MODULE 2

Exposure and Vulnerability

OBJECTIVES
By the end of this module, learners are expected to:
 Enumerate elements exposed to hazards;
 Explain the meaning of vulnerability;
 Explain why certain sectors of society are more vulnerable to disaster than others.

DISCUSSION
Reading 1: Exposure and Sensitivity
Reduction of the level of vulnerability and exposure is possible by keeping people and property as distant as
possible from hazards. We cannot prevent natural events from occurring so we should focus on addressing the reduction
of vulnerability and exposure by identifying the factors underlying disasters.

Exposure is
another concept
in disaster risk. It
can be measured by total number of individual or different assets in an area. Geographical location is also crucial factor.
The magnitude of exposure varies depending on location and interaction of elements.
Sensitivity is prevalent when talking about disaster risk. This is the degree to which a certain community can be
affected by hazards. For instance, a community dependent on rain-fed agriculture is more sensitive to rainfall pattern
changes than a community where mining is the primary source of income.
Gender is another consideration when talking about disaster risk. According to United Nations (UN), gender
perspective in disaster risk reduction helps gender-specific capacities and vulnerabilities to prepare, confront and
recover from disasters.

Reading 2: Vulnerability
Disasters affect various groups differently. Vulnerability explains how people and the differences among them
contribute to the situation or context wherein they operate.
Different Types of Vulnerability
Social vulnerability – a situation such as lack of inclusion of women in decision-making may lead to more vulnerable
communities.
Psychological vulnerability – this pertains to the trauma of loss that may translate to an unhealthy condition.
Physical vulnerability – this include physical assets such as money and houses.
 Those who are underprivileged are the most vulnerable due to their lack of resources, which can be both human
and non-human. As such, they need to adapt to changes. Vulnerability can be seen in various ways:
 Economic factors associated with the levels of savings, debt, and availability of credit and insurance.
 Physical vulnerabilities, including geographical location and infrastructure.
 Environmental vulnerabilities are caused by natural resources depletion and destruction. Human activities also
affect the natural abilities of the environment to protect itself from any natural hazard that may cause landslide
and flash flood.
Note that a community’s vulnerability is fluid and may change over time. Being familiar with historical events is
important in order to anticipate future trends or possibilities.
Here are some examples of historical trends and how communities responded to said events:
 The possibility of increased human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) cases due to the return of large number of
internally displaced people to South Sudan had led to the creation of HIV awareness programs.
 The Malawi food crisis in 2000 became less inhumane compared to that of in 1945. However, people felt more
devastating consequences due to the rise of poverty and HIV/acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS).
 A tsunami in Southeast Asia that claimed the lives of a large number of women had further increased the
vulnerability of the community to wide-ranging hazards. Such effects included increased rate of alcohol abuse,
informal education for girls, disruption to fish markets when it was a principle livelihood mainly performed by
women and sexual violence.
Meanwhile, when talking about vulnerability to hazards, exposure can be an essential aspect.
Also, although the impact is very relative, the poor communities are often affected although not exclusive.
For example, the wealthy families who live far from the epicentre during an Indian earthquake in 2000 were
killed because their houses had additional structures without strengthened foundations that collapsed. This event made
them more vulnerable to the said disaster than the poor who stayed in simpler homes.
Vulnerability Assessment
Disaster preparedness creates a clear picture of where people are, what they need, what situation they are in,
what resources are available at their disposal, and what services do they require. To create a disaster plan, we have to
understand the community’s physical, social, economic, environmental and institutional conditions. A vulnerability
assessment is hence a crucial component to initiate preparedness planning.
Vulnerability assessment is essentially a methodology by which we can measure the community’s susceptibility
to hazards and resilience to cope and withstand the impacts of hazards. It is a dynamic process carried out by people,
organizations and government to assess the built environment and population – both of which have direct effect on the
vulnerability of the community.
In a nutshell, vulnerability assessments should:
 Identify the characteristics, frequency; and potential severity of the hazards a community faces;
 Identify the particular geographical areas and communities that are most susceptible and vulnerable to hazards;
 Identify the main sectors of a community (population, infrastructure, housing, services, etc.) that would be
affected by a specific type of hazard and anticipate how they might be affected; and
 Assess the ability of communities to withstand and cope with the effects of hazardous phenomena.
We often identify vulnerability through poor construction of buildings, lack of emergency and rescue resources
and inadequate protection of properties.
A community is also vulnerable if it lacks public information or awareness, fails to implement risks and
preparedness measures, and violates environmental laws.
Vulnerability takes multitudes of forms. By definition, it refers to a condition determined by physical, social,
economic and environmental factors or processes, which increase the susceptibility of a community to the impact of
hazards.
In order to set out scalable and applicable disaster preparedness, we shall take into account different
mechanisms to assess the vulnerability of a community.
Importance of Vulnerability Assessment
The importance of obtaining substantial knowledge on the vulnerability of the community through vulnerability
assessment can be summarized into four points.
First, this is central in developing disaster preparedness plans. It serves as a roadmap used by decision-makers in
crafting frameworks for and response to disasters. Accurate vulnerability assessment provides useful resources in the
legislative, implementing and oversight functions of both local and national government in terms of disaster
management.
Second, vulnerability assessment indicates where the impacts of the disaster are mostly to be evident (i.e.,
region or population likely to sustain great damages and losses). This assessment may facilitate prioritization of activities
and identification of target groups and program beneficiaries.
Third, site-specific vulnerability assessment determines the capacity of the community, or the lack thereof, in
coping with and reducing the adverse impact of the disaster. Hence, once effectively carried out, a vulnerability
assessment will set out the overall plan which reflects the level of potential threats, needs of the people, and resources
available for the community’s disposal which can impact the development purposes of the community.
Finally, vulnerability assessments can impart vital inputs for the national disaster preparedness strategy. In a
technical level, community-based assessments from part of the national mobilization of disaster preparedness. It serves
as relevant resources in monitoring trends in the physical aspects, economic sections, and infrastructure of the country,
which are instrumental in strengthening national capacity.
Vulnerability Assessment in the Philippines
The Philippines, situated on the Ring of Fire, has a number of active volcanoes which pose threats in its
immediate vicinities. The Philippines Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (PHIVOCS) assessed areas around the
summits of Mayon, Taal, and Bulusan volcanoes as permanent danger zones (PDZ). The PDZ of Mayon Volcano in Albay
Province covers six kilometres while PDZ of Bulusan volcano in Sorsogon Province stretches to four kilometres. The
entire volcanic island of Taal is a PDZ.
The vulnerability assessment in Tacloban City, Leyte Province explains why the city was among the worst-hit
areas by Typhoon Yolanda in November 2013. According to the assessment led by the Worldwide Fund for Nature
(WWF) Philippines, Tacloban has numerous vulnerabilities in terms of the city’s large population, high level of
urbanization, location and weak coastal areas.
Geohazard maps show that Tacloban is vulnerable to climate change impacts. It was proven when the 15-foot-
high storm surge submerged most of the coastal communities of the city. Overall, there is a high probability that
Tacloban will not be able to sustain future storm surges because many parts of the city are below sea level and
vulnerable to land subsidence.
Planning
Following the assessment of a community’s vulnerabilities, we move forward to the planning component. This
process will carry out actions and measures which aimed at building the capacity of the community to cope with and
withstand future hazards.
Preparedness Planning
Preparedness planning defines the activities and measures taken in advance to ensure effective response to the
impact of hazards. Sets of actions enumerated in the preparedness plan also include the issuance of timely and effective
early warnings and temporary evacuation of people and property from threatened locations.
Furthermore, this component involves arranging organizational resources and identifying the roles and functions
of each level. To complement these organizational roles, policies and procedures should also be developed.
To ensure that quick, efficient and scalable emergency response will be available once the need arises, planning
activities should be efficiently laid out. It sets course to the community’s collective movement in the event of the
disaster. Thus, preparedness planning largely determines the scale of loss and damages a community may sustain from
the impact of an actual emergency.
Although a written and well-documented plan serves as an instrument, the planning process should be our
objective. This focuses on the participation of all involved parties to ensure an effective and coordinated actions to
prepare for and respond to hazard impacts.
Planners
The dynamic process of planning involves concreted efforts and mutual trusts of organizations, interest groups,
government officials and affected population. Although it is valid that international experts or an active institution may
have relevant inputs, it is a common misconception that they must take the lead role in the planning process. In fact, it
has been suggested by Randolph Kent, the Author of Disaster Management Training Programme (1994), that the best
leadership role international experts must have is from the back ranks of the planning group.
Thus, the whole planning process must be the venue for coordinative plans and commitments of all parties. This relates
to the intentions of farmers in protecting their seedlings and livestock, plans of small-scale business owners in reducing
the risk of losing sales, and even response of households to the disaster threat to their day-to-day lives.
 Notwithstanding, central planners are to be identified in the process. Central planners may involve government
instrumentalities and agencies which represent each sector of the community. Full representation of these agencies
should be the priority as this will determine greater commitment and more strengthened results.
National and international non-government organizations (NGOs) may contribute to the planning process with
its long-term commitment. Direct involvement of these patties also has advantages in the implementation of programs
which may require financial resources from the donor community.
With all the potential participants considered in the planning process, you may enjoin different mechanisms. For
example, an international conference may set the tone of myriad of interests. The Philippines in June 2014 has hosted a
similar gathering which convened 150 senior government officials, scientists, academics, policymakers, industry and
business leaders, NGOs, and representatives of regional and international organizations from Asia and Europe to discuss
how to handle future mega-disasters. The conference, dubbed as "Asia Europe Meeting (ASEM) Conference on Disaster
Risk Reduction and Management, brought together planners who actively shared best practices, innovation, and
technology for disaster risk reduction.
Coordination
Equally relevant to the discussion of participating parties is good coordination. In terms of disaster
preparedness, vertical and horizontal coordination are of similar importance in carrying out the planning efforts. Vertical
coordination is between local and higher authority while horizontal coordination pertains to engagements among
agencies operating at the same level.
In the event of a disaster, decentralization of responsibilities is generally recommended as it allows more
efficient, immediate, and practical responses. Although organizations may create their own preparedness plans,
coordination to government officials is vital to avoid duplication of effort and to maximize the capacities of all parties.
Important Points of Planning
The planning effort, participated by various parties, is a fundamental component of disaster preparedness because of
the following points:
 It clearly defines the objective or set of objectives of the whole disaster preparedness exercise.
 It reflects a systematic sequence of activities in a logical and clear manner.
 lt assigns specific tasks and responsibilities to the planners and targeted population.
 lt integrates its activities, tasks, and responsibilities to mobilize the overall disaster preparedness.
 It reflects reliable and comprehensive data covering relevant aspects, such as hazards, vulnerabilities, capacities,
and risks. It consequently analyses events and anticipates which events are likely to happen in the future.
 It presents different scales and types or responses which address extreme events and chaotic events.
 Its information is available and useful for all parties. Its ownership shall be to everyone involved so that
commitment and trust will be fostered in the planning team.
 It is reviewed and updated regularly to meet the dynamic process of disaster preparedness.