Exposure and Vulnerability

DISCUSSION

The severity of the impacts of disaster and other extreme weather and climate events depends strongly on the
level of vulnerability and exposure to these events. Trends in vulnerability and exposure are major drivers of
changes in disaster risk and of impacts when risk is realized. Understanding the multifaceted nature of
vulnerability and exposure is a prerequisite for determining how natural hazards and climate events contribute
to
the occurrence of disasters, and for designing and implementing effective adaptation and disaster risk
management strategies.

What Is Vulnerability?

Vulnerability is defined as “the characteristics and circumstances of a community, system or asset that
make it susceptible to the damaging effects of a hazard”. As indicated by United Nations International Strategy
for Disaster Reduction (UNISDR), “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”.

Elements Exposed to Hazard

Exposure refers to the ‘elements at risk’ from a natural or man-made hazard event. Elements at risk
include the following:

1) Human beings;
2) Dwellings or households and communities;
3) Buildings and structures;
4) Public facilities and infrastructure assets;
5) Public and transport system;
6) Agricultural commodities; and
7) Environmental assets

Elements at risk can also refer to intangible elements such as economic activities and infrastructurenetworks.

Vulnerability to Specific Hazards

There are many aspects of vulnerability, arising from various physical, social, economic, andenvironmental
factors. Examples may include:

 poor design and construction of buildings and other infrastructures;

 inadequate protection measures of assets;

 lack of public information and awareness;

 limited official recognition of risks and preparedness measures, and
 disregard for wise environmental management (ADPC, 2012)
 ADPC further emphasized that Vulnerability varies significantly within a community and over time.
Thisdefinition identifies vulnerability as a characteristic of the element of interest (community, system or asset)
whichis independent of its exposure. However, in common use, the word is often used more broadly to include
theelement’s exposure.

According to the UNISDR, there are four (4) main types of vulnerability:

1. Physical vulnerability may 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).

Example: Wooden homes are less likely to collapse in an earthquake, but are more vulnerable to fireHouses
built with light materials may not be a problem during an earthquake, but may be totally damaged by a super
typhoon.

2. Social vulnerability refers to the inability of people, organizations and societies to withstand adverse impacts
to hazards due to characteristics inherent in social interactions, institutions and systems of cultural values.
It is linked to the level of wellbeing of individuals, communities and society. It includes aspects related to levels
of literacy and education, the existence of peace and security, access to basic human rights, systems of good
governance, social equity, positive traditional values, customs and ideological beliefs and overall collective
organizational systems (UNISDR).

Example: When flooding occurs some citizens, such as children, the elderly and persons with disabilities
(PWD’s), may be unable to protect themselves or evacuate if necessary. Educated and well-informed are more
likely to survive when disaster strikes. There would be a lesser casualties in communities with emergency plans
backed up by emergency personnel as compared to those without.

3. Economic vulnerability – The level of vulnerability is highly dependent upon the economic 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 disasters. The same people are the least prepared due to a lack of access to education
and
information.

Example: Poorer families may live in squatter settlements because they cannot afford to live in safer
(more expensive) areas. In Metro Manila the so-called “urban poor” build their shanties or improvised houses
along river banks and esteros, making them prone to flash floods. Light materials that build their homes make
them exposed to fire hazards as well.

4. Environmental vulnerability. Natural resource depletion and resource degradation are key aspects of
environmental vulnerability. This is one aspect that both communities and government must be sensitive about.
Mitigation measures like reforestation and natural resource protection and conservation must be undertaken to
reduce natural disaster risk and vulnerability.

Example: Wetlands, such as Agusan Marsh, are sensitive to increasing salinity from seawater, and
pollution from stormwater runoff containing agricultural chemicals, eroded soil, etc. deforestation of mountains
due to illegal logging is the main cause of landslides and mudflows like what happened in Ormoc, Leyte (1994)
and in Infanta, Quezon (2011).