Lecture 1. Introduction To Disasters

Lecture 1
Introduction Disasters:
Words, Vocabulary and Axioms
IRFAN AHMAD RANA

A S S I S TA N T P R O F E S S O R
Contents
▪ Defining Disaster
▪ Terminologies
▪ Elements of Disaster Risk
URP-807 Disaster Management, Fall Semester 2020

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[Dr. Irfan Ahmad Rana, Department of Urban and Regional Planning, NUST, Islamabad]
Setting the Scene
DISASTER
What does it mean?

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Genesis of Disaster
▪Originated from Greek dus = bad, and aster = star
▪Evolved in Italian as disastro,
▪ To become French désastre

▪& then disaster .

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Managing the unmanageable?
“At first people refuse to believe that a strange new thing can be done, then they see it
can be done- then it is done and all the world wonders why it was not done centuries
ago.”
Frances Hodgson Burnett,

in her novel ‘The Secret Garden’

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Intricacies in Disaster Management
▪ Evolving Field
▪ Unpredictability (Occurrence and Duration) Spatial and Temporal
▪ Complexity (Scale, Severity)
▪ Urban Development and its complexities
▪ Cultural and Societal Factors

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Intricacies in Disaster Management
▪Huge responsibility (less chance for mistakes)
▪ Transdisciplinary (Planners, Architects, Engineers, Economist,
Agriculturists)
▪ Spatial and Temporal Dimensions
▪ Interrelationships and Interdependencies

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The Traditional Disaster Threat
▪Always been there.
▪Development has made us more in contact
▪Urbanization, Poverty, Inequalities, Industrialization, etc.

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Understanding Disaster:
Concepts and Constructs
Hazard
▪A hazard is a situation which poses a level of threat to life, health,
property or environment.
▪Most hazards are dormant or potential, with only a theoretical risk

of harm.
▪A potential of natural geophysical or hydro-meteorological events
that may cause damages to an area over a specific period of time
(Birkmann, 2006).

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Hazard
▪Once a hazard becomes 'active', it can create an emergency situation
▪A natural hazard is a natural phenomenon that can potentially trigger a disaster
▪These physical events need not necessarily result in disaster

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Hazard and Disaster
▪If the volcanic eruption is detected and assumed to
be eminent that is a hazard (think of the city below
the volcano) but if the volcano erupts and the city is
burned that is disastrous.

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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.

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Disaster
▪A disaster is the impact of a natural or human-made hazard that negatively affects society or
environment.
Banda Aceh, Indonesia just two days after the tsunami hit, killing an estimated 128,000 people, in a DigitalGlobe image
from December 28, 2004.
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Flooding of the Chenab River near the city of Multan after the monsoon rains that began in the summer of 2010, in
a NASA image taken on August 21, 2010 .
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There is no such thing as a 'natural' disaster, only
natural hazards.

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Scale of Disasters

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

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Elements of Vulnerability
▪Exposure: The presence of susceptible elements (IPCC, 2012).

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Elements of Vulnerability
▪Sensitivity: A tendency/degree of elements at risk that can come to
any harm as a result of the hazard. (Birkmann et al., 2013)

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Elements of Vulnerability:
▪Capacity: Ability of people, organizations and systems, using available skills and resources, to
face and manage adverse conditions, emergencies or disasters. (UNISDR, 2009)
Coping and Adaptive

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Concept of Risk
Risk(R)
HAZARD(H)
VULNERABILITY(V)
DISASTER Modified from C.Wamsler, Lund

Univerisity 2012
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Disaster Risk
▪ Word “Risk’ has different meaning to different people, ranging from
“Danger” to “Adventure”
▪The combination of the probability of an event and its negative
consequences
▪ The probability of a hazard occurring and creating loss
▪ A natural hazard converts into a disaster only when it affects a
“vulnerable” population (Uitto, 1998), and where proper mitigation
systems are absent (Chadha et al., 2007)

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The Disaster Risk Equation
▪R = H X [(E+S)/C]

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Intensive risk
▪Intensive risk refers to the risk associated with high-severity, mid to low frequency events
(UNISDR, 2015).
▪Intensive risk is comprised of the exposure of large concentrations of people and economic
activities to intense hazard events, which can lead to potentially catastrophic disaster impacts
involving high mortality and asset loss (UNISDR,2009a).
▪

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Extensive risk
▪Extensive risk refers to the risk associated with low severity, high-frequency (persistent) events,
mainly but not exclusively associated with highly localized hazards, including flash floods,
storms, fires and agricultural and water-related drought.
▪

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Intensive and Extensive Risk
▪There is no agreed measured distinction between intensive and
extensive risk and any quantified threshold between these is
arbitrary (UNISDR, 2015)
▪Extensive risk = less than 50 deaths and 500 houses destroyed
▪Intensive risk = more than 50 deaths or 500 houses destroyed
2009 Global Assessment Report on Disaster

Risk Reduction

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Acceptable risk
▪The level of potential losses that a society or community considers acceptable given existing
social, economic, political, cultural, technical and environmental conditions.

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Adaptation
▪The adjustment in natural or
human systems in response to
actual or expected climatic stimuli
or their effects, which moderates
harm or exploits beneficial
opportunities.

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Resilience
▪The ability of a system, community or society exposed to hazards to resist, absorb,
accommodate to and recover from the effects of a hazard in a timely and efficient manner,
including through the preservation and restoration of its essential basic structures and
functions.
The concept has the

potential to unify climate
change adaptation and
disaster risk reduction under
the sustainable
development framework

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Axioms of Disaster:
Paradoxes and Ambiguities
1. Disasters are social construct
▪Hazards are environmental processes

▪ “Disaster” inevitably has a baseline of a disruption
to society

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2. Disasters are caused by
vulnerabilities
▪Vulnerability dictates how society and elements

within society are or could be impacted by
hazards.

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3. Disasters are slow-onset
▪Hazards or potential hazards might be rapid-onset,

such as tsunamis and tornadoes, but vulnerabilities
and hence disasters result from society's actions over
the long-term

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4. Natural disasters do not exist
▪Disasters are caused by society and societal

processes, forming and perpetuating vulnerabilities
through activities, attitudes, behavior, decisions,
paradigms, and values

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References
▪ Kelman, I. (2018). Lost for Words Amongst Disaster Risk Science Vocabulary?.
International Journal of Disaster Risk Science, 9(3), 281-291.
▪ United Nations International Strategy for Disaster Reduction. (2009). UNISDR
terminology on disaster risk reduction.
▪Kelman, I. (2019). Axioms and Actions for Preventing Disasters. Progress in
Disaster Science.
▪ Rana, I. A., & Routray, J. K. (2018). Integrated methodology for flood risk
assessment and application in urban communities of Pakistan. Natural
Hazards, 91(1), 239-266.

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Lecture 1

IRFAN AHMAD RANA

URP-807 Disaster Management, Fall Semester 2020

What does it mean?

URP-807 Disaster Management, Fall Semester 2020

▪Evolved in Italian as disastro,

▪ To become French désastre

URP-807 Disaster Management, Fall Semester 2020

Frances Hodgson Burnett,

URP-807 Disaster Management, Fall Semester 2020

URP-807 Disaster Management, Fall Semester 2020

URP-807 Disaster Management, Fall Semester 2020

▪Development has made us more in contact

▪Urbanization, Poverty, Inequalities, Industrialization, etc.

URP-807 Disaster Management, Fall Semester 2020

▪Most hazards are dormant or potential, with only a theoretical risk

URP-807 Disaster Management, Fall Semester 2020

URP-807 Disaster Management, Fall Semester 2020

URP-807 Disaster Management, Fall Semester 2020

URP-807 Disaster Management, Fall Semester 2020

URP-807 Disaster Management, Fall Semester 2020

URP-807 Disaster Management, Fall Semester 2020

URP-807 Disaster Management, Fall Semester 2020

URP-807 Disaster Management, Fall Semester 2020

URP-807 Disaster Management, Fall Semester 2020

URP-807 Disaster Management, Fall Semester 2020

DISASTER Modified from C.Wamsler, Lund

URP-807 Disaster Management, Fall Semester 2020

URP-807 Disaster Management, Fall Semester 2020

URP-807 Disaster Management, Fall Semester 2020

URP-807 Disaster Management, Fall Semester 2020

2009 Global Assessment Report on Disaster

URP-807 Disaster Management, Fall Semester 2020

URP-807 Disaster Management, Fall Semester 2020

URP-807 Disaster Management, Fall Semester 2020

The concept has the

URP-807 Disaster Management, Fall Semester 2020

▪Hazards are environmental processes

URP-807 Disaster Management, Fall Semester 2020

▪Vulnerability dictates how society and elements

URP-807 Disaster Management, Fall Semester 2020

▪Hazards or potential hazards might be rapid-onset,

URP-807 Disaster Management, Fall Semester 2020

▪Disasters are caused by society and societal

URP-807 Disaster Management, Fall Semester 2020

URP-807 Disaster Management, Fall Semester 2020

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