CONCEPTS OF

DISASTER
INTRODUCTION TO
DIFFERENT TYPES
OF DISASTERS
What are the
natural
processes that
shape and
change our
environment?
What is
disaster?
What is
hazard?
 Disaster
A serious disruption of the functioning of a
community or a society involving widespread
human, material, economic, or environmental
losses and impacts which exceeds the ability
of the affected community or society to cope
using its own resources.
 Disaster Readiness and Risk Reduction

•There is no such thing as a ‘natural

disaster’, only “natural hazards”.
•Disaster Risk Reduction aims to
reduce the damage caused by natural
hazards like earthquakes, floods,
droughts and cyclones, through an
ethic prevention.
 Hazard

A dangerous phenomenon, substances,

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.
My Practice:
Classifying
Phenomena
according to hazards
 Classify the phenomena in a table

1. Ground Shaking 8. Typhoon

2. Tornado 9. Forest fire
3. Landslide 10. Liquefaction
4. Flood 11. Storm surge
5. Indoor fire 12. Tsunami
6. Lava flow 13. Extreme rainfall
7. Industrial pollution
 Hazard

Natural Hazards
• Biological Hazard
• Geological hazard
• Hydrometeorological hazard
Man-made and Technological
Hazards
 Natural Hazard

Naturally-occurring physical
phenomena caused either by
rapid or slow onset events
 Natural Hazard: Biological Hazard

Process or phenomenon of organic

origin or conveyed by biological
vectors/agents, including exposure to
pathogenic microorganism, toxins, and
bioactive substances
Natural Hazard: Biological Hazard
 Natural Hazard: Geological Hazard

Geological process or
phenomenon
Natural Hazard: Geological Hazard
 Natural Hazard: Hydrometeorological Hazard

“hydro” – water
“meteoros” – sky
Process or phenomenon of
atmospheric, hydrological or
oceanographic nature
Natural Hazard: Hydrometeorological Hazard
 Man-made and Technological
Hazards
A hazard originating from
technological or industrial conditions,
including accidents, dangerous
procedures, infrastructure failures, or
specific human activities
Man-made and Technological
Hazards
ACTIVITY # 1
ROLE PLAY:
Identifying Impacts
of Hazards
 Map of locations and suggested scenarios
A. Family in concrete house near the highway far from
river and mountain
B. Mountain climbers going up the slope
C. Exchange learners in a local family home in the barrio
near the river
D. Friends in a beach resort
E. Fishermen on the open sea
F. Passengers in a jeep along a road with moderate traffic
• There should be one reporter/narrator who will explain
what the group is representing.

• The rest of the group, actors will take one roles, whether
of living or non-living things. But there should always be
at least on human in every situation. For example, they can
be all humans, or one human and the rest are their animals,
plants, or inanimate objects
• No member is needed to represent the hazard

• The actors must represent what is happening to the living

and/or non-living things caught in the given situation.
The assumption is that they are unable to avoid the
situation.

• 5-10 mins to make a depiction

 * The grade will be based on the accuracy of the
depiction of possible impacts, not on the acting.

* Each group should submit the list of roles to the teacher.

This will be used as a guide for grading
Evaluation
•Are the impacts of each hazard the same?
•What kind of hazards affected everyone?
What kind of hazards did not?
•What would you do if you were caught in
one of these hazards?