Patricia G.

Grefiel
12 STEM ARISTOTLE, Batch 1

2.1 Section Assessment (Various Elements That May Be Exposed to Hazards:

Environmental, Social, and Economic)
1. If your choice of applying protective measures is limited, which five specific elements
would you prioritize? Explain.
- The five specific elements I would prioritize if my choice of applying protective measures is
limited are the one included in the social element, specifically the health and well-being because
the lives of the people living in the community are the most important so prioritizing the health
and well-being of the people is a must, next is the essential facilities listed in the physical
elements, from the name itself “essential”, prioritizing these facilities like the medical facilities
and emergency response facilities, will be beneficial for everyone as these facilities are essential
and important to save lives of the people. The third one would be the facilities included in the
utility lifelines, specifically the communication facilities because it’s important to reach the area
or places that are hard to visit using vehicles, the electric power facilities also the portable water
facilities, wastewater facilities and distribution lifeline, simply because surviving without the
supply of clean water is something we can say as impossible so in my opinion, prioritizing these
facilities is a must too. Fourth would be the facilities included in the industrial facilities as these
facilities aside from the benefit we can get, the effect of those facilities if it gets destroyed, may
cause a lot of casualties. Lastly, in the economic, prioritizing it will be crucial for the recovery of
the whole community, or country after the disaster.
2. How different are the exposure to flood hazard of people from cities in developed
countries and people who live in cities in less-developed countries? Cite examples.
- In cities in less-developed country like the Philippines, the exposure of people to flood hazards
is really high, the risk is too high compared to those cities in developed countries like Singapore
and Japan because of many reasons. The poverty we have in the Philippines is one of the reason,
poor families can’t build their houses in a safe area or where the exposure to hazard are not high.
For example, the families in Manila who are living beside the estero and Pasig River, every time
the water in the river overflows, they were the first one to be greatly affected plus the fact the
drainage system is really not that functional as it should be because of the improper disposal of
wastes. The poor governance is one factor too. The supposed allotted budget for flood control
systems seems to have been ignored or maybe there’s just not enough budget to use for flood
control systems and the things that are essential to prevent the flood. Developed countries which
are more industrialized and more economically developed, the exposure to flood hazard of the
people in the cities are not as high as it were in the less-developed country.
3. Name three places of exposure and disaster risk to flood hazard in your locality. Are you
located in any of these places?
- The school, the area beside the river, and the town proper. Although we are located beside the
river, whenever the river overflows, we are not affected unlike the houses located on the other
side of the river and the other places I’ve mentioned.
Section Assessment (Vulnerability of Each Exposed Element)
1. For a storm surge hazard, which is more important to minimize, a building’s exposure or
its vulnerability? Explain.
- Being in the exposed are spells danger and destruction because this area is a place that be
adversely affected, so I think, minimizing the building’s exposure is more important in order to
lessen or avoid that danger and destruction and can decrease in people’s vulnerability.
2. What does 0 vulnerability to landslide hazard mean? Cite examples of structures or
communities in your locality.
- According to Advancing Earth and Space Science, the natural science we have focuses on the
physical vulnerability which quantitatively describes the degree or probability of tangible
damage injuries or deaths on a scale from zero which means there is none and to one, which
means complete. Therefore, zero vulnerability to landslide hazard means there’s no physical
vulnerability, there’s no damage or any deaths. Since our community is not located in the
mountain area or anything that may cause landslide, the vulnerability to landslide hazard in every
area in Licab which is our municipality, is zero.
3. Why is it that poor people are more vulnerable to certain natural hazards (e.g., flood)?
- Poor people are more vulnerable to certain natural hazards because of many reasons. The
Philippines, being one of the most natural hazard-prone countries in the world and a third world
developing country, can be considered as the reasons why the poor people in our country are
more vulnerable to certain natural hazards. Next is that they often live in risky areas, for
example, the people living near the estero in Manila, and near the Pasig River are more
vulnerable to floods, people living near the dangerous part in the mountain area are more
vulnerable to landslides. Another one is they lack of resources that will be needed in case of
emergencies like when the natural hazard strikes the area. Resources that will provide a home,
foods and other essential things you can think of. Hazards like climate change, according to
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), the developing countries like the
Philippines, particularly the poor sections of the population will be hit the hardest due to climate
change. These are just of the common reason why the poor people are more vulnerable to certain
natural hazards.