JOURNAL IN

DISASTER RISK
REDUCTION
MANAGEMENT
What is Disaster?

A Disaster is an event or series of events, which gives rise to casualties and damage or loss of

properties, infrastructure, environment, essential services or means of livelihood on such a scale

which is beyond the normal capacity of the affected community to cope with. Disaster is also

sometimes described as a “catastrophic situation in which the normal pattern of life or ecosystem

has been disrupted and extra-ordinary emergency interventions are required to save and preserve

lives and or the environment”.

Natural Disaster

A natural disaster is a consequence when a natural hazard affects humans and/or the built

environment. Human vulnerability and lack of appropriate emergency management leads to

financial, environmental, or human impact. The resulting loss depends on the capacity of the

population to support or resist the disaster: their resilience. This understanding is concentrated in

the formulation: "disasters occur when hazards meet vulnerability". A natural hazard will hence

never result in a natural disaster in areas without vulnerability.

Various phenomena like earthquakes, landslides, volcanic eruptions, floods and cyclones are

all natural hazards that kill thousands of people and destroy billions of dollars of habitat and

property each year. However, natural hazards can strike in unpopulated areas and never develop

into disasters. However, the rapid growth of the world's population and its increased

concentration often in hazardous environments has escalated both the frequency and severity of

natural disasters. With the tropical climate and unstable land forms, coupled with deforestation,

unplanned growth proliferation, non-engineered constructions which make the disaster-prone

areas more vulnerable, tardy communication, poor or no budgetary allocation for disaster

prevention, developing countries suffer more or less chronically by natural disasters. Asia tops

the list of casualties due to natural disasters.

 Super typhoon “Yolanda” (international name: Haiyan) is the most powerful and devastating

tropical cyclone that struck the Philippines in recent memory. The Category 5 typhoon made its

first landfall over Guiuan, Eastern Samar in the early morning of November 8, 2013 and wreaked

havoc, primarily on the Visayas region, until its exit from the Philippine area of responsibility

the following day.

Weather officials said Yolanda had sustained wind speeds exceeding 185 kph when it made

landfall. The strong winds ripped off the roofs of thousands of homes and knocked down

shanties, trees, power and telephone lines and cell towers. Storm surge waves as high as 6 to 7

meters or a two-story high building, were also seen, claiming thousands of lives and destroying

millions worth of properties.

The Philippines has been battered by many catastrophic storms and other natural and man-

made disasters since time immemorial due to its geographic location both at the typhoon belt and

the Ring of Fire. The country is prone to multiple recurring hazards such as cyclones, floods,

earthquakes and landslides. In truth, the 2012 World Risk Report ranked the Philippines third out

of 173 countries in terms of disaster risk.

But in the wake of Yolanda’s catastrophic destruction, the weaknesses and significant gaps

in the country’s disaster response and management system were exposed once more. Despite a

solid and functioning disaster risk reduction and management (DRRM) structure, the

government’s response still came across as reactive and not proactive, insufficient, inefficient

and for the most part, too slow. This report will attempt to paint an analysis of the country’s
disaster management system in the context of the Yolanda devastation. This is intended to help

guide national agencies and local government units (LGUs) in the allocation and utilization of

precious and scarce resources to adequately mitigate risks for calamities that regularly strike the

country’s most vulnerable communities with such ferocity and enormity, year in and year out.
Man-made Disaster

Man-made disasters are the consequence of technological or human hazards. Examples

include stampedes, fires, transport accidents, industrial accidents, oil spills and nuclear

explosions/radiation. War and deliberate attacks may also be put in this category. As with natural

hazards, man-made hazards are events that have not happened, for instance terrorism. Man-made

disasters are examples of specific cases where man-made hazards have become reality in an

event.
 The Guimaras oil spill was a massive oil spill at the Guimaras Strait, the Philippines. It was

dubbed as the worst oil spill ever in the Philippines. The oil tanker M/T Solar 1, carrying more

than two million liters of bunker fuel, sank on August 11, 2006 at the Guimaras Strait off the

coast of the Guimaras and Negros Occidental provinces, causing some 500,000 liters of oil to

pour into the strait. It has been said that the recent oil spill has adversely affected marine

sanctuaries and mangrove reserves in three out of five municipalities in Guimaras Island and

reached the shores of Iloilo and Negros Occidental. The oil spill occurred in the Visayas Sea

which is considered a rich fishing ground that supplies most of the fisheries demand for the

entire country. This study was therefore conducted to determine what life is among the Guimaras

fisher folks after the oil spill in 2006. Interviews were conducted to generate the data needed in

this investigation. Results showed that ‘life was not the same before and after the oil spill. Fish

catch and sea shells became few and children are now afraid to bathe in the waters for fear of the

oil spill’s effects. Development of milkfish fish cage, handicrafts, and food preservation were top

most livelihood activities resorted to by the fisher folks after the oil spill. Budget inclusion,

research and other trainings were part of the LGU and International interventions that were done

after the oil spill.

Disaster Management:
As per Disaster Management Act, 2005, “disaster management” means a continuous and

integrated process of planning, organizing, coordinating and implementing measures which are

necessary or expedient for:

(i) Prevention of danger or threat of any disaster;

(ii) Mitigation or reduction of risk of any disaster or its severity or consequences;

(iii) Capacity-building;

(iv) Preparedness to deal with any disaster;

(v) Prompt response to any threatening disaster situation or disaster;

(vi) Assessing the severity or magnitude of effects of any disaster; evacuation, rescue and

relief;

(vii) Rehabilitation and reconstruction; Disaster Management can be defined as the

organization and management of resources and responsibilities for dealing with all

humanitarian aspects of emergencies, in particular preparedness, response and recovery

in order to lessen the impact of disasters.

Disaster management includes7administrative decisions and operational activities that involve

 Prevention

 Mitigation

 Preparedness

 Response

 Recovery

 Rehabilitation Disaster management involves all levels of government.

 Nongovernmental and community based organizations play a vital role in the process. Modern

disaster management goes beyond post-disaster assistance. It now includes pre-disaster planning

and preparedness activities, organizational planning, training, information management, public

relations and many other fields. Crisis management is important, but is only a part of the

responsibility of a disaster manager. The newer paradigm is the Total Risk Management (TRM)

which takes a holistic approach to risk reduction.

Disaster Preparedness

Why should we prepare for a disaster? Disaster preparedness is everyone's business. There are

many hazards which threaten our communities. When these hazards actually come into contact

with us, they may affect our lives and the resources we have to deal with them, thereby causing

emergency or disaster situations. To know how to respond to a possible threat, the community

needs to be organized and prepared with the correct information and tools to be effective. Being

prepared and knowing what to do can reduce fear and anxiety, thereby reducing losses that may

result from a disaster event. Therefore communities, families and individuals should know what

to do in the event of a storm or hurricane, fire, earthquake, or flood. If they have to evacuate their

homes, they should know where the nearest emergency shelter is located, and what items should

be taken there.
Reflection

Disaster, whether natural or man-made, have been part of man’s evolution since time

immemorial. Disaster often strikes without warnings like tsunami, cyclone, earthquake, flood,

accidents, plane crash, forests fires, chemical disaster etc. which results in huge loss of lives and

property. The plans and measures to mitigate and prevent the impact of the disaster are called

disaster management.

Disaster management is defined as the process of saving and protecting mankind and property

from the atrocities of natural and man-made disasters. Many times natural disasters like floods,

hurricanes, earthquakes, cyclones, droughts, and landslides cause great harm to people and their

property and result in massive destruction.

Therefore, disaster management is the art of reducing the impact of disasters on human life

and property. Disaster management is basically divided into four stages namely mitigation,

attentiveness, reaction, and recovery. It is obvious that we cannot stop natural disasters from

occurring but we can always take some steps to reduce the amount of damage it causes to the

earth. Hence, management is all about lessening the damage up to a greater extent.

There are ways through which we can manage the disasters some of which are:

One must be aware of the disasters and hazards that may occur in a particular area. Usually,

disasters occur according to certain geographical locations so one should know that their area is

prone to which type of disasters so that they can take various precautions and can prevent

themselves from emergency conditions.

Connect with people through social media and get information from the experts who are

aware of preventive measures and techniques.

 You must have a first aid kit in a store that can help you in an emergency situation. Also, try

to keep in-stock food and other essential items that can help you during the disaster.

In order to ensure your safety and security, you must keep in touch with your friends or

family who live far from your disaster-hit area so that in case you are evacuated, you can take

shelter in their home.

Buying flood insurance, using heavy furniture in the house are some of the other ways to

reduce the impact of disasters on your family.

As disasters cannot be avoided, we can always be prepared for them beforehand. And for that,

we need to be up to date with the latest technologies so the impact on the lives of people, animals

and plants can be lessened.