DRRR Week 1- DISASTER AND DISASTER RISK

DISASTER
 A serious disruption of functioning of society, causing widespread human, material or environmental losses, which
exceed the ability of the affected people to cope using their own resources
 a dangerous situation or threat from natural or man-made events that disrupt the functions of individuals in a
community
 occur when a hazard is exposed to a vulnerable community
HAZARD
 a threat to life, environment, or property
 a potential source of harm
VULNERABILITY
 The failure to withstand the impacts of hazards
 The characteristics and circumstances of a community, system or asset that make it susceptible to the damaging effects
of a hazard
CONCEPTS OF DISASTER

TYPE OF HAZARDS
• NATURAL HAZARDS
caused by naturally occurring phenomena which can be biological, geological, hydrological, meteorological, and climatological in
origin
• MAN-MADE HAZARDS
caused by human activities and occur near human settlements

TYPE OF DISASTERS
1. NATURAL DISASTERS
 These originate from the disasters such as earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, different „forces‟ of nature. Natural
typhoons, and cyclones affect many countries in Asia particularly the Philippines.
 Some natural disasters like earthquake and landslide are unpredictable, but communities can prepare for its
occurrence to avoid heavy damages.
 Some natural disasters like typhoons and volcanic eruption can occur with warning.
 Responsible government agencies can monitor the atmospheric and volcanic activities. They also provide a warning to
the people through the use of media
 The Philippines has a high vulnerability to natural hazards which are attributed to the nation‟s geographic position in
Southeast Asia.
 Natural Disasters such as typhoons , earthquakes, floods, volcanic eruptions, landslides and fires affect the country.
 Volcanic eruptions and tsunamis are related to the continental plate activity around the “Ring of Fire”.
2. MAN-MADE DISASTER
 These disasters occur due to people‟s actions against human, material, and environment. These include transport and
industrial accidents, such as air and train crashes, chemical spills, and building collapses. Terrorism is also categorized
as human-made disaster.
 Some of the most severe man-made disasters resulted from a war that can cause the death of hundreds or thousands
of civilians and soldiers, damage to properties, and the spread of diseases.

DISASTER RISK
 defined as “the combination of the probability of an event and its negative consequences.”
ELEMENTS OF DISASTER RISK
 Hazard – any phenomenon that can potentially cause damage to life, property, or environment.
 Exposure – any element (people, property, or system) that is present in a hazard and is prone to potential loss.
 Vulnerability - feature of a community that makes them prone and exposed to the negative impacts of hazard
RISK ASSESSMENT
 Disaster risk is measured and assessed to reduce the number of deaths and resources lost.
 A risk assessment is made to estimate the potential economic, infrastructure, and social impacts.
 Information gathered from hazards, exposures, vulnerabilities, and damages will give an accurate risk assessment.
RISK FACTORS UNDERLYING DISASTER
1. CLIMATE CHANGE
 Climate change can increase disaster risk in a variety of ways – by altering the frequency and intensity of
hazards events, affecting vulnerability to hazards, and changing exposure patterns.
2. Environmental Degradation
 It is both a driver and consequence of disasters, reducing the capacity of the environment to meet social and
ecological needs.
3. Globalized Economic Development
 It resulted in increased polarization between the rich and poor on a global scale.
4. Poverty and Inequality
 Poverty is both a driver and consequence of disasters, and the processes that further disaster risk related
poverty are permeated with inequality.
5. Poorly Planned and Managed Urban Development
 A new wave of urbanization is unfolding in hazard-exposed countries and with it, new opportunities for
resilient investment emerge.
6. Weak Governance
 Weak governance zones are investment environments in which public sector actors are unable or unwilling to
assume their roles and responsibilities in protecting rights, providing basic services and public services

DISASTER RISKS FACTORS

1. Physical factors
 refer to the objects that can be seen by the eyes and can be touch structure of the houses, the presence of fire
exits in the building, the materials used in constructing a building, the location of the infrastructure, etc.
2. Psychological factors
 refer to the capability of an individual to deal a disaster. This depend on the thinking skills and emotional
capability of an individual. The most distressed psychologically are the babies, pregnant, person with
disabilities, and old ages. They are the most worried in any disaster because they know their limitations.
3. Socio-cultural factors
 refer to human behaviors dominated by traditions, religious beliefs, social status and demand of the people
around or society. These factors affected greatly in decision making of an individual. The help and support or
discrimination that they get from the people around them can affect the damages made by a disaster.
4. Economic factor
 refers to money matters. This is the exchanges of money with goods and services, investment of foreign
business to the country as well as giving tax to the government. There will be more taxes if people buy, sell,
work and pay and invest. The taxes are the source of income of the government to pay all the projects and
salaries of government employees. If the economy is high the people are safe but if the economy is down that
is a big problem.
5. Political factors
 contribute to the effects of disaster. How come? If the government is honest in serving the people, then
during a disaster, the victims of any disaster can receive help immediately. But opposite for corrupt politicians,
the consequences of their actions can cause more troubles to the victims of the disaster.
6. Biological factors.
 These refers all living things (plants, animals, human body) around us and their activities. This refers to health
and environment. The healthier the safer for diseases but sickly individual have greater chances of infection. In
the environment, the presence of trees and plants keep the place safer because it sips the rainwater which
keep the place safe from flood;

DISASTER RISK REDUCTION

 Disaster risk reduction aims to decrease the risk level in communities.
 Disaster risk reduction is implemented in order to
o reduce vulnerability to life, property, or environment to an existing hazard;
o reduce degree of exposure to hazards; and
o increase preparedness through proper mitigation procedures
DRRR WEEK 2- EFFECTS OF DISASTER IN DIFFERENT PERSPECTIVE

EFFECTS OF DISASTER

1. Displaced Population
 A large influx of refugees can disrupt accessibility of health care and education, as well as food supplies and
clean water.
 Increased population in evacuation centers is the most immediate effect of a disaster.
 Infrastructures like churches and schools can accommodate a large number of people but evacuees will have
limited access to basic needs like water.
2. Health Risks
 Severe flooding can result in stagnant water that allows breeding of waterborne bacteria and malaria carrying
mosquitoes.
 Dengue fever is another serious health problem caused by mosquitoes (aegis egypti). Without emergency
relief from international danger has passed.
 One consequence of disaster is the threat to the population’s health. Many consequences of a disaster such as
the following contribute to the degradation of the population’s health.
o presence of stagnant water
o lack of clean water
o lack of food
3. Food Scarcity
 Food becomes very limited after an occurrence of a disaster. The consequences of the disaster that contribute to
the limited food supply are as follows:
o damaged farms
o damaged farm to market roads
o the high price of a limited food supply
o lack of buying capacity of disaster victims
4. Emotional Aftershocks/ Psychological Effects
 The devastating impacts of disaster can be traumatic for any person who has experienced it.
 Exposure to deaths and catastrophes can be unforgettable to anyone especially to children.
 Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a serious psychological condition from extreme trauma that should be
addressed as early as possible to prevent a long term emotional distress.
FACTORS AFFECTING SEVERITY OF EFFECTS
1. Severity of Exposure
 A person exposed to a more severe disaster has a higher risk for mental distress.
2. Age
 Research shows that individuals ranging 40-60 years old are more prone to disaster distress than children.
3. Human Resilience
 Resilience is the ability of individual to recover from the impacts of a disaster.
FACTORS THAT INCREASE THE RESILIENCE OF AN INDIVIDUAL:
1. Social support includes finding a sense of comfort from others.
2. Coping confidence is the self-efficiency to believe that one can survive any disaster and reduce mental distress in the
future.
EFFECTS OF DISASTER IN DIFFERENT PERSPECCTIVE
1. Physical, Environmental & Biological Effects
 Disaster causes drastic changes in the structure of the environment.
 Diseases can cause an epidemic or an outbreak especially if emergency care is not available.
 In terms of biological diversity, animals, and plants that live in a community where disaster strikes can
drastically decrease in number.
2. Socio-economic Effects
 Impacts of disaster in the socio-economic aspect include the state of the social well-being and the financial
resources of the community.
 Developing countries are more prone to disaster impact because of their high vulnerability and low resistance.
 Urban areas with more stable infrastructure are less vulnerable than areas with poor infrastructure.
3. Educational & Psychological Effects
 Access to information is important in reducing the hazardous effects of disasters.
 Students’ large population percentage in a community is crucial in literacy when it comes to disaster
management.
 Education is disrupted in a disaster event.
 Disaster is a traumatic event that can cause stress, depression, and anxiety.
 Disaster victims need psycho-social intervention to be able to cope and live a normal life.
4. Political Effects
 Disaster may affect public opinion about the government because citizens can feel and see how the
government handled the effects of a disaster.
  Potential social and political effects of disasters occur through direct and indirect experiences.
DRRR WEEK 3- VULNERABILITY

VULNERABILITY
 defined as composing of several physical, social, environmental, or economic factors that increase the susceptibility of
a population or community to a national hazard.
 a set of characteristics and circumstances, systems, or assets that make it susceptible to the damaging effects of hazard
 determinant of the effects and impacts of hazards
 lack of power to be safe in times of disaster

FACTORS AFFECTING VULNERABILITY

1. Physical
 Location – Environment - Structural
2. Social
 Absence or presence of DRRM committee and resources in community
3. Motivational
 Coordination of DRRM committee, local government, and residents

Four (4) main types of vulnerability:

1. Physical Vulnerability
 may be determined by aspects such as population density levels, remoteness of a settlement, the site, design
and materials used for critical infrastructure and for housing (UNISDR).
Example: Wooden homes are less likely to collapse in an earthquake, but are more vulnerable to fire.
2. Social Vulnerability
 refers to the inability of people, organizations and societies to withstand adverse impacts to hazards due to
characteristics inherent in social interactions, institutions and systems of cultural values.
Example: When flooding occurs some citizens, such as children, elderly and differently- able, may be unable to
protect themselves or evacuate if necessary.
3. Economic Vulnerability
 The level of vulnerability is highly dependent upon the economic status of individuals, communities and
nations. The poor are usually more vulnerable to disasters because they lack the resources to build sturdy
structures and put other engineering measures in place to protect themselves from being negatively impacted
by disasters.
Example: Poorer families may live in squatter settlements because they cannot afford to live in safer (more
expensive) areas.
4. Environmental Vulnerability
 Natural resource depletion and resource degradation are key aspects of environmental vulnerability.
Example: Wetlands, such as the Caroni Swamp, are sensitive to increasing salinity from sea water, and pollution
from storm water runoff containing agricultural chemicals, eroded soils, etc.

CATEGORIES OF VULNERABILITY
1. Hazard-specific
 The geophysical and locational attributes of communities are factors that make them prone to hazards.
2. Setting-specific
 The area whether it is rural or urban depends on setting-specific factors such as the economic situation in the
area and the population density.

Characteristics of Urban Setting Vulnerabilities

• Concentrations and Crowdedness - the three aspects are crowdedness and disease; crowdedness and buildings;
crowdedness and resource base.
• Numbers of Peoples and Activities - the two aspect of this condition are Technologies and the Management System.
• Proximity to Man-made Hazards - the aspects considered are Technological hazards, Economic hazards, and Social
Hazards

Why are certain sectors more vulnerable to disasters than others?

1. SOCIO-ECONOMIC FACTORS
 Socio-economic status or wealth plays a vital role in why some sectors of society are more vulnerable to
disasters than others.
 Rich or developed countries do not suffer as much relative to developing nations when a natural hazard
occurs.
2. DISPLACEMENT OF GROUPS OF PEOPLE
 Migrants, refugees, and internally-displaced persons (IDP) do not receive the same response and relief from
the government.
 These types of people suffer most when disaster strikes because of their unfamiliarity with their current place
of settlement.
 3. DEMOGRAPHIC FACTORS
 Settlement patterns and population density that is both associated with urbanization increase vulnerability to
disaster risk.
 Rapid urbanization with consequent unplanned development and poor infrastructure results in the higher
vulnerability of the population.
 Rural and small communities also have high vulnerability because of a lack of resources.

4. AGE OF POPULATION
 The number of young and seniors living in communities is also a major demographic factor that determines
the level of vulnerability of a community.
 Children and the elderly are sectors that are vulnerable because of their inability to respond and cope with
disasters.
 Marginalized sectors are discriminated during the post-disaster rescue, relief operations, recovery, and
rehabilitation efforts. These groups of people are not biologically excluded but separated through socially
constructed barriers.

Why are certain structures more vulnerable to specific hazards than others?
TYPES OF CONSTRUCTION
1. Engineered construction
 Building Code compliant
 designed by competent architects and structural engineers
 has a building permit
 complies with safety standards to withstand earthquakes and similar hazards
2. Non-engineered construction
 designed by incompetent architects
 does not have a building permit
 does not follow safety standards
3. Owner-built buildings
 mainly constructed by owners with the guidance of a head-mason or master-carpenter
 does not have a building permit
 does not follow safety standards

STRUCTURAL VULNERABILITY
 pertains to structural integrity of a building
 It includes:
o Location
o Shape
o Symmetry
o Typology
o Alteration
o Maintenance
o Age of building
o Number of stories
o Number of surrounding buildings
NON-STRUCTURAL VULNERABILITY
 pertains to other parts of a building not planned with a structural engineer
 It includes:
o Walls
o Ceilings
o Light fixtures
o Doors and frames
o Electrical equipment
o Mechanical equipment
o Plumbing
o Electrical installation
CRITICAL FACILITIES IN A COMMUNITY
o Hospital
o Water supply facilities
o Electrical distribution facilities
o Telecommunication lines
o Transport hubs such as airports, seaports
o Roads, rails, and bridges
o Schools that serve as evacuation areas/center