BASIC CONCEPT

OF DISASTER AND DISASTER RISK

ELEMENTS OF DISASTER RISK

The risk of losing lives or causing injury to people and of losing damage or property due to a hazard
increases as the levels of exposure and vulnerability (Disaster Risk = function (Hazard Exposure;
Vulnerability) It seeks not only to express the chance of the disaster happening but also to quantify the
impact.

ESTIMATING DISASTER RISK

Disaster is a function of hazard, vulnerability and exposure

As the disaster risk model implies, the magnitude of the disaster depends on:

1) the severity of natural event

2) the quantity of exposure of the elements at risk which includes lives and properties, and

3) vulnerability level or quality of exposure. The model can be expressed as:

Disaster Risk = Hazard x Exposure x Vulnerability

According to this formula if there are no hazard then the risk is null (the same if population or
vulnerability is null). Other models include counteracting measures as variables in estimating disaster
risk. For its simplicity the model is used by UNDP and is adapted by many, in assessing risk

THE LEVEL OF VULNERABILITY AND EXPOSURE CAN BE REDUCED BY KEEPING PEOPLE AND PROPERTY
AWAY AS FAR AS POSSIBLE FROM HAZARDS

RELOCATING PEOPLE TO REDUCE VULNERABILITY AND EXPOSURE

• RELOCATION MUST COME HAND IN HAND WITH OTHER MITIGATION AND PREPAREDNESS
MEASURES

• PEOPLE ARE RESISTIVE TO RELOCATION AND IT IS A QUITE CHALLENGE UPROOTING AND

MOVING THEM TO OTHER PLACES

• POOR PEOPLE ARE THE MOST VULNERABLE, WHO ARE FORCED TO LIVE IN UNSAFE AREAS NEAR
VOLCANOES, FLOOD-PRONE SITES, AND STEEP HILLSIDES

• PEOPLE TEND TO TURN A BLIND-EYE AS THEY ARE CPMFORTED BY THE FACT THAT THE RISK OF
DEATH IS LOWER COMPARED WITH THAT FROM ACCIDENTS

IMPACTS OF DISASTERS

Disasters often result from the failure to anticipate the timing and enormity of natural hazards.

MEDICAL EFFECTS