bereavement
disasters  Injury
 Have no experience in dealing with  Life threat
disasters  Panic, horror
 Must deal with other stressors are the  Being separated
disaster  Great loss of property
 Have poor self-esteem  displacement
 Think they are uncared for by others
 Think they have little control over what
happens to them
 Lack the capacity to manage stress
 Risk Factors Underlying Disaster
 Developing countries
 Risk factors can be made worse if the disaster occurs in the
developing country
 Have more severe mental health impact than in developed
countries

 Low or negative social support

 Support can be both a risk and a resilience factor
 Social support can weaken after disasters
 Due to stress and the need for members of support network to get
on with their own lives
Effects of Disaster
 Effects of Disaster
 Displaced Population
 One of the emediate effect of disasters
 Example: Taal Volcano erupted in 2020, Thousands of families
within the danger zone were displaced
 Effects of Disaster
 Heath Risk
 Sever flooding can result in stagnant water that allows
breeding of waterborne bacteria and malaria carrying
mosquitoes
 Dengue fever as another serious problem caused by
mosquitoes
 Contamination of drinking water facilities
 Leptospirosis outbreak
 Effects of Disaster
 Food Scarcity
 After natural disasters, food often becomes scarce
 Agricultural production are affected whether suddenly by a storm or
gradually in a drought
 As a result, food prices rise, reducing families’ purchasing power
and increasing the risk of sever malnutrition
 Effects of Disaster
 Emotional aftershock
 Natural disasters can be particularly traumatic for young
children
 May develop post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) – a serious
psychological condition resulting from extreme trauma
 Left untreated, children suffering from PTSD can be prone to
lasting psychological damage and emotional distress
 How does an event becomes a disaster?

- An event becomes a disaster either natural or man-made, sudden or

progressive, causing widespread human, economic, or environment losses

Typhoon Yolanda (Typhoon Haiyan)

- November 3-11, 2013
- Strength 290km/hr
- Resulted to a sudden and
unexpected storm surge
- More than 7000 people died
- Entire Tacloban City was flattened
 How does an event becomes a disaster?

2013 Bohol Earthquake

- October 15, 2013
- 7.2 magnitude
- 222 were reported dead, 8 were
missing, and 976 people were
injured
- more than 73,000 structures were
damaged (14,500 - totally
destroyed)
 How does an event becomes a disaster?

Battle of Marawi

- Marawi, Lanao del Sur

- 23 May – 23 October 2017 (5 months)
- Philippine government security forces
and militants
 Areas/Locations exposed to hazards
Exposed to Natural Hazards
Areas/Location Exposed to:
Coastal Areas Storm surge, tsunami, tidal waves
Reclaimed Areas Flooding, sinkholes
Near Fault Lines Earthquake
Near Volcanoes Volcanic Eruption
River banks Flooding, flashfloods
On foot of denuded mountains Mudslide/landslide
Open field Thunderstorm, hailstorm, blizzard
 Areas/Locations exposed to hazards
Exposed to Man-made Hazards

Areas/Location Exposed to:

Near Oil Depots Oil spill, pollution
Near Mining projects Toxic waste
Near factories Factory waste, pollution
Unsafe building structures Fire
Public Places in Mega Cities Terrorism
Disaster From Different
Perspective
 Disaster form the different Perspective
1. Physical
 Most visible and quantifiable effects of disaster
 tangible objects or infrastructure, people and properties
 In assessing aftermath, physical damages are essentially considered in
data recording
 How many families are affected? (displacement, injury, death)
 How many houses are damaged or washed out? (in case of super
typhoons)
 How many buildings collapsed or damaged? (in case of an
earthquake)
 How many roads, bridges, dams, and other infrastructures are
damaged?
 What is the extent of damage in agricultural industry?
 Disaster form the different Perspective

2. Psychological
 state of mental capacity and health, perception of self
 deal with babies, kids, adults, self-assessment to respond to disaster,
fear
 Post Traumatic Stress Disorder
 Important component of recovery phase include debriefing or
psychological support system
 Emotional – shock, terror, grief or sadness
 Cognitive – impaired concentration, decision-making ability
 Physical – fatigue, exhaustion, insomnia, reduced immune response
 Interpersonal – impaired work performance, feeling abandoned
 Disaster form the different Perspective
3. Socio-cultural
 Disaster risk is mediated by a range of factors: Social conditions (age,
gender, wealth, ethnicity) and Cultural settings (language, beliefs,
traditions, customs)
 in most places are also more or less exposed by information and
ideas coming from the “outside” - the world outside their own
cultural setting
 People’s socio-cultural background affect their response to disasters
at the different stage of disaster management
 Disaster is analysed based on how people respond having as
parameter their social conditions and cultural settings
 Disaster form the different Perspective

4. Economic
 assets and liabilities, income, economic class
 a natural disaster is a causes a perturbation to the functioning of the
economic system, with significant negative assets, production factors,
output, employment, and consumption
 Direct economic cost = value of what is damaged
 Indirect losses = evaluating the main indirect consequences of disaster
 Ex. Head of family losses a job due to isolation or workplace is
affected
 Disaster form the different Perspective
5. Political
 government structure, diplomatic issues
 politics are deeply linked to both the impact of a natural disaster and
the subsequent delivery of humanitarian assistance
 Political considerations before, during, and after a natural disaster can
determine who is most at risk, who can intervene, what actions will be taken,
and who will benefit from those actions
 Governmentality or deliverance of government services to
constituents can be a plus or minus factor in DRRM
 Government interventions should be present in:
1. Prevention
2. Mitigation
3. Preparedness
4. Recovery
 Disaster form the different Perspective

6. Environmental
 flora and fauna in environment
 Disasters are not random and do not occur in accident
 Disaster contribute to the worsening of the environment
 Several studies highlighted the fact that investments in
development are in jeopardy unless precautionary action is taken
toward reducing disaster risk
End.
 Task
• Search for a Specific Disaster experienced
in the Philippines:
• Analyze the impacts from the different DISASTERS/Group
perspective: • Tropical Storm Ondoy 2009
a. Physical • Australia Wildfire 2020
b. Psychological • 2019 Novel Coronavirus
c. Socio-cultural • North Cotabato Earthquake 2019
d. Economic • Taal Volcano eruption 2020
e. Political • Japan Tsunami 2011
f. Environmental • Syria War 2019

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