Exposure and Vulnerability

Exposure refers to people, property, systems, or other elements present in hazard zones that are thereby
subject to potential losses. While the literature and common usage often mistakenly combine exposure
and vulnerability, they are distinct. Exposure is a necessary, but not sufficient, determinant of risk. It is
possible to be exposed but not vulnerable. (for ex. by living in a floodplain but having sufficient means to
modify building structure and behaviour to mitigate potential loss). However, to be vulnerable to an
extreme event, it is necessary to also be exposed.

Elements Exposed to Hazard

 Human beings
 Dwellings or households and communities
 Building Structures
 Public facilities and infrastructure assets
 Public transport system
 Agricultural commodities
 Environmental assets

Vulnerability refers to the characteristics and circumstances of a community, system or asset that make it
susceptible to the damaging effects of a hazard.

There are many aspects of vulnerability, arising from various physical, social, economic, and environmental
factors. Examples may include poor design and construction of buildings, inadequate protection of assets,
lack of public information and awareness, limited official recognition of risks and preparedness measures,
and disregard for wise environmental management. Vulnerability varies significantly within a community
and over time.

4 Types of Vulnerability
1. Physical Vulnerability – it maybe 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 United Nations International Strategy for Disaster Reduction (UNISDR).
2. Social Vulnerability – refers to the inability of people, organization and societies to withstand
adverse impacts to hazards due to characteristics inherent in social interactions, institutions and
system of cultural values.
3. Economic Vulnerability – the level of vulnerability is highly dependent upon the economics 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 disaster.
4. Environmental Vulnerability – Natural resources depletion and resource degradation are key
aspects of environmental vulnerability

Vulnerability relates to a number of factors, including:

Physical factors

e.g. poor design and construction of buildings, unregulated land use planning, etc.

Social factors
e.g. poverty and inequality, marginalisation, social exclusion and discrimination by gender, social status,
disability and age (amongst other factors) psychological factors, etc.

Economic factors

e.g. the uninsured informal sector, vulnerable rural livelihoods, dependence on single industries,
globalisation of business and supply chains, etc.

Environmental factors

e.g. poor environmental management, overconsumption of natural resources, decline of risk regulating
ecosystem services, climate change, etc.

Growing exposure and delays in reducing vulnerabilities result in an increased number of natural disasters
and greater levels of loss.
To reduce disaster risk, it is important to reduce the level of vulnerability and to keep exposure as far away
from hazards as possible by relocating populations and property. The reduction of vulnerability can be
achieved through such measures as mitigation and preparedness. (Mitigation measures are means to
prevent, reduce or control adverse environmental effects of a project, and include restitution for any
damage to the environment caused by those effects through replacement, restoration, compensation or any
other means).

Risk Factors
 Risk 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 hazard and vulnerabilities of
exposed elements.

Philippine Vulnerability to Natural Disaster

 The Philippines lies in the Pacific typhoon belt and we are visited by an average of 20 typhoons
every year.
  The rugged nature of our landscape makes our communities very vulnerable to landslides,
mudflows and other disasters.
 The Philippines is an archipelagic country with many small island.
 Many of our areas are also at below sea level
 With one of the longest in the world at 32,400 km, we have many areas that are vulnerable to
storm surges.
 The Philippines is still a primary agricultural and fishing economy.
 Natural hazard risk is compounded in the Philippines by poor institutional and social capacity to
manage, respond and recover from natural hazard events.
 The Philippines is considered ‘‘high risk’’ in terms of the country’s ability to manage the impacts of
natural hazard and part due to ‘entrenched corruption and high levels of poverty’.
 Aside from being at risk to typhoons, the Philippines is also at risk to volcanic, quakes and floods.

1. Knowledge
Know the hazards in your area, know your vulnerabilities, and know your risk. Check out this article: 3
Things You Should Know About Flood Events

Know how to find information about the weather and how to protect yourself, family, and property from
potential threats. Signing up for Weather Alerts or download other smartphone apps that can provide you
with information you may need. The majority of these apps are free and can be downloaded ahead of time
for you to use when needed.

Know about the potential risks to your property. For example, do you live in a flood zone? Here is an article
about the National Flood Insurance Program and the maps used to determine rates.

Know how to take immediate actions around your home to help minimize a disaster if something begins to
occur. For example, make sure everyone in your household knows how to shut off utilities in an
emergency.

2. Integration
A widespread and strong social network can be very helpful to you during and after a disaster. Help
yourself before a disaster by identifying those you plan to communicate with during a disaster.

Communicate with your neighbors. Do they have disaster plans? What are they? Do they plan to evacuate
in the event of a disaster? Make an agreement to share information with each other in the event of a
disaster. After a disaster your neighbors may be a key resource as you begin the recovery process.

Communicate with your family. Create a family disaster plan. Where will you go if you need to evacuate?
Who is in charge of doing what in an emergency? Select an out of state person all the members of your
family can contact if you get separated and cannot reach each other. Be sure everyone knows how to
contact the out of state person.

Social media is a great, free tool that you can use. Several platforms (for example, Facebook and Twitter)
are available. Here is an article with tips on how to use social media during a disaster.

3. Trust
Get to know those community officials responsible for things such as announcing mandatory evacuations.
Do these officials have a good track record for announcing evacuations in a timely manner? Before
disasters, identify trusted local media sources that you know you can count on to provide valuable
information in the event of an emergency. Consider following your local emergency management agency
on social media sites.

4. Subsistence
Gather the items that you and your family need to carry you through a disaster. This is an area where many
of the preparedness check lists, or “go-kits” as they are often called can increase your preparedness. It is
traditional to have enough food and water for each member of your household to last 3 days. If possible
keep a small stockpile of medication that your household will need. Recommendations for go-kits from the
Red Cross can be found here and a video from ready.gov. Having a go-kit in your car or office is also a good
idea.

5. Mobility
Do you have access to transportation in the event of evacuation (sheltering in your local area or distant
evacuation)? Does your family have a working vehicle? Do you have access and money for fuel? If you
don’t have a personal vehicle, do you have family, friends, or neighbors that you can evacuate with? Have
you made a plan with them? Are you dependent on public transportation? Do you know your community’s
policy on public transportation in the event of a disaster? Click here for more information on evacuation
planning.

Mobility may also include things like the freedom to leave work if needed or the ability to pick up kids from
school in the event of an emergency. Making plans for how you can accomplish these things before a
disaster happens will better prepare you to take action when needed.

6. Impact Avoidance
Impact avoidance is often referred to as mitigation and includes taking actions to reduce or eliminate risks
of impact during a disaster. This can include activities such as putting in levees or dykes on your property,
raising your home, securing heavy furniture to the wall, buying flood insurance, and more.

7. Adaptability
You probably have areas of your work and home life that will not change regardless of your preparedness
level. They are not easily adaptable. For example, your work may require you to be in an office every day,
making evacuation more difficult than it would be for someone who can work remotely. Recognizing
where you and your family are not able to easily adapt, is the first step in thinking of alternate ways to
address them in a disaster situation.