1.1 Disaster and Disaster Risk

DISASTER READINESS
AND RISK REDUCTION
Disaster and Disaster Risk

Disaster Readiness & Risk Reduction
Objectives
At the end of the lesson, the learner is expected
to:
 clarify the meaning of disaster and disaster risk,
 explain the effects of disaster on human life,
 present disaster along physical, psychological, socio-cultural,
economic, political and biological perspective.
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Motivation:
What is your understanding in the following lines:
“Wishing won’t keep you safe,

safety will.”
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“We cannot stop natural disasters

but we can arm ourselves with
knowledge:
So many lives wouldn’t have to be
lost if there was enough disaster
preparedness
-Petra Nemcova
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“An ounce of prevention is worth a

pound of cure.”
- Benjamin Franklin
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“Your fear is 100% dependent on

you and for its survival.”
- Steve Maraboli
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“No matter what sort of difficulties,

how painful experience is, if we lose
our hope, that’s our real disaster.”
- Unknown Dalai Lama
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“It wasn’t raining when Noah built

the ark.”
- Howard Ruff
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“Earthquakes don’t kill people,

buildings do.”
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“Safety is a race we can all win.”
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Lecturette:
Definition of Disaster and Disaster Risk
• Disaster is defined as “a
sudden, calamitous event,
bringing great damage,
loss, destruction and
devastation to life and
property.
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Lecturette:
Definition of Disaster and Disaster Risk
• Disaster risk is defined as “the

probability that a community’s
structure or geographic area is to
damage or disrupte by the impact of
a particular hazard, on account of its
nature, construction and proximity
to hazardous area” (ADPC, 2012)
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Nature of Disasters
• Disasters are of two types – ‘natural and ‘human-made’.
1. Natural Disaster. These originate from the different
“forces” of nature (geological, meteorological,
hydrometereological and biological).
2. Human – made disasters. These disasters occur due to

people’s action against human, material and environment.
(e.g.. Chemical spill, building collapse and terrorism)
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Types of Disasters
Natural Disasters Human Made Disasters
• Storm Surge • Hazardous materials
• El Niño • Power service disruption
• Drought • Nuclear Power plant blast
• Earthquakes • Radiological emergencies
• Hurricanes and Tropical storms • Chemical threat and biological
• Landslide weapons
• Thunderstorm • Cyber attacks
• Tornadoes • Explosion
• Tsunamis • Civil unrest
• La Niña
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Risk Factors
Underlying Disasters
Severity Exposure
Gender and family
Age
Developing Countries
Low or negative social support
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Severity Exposure
• The amount of exposure to
the disaster is highly
related to risk of future
mental problems. At
highest risk are those that
go through the disaster
themselves.
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Gender and
Family• Almost always, women or
girls suffer more negative
effects than do men or
boys. Disaster recovery is
more stressful when
children are present in the
home.
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Age
• Adults who are range 40 -
60 are likely to be more
distressed after disasters.
Thinking is that if one is in
that age range, (s)he has
more demands from job
and family.
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Developing Countries
• There is a strong body of evidence that these risk factors
can be made worse if the disaster occurs in a developing
countries.
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Low or Negative Social Support

• The support of others can be both a
risk and resilience factor. Social
support can weaken after the
disasters. This may be due to stress
and the need for members of the
support network to get on with their
lives.
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Effects of Natural Disasters on

Human life
Displaced Populations
Health Risks
Food Scarcity
Emotional Aftershocks
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Displaced
Population
• When countries are ravaged
by earthquakes or other
powerful forces, many people
have to abandon their homes
and seek shelter in other
regions.
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Health Risks
• Severe flooding can result in
stagnant water that allows
breeding of waterborne
bacteria and malaria-carrying
mosquitoes (aegis egypti).
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Food Scarcity
• Thousand of people around
the world go hungry as a result
of destroyed crops and loss of
agricultural supplies, whether
it happens suddenly in a storm
or gradually in a drought.
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Emotional Aftershock
• Natural disaster can be
particularly traumatic for
young children. Confronted
with scenes of destructions
and deaths of friends or love
ones.
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How and When an

Event Becomes a
Disaster
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An event, either human-made or natural, becomes

disaster when it is sudden or progressive, causing
widespread human, material or environmental losses.
Examples:
• Typhoon Yolanda in Tacloban City
• Typhoon Ondoy in 2009
• Wow Wowie ULTRA stampede
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Areas Exposed to
Hazards
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Exposed to Natural
Hazards
Areas / Locations: Exposed to:
Coastal Areas Storm surge, tsunami or tidal waves
Reclaimed Areas Flooding, sinkhole
Near fault line Earthquake
On foot of denuded Mudslide/Landslide
mountains
Near volcanoes (danger Volcanic eruption – pyroclastic
zones) materials, lahar flow, lava flow and ash
fall
River banks and esteros Flooding, flash floods
Open fields Thunderstorm, hailstorm, blizzards
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Exposed to Hand-made
Hazards
Areas / Locations: Exposed to:
Near Oil Depots Oil spill, pollution
Near Mining Projects Toxic waste
Near Chemical Plants Chemical fumes, chemical waste
Near Nuclear Plants Nuclear waste, possible technical
failure, leaks or worse accidental
explosion
Near Factories Factory waste, pollution
Unsafe building structures Fire

Public places in Mega Terrorism
Cities
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Disaster from
different
Perspectives
A disaster is a result of a vast ecological breakdown
in the relation between humans and their environment; a
serious or sudden event on such a scale that the stricken
community needs extraordinary efforts to cope with it,
often with outside help or international aid.
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Physical
Perspective
From this view disaster is defined as a phenomenon
that can be cause damage to physical elements such as
buildings, infrastructures, including people and their
properties, e.g. houses and environmental sources of
living. Physical effects are the most visible and
quantifiable effects of a disaster.
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Psychological
Perspectives
Disasters can cause serious mental health
consequences for the victims. These consequences take
the form of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and
a variety of other disorders and symptoms which have
been less investigated.
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Other psychological effects of a disaster are the following:
Emotional effects Cognitive effects Physical Effects Interpersonal Effects
• Shock • Impaired concentration • Social withdrawal
• Fatigue
• Terror • Memory impairment • Alienation
• Grief • Nightmares • Impaired work performance
• Loss of pleasure derived from material activities • Self-blame • Distrust
• Difficulty of feeling love • Disbelief • Feeling abandoned
• Exhaustion
• Decreased self-esteem
• Confusion
• Insomnia
• Cardiovascula
r strain
• Hyper arousal
• Reduced
immune system
• Headaches
• Startle
response
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Socio-cultural
Perspective
What the people living at risk know and do about
natural hazards and disaster risks is mediated by a range
of factors including social conditions and cultural settings.
In most places people are also more or less exposed by
information and ideas coming from the “outside” – the
world outside their own cultural setting.
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Economic
Perspective
From this view, a natural disaster can be defined as a
natural event that causes a perturbation to the functioning
of the economic system, with significant negative assets,
production factors, output, employment and consumption.
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Political
Perspective
From this view, natural disaster are commonly
thought to be less politically contentious than armed
conflicts. Yet, a closer look reveals that politics are deeply
wedded to both the impact of a natural disaster and the
subsequent delivery of humanitarian assistance.
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Environmental
Perspective
Disasters are not random and do not occur in
accident. They are the convergence of hazards and
vulnerable conditions.
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Reference:
• Quebral, Villamor S. (2016). Disaster Readiness and Risk
Reduction for Senior High School (Core Subject). Lorimar
Publishing, Inc., Cubao, Quezon City
• Oliva, Mylene D.G. (2016). DIWA Senior High School
Series: Disaster Readiness and Risk Reduction Module.
Diwa Learning Systems Inc., Makati City.
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DISASTER READINESS

AND RISK REDUCTION

Disaster and Disaster Risk

“Wishing won’t keep you safe,

“We cannot stop natural disasters

“An ounce of prevention is worth a

“Your fear is 100% dependent on

“No matter what sort of difficulties,

“It wasn’t raining when Noah built

“Earthquakes don’t kill people,

“Safety is a race we can all win.”

• Disaster risk is defined as “the

2. Human – made disasters. These disasters occur due to

Gender and family

Low or negative social support

Low or Negative Social Support

Effects of Natural Disasters on

How and When an

An event, either human-made or natural, becomes

Unsafe building structures Fire

Emotional effects Cognitive effects Physical Effects Interpersonal Effects

• Shock • Impaired concentration • Social withdrawal

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