Disaster Readiness and Risk Reduction

Disaster is "a sudden, calamitous occurrence that causes great harm, injury, destruction, and devastation to life and
property”.
It disrupts the usual course of life, causing both physical and emotional distress such as an intense feeling of
helplessness and hopelessness.
A preceding definition of disaster stresses that two elements are affected – life (whether human or animal)
and property.
According to the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO, 2008), disaster is “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”
Meanwhile, the United Nations International Strategy for Disaster Reduction defines a disaster as a serious
disruption of the functioning of a community or a society involving widespread human, material, economic or
environmental losses, and impacts, which exceed the ability of the affected community or society to cope using its
own resources.
 Disasters are often a result of the combination of: exposure to a hazard; the conditions of
vulnerability that are present; and insufficient capacity or measures to reduce or cope with the
potential negative consequences.
 Its impacts may include loss of life, injury, disease, and other negative effects on human physical,
mental, and social well-being, together with damage to properties, destruction of assets, loss of
services, social and economic disruptions, and
environmental degradation.

Natural Disasters – a natural phenomenon caused by natural forces, such as earthquakes, typhoons, volcanic
eruptions, hurricanes, fires, tornados, and extreme temperatures. They can be classified as rapid-onset disasters and
those with progressive onsets, such as droughts that lead to famine. These events, usually sudden, can have
tremendous effects.

Hazard - A hazard is a source or condition that has the potential to cause harm to humans in the form of injury or
illness, property damage, environmental damage, or a combination of these.

A. natural hazard occurs when an extreme natural event is destructive to human life and property. This event
could interfere with activities in a minor way such as when strong winds blow trees down, or this event could
completely disrupt activities like a large earthquake damaging your home, business, or school. They only
become hazards when humans are affected in some way.
B. Human-made induced hazards are caused by human activities. Unlike natural hazards, human-made hazards
can often be prevented.

Examples:
1. Technological/industrial disasters - Unregulated industrialization and inadequate safety standards increase the
risk for industrial disasters.
 Examples: leaks of hazardous materials; accidental explosions; bridge or road collapses, or vehicle
collisions; Power cuts

2. Terrorism/Violence - the threat of terrorism has also increased due to the spread of technologies involving
nuclear, biological, and chemical agents used to develop weapons of mass destruction.
 Examples: bombs or explosions; release of chemical materials; release of biological agents; release of
radioactive agents; multiple or massive shootings; mutinies

3. Complex humanitarian emergencies - the term complex emergency is usually used to describe the humanitarian
emergency resulting from an international or civil war. In such situations, large numbers of people are displaced
from their homes due to the lack of personal safety and the disruption of basic infrastructure including food
 distribution, water, electricity, and sanitation, or communities are left stranded and isolated in their own homes
unable to access assistance.
 Examples: conflicts or wars and Genocide the deliberate killing of a large group of people, especially
those of a particular ethnic group or nation

Risk and Disaster Risk

Risk has various connotations within different disciplines. In general, risk is defined as “the combination of the
probability of an event and its negative consequences” (UNISDR, 2009).

The term disaster risk refers to the potential (not actual and realized) disaster losses, in lives, health status,
livelihoods, assets, and services which could occur in a community or society over some specified future time period.
Disaster risk is the product of the possible damage caused by a hazard due to the vulnerability within a
community.
It should be noted that the effect of a hazard (of a particular magnitude) would affect communities
differently (Von Kotze, 1999:35).
It can also be determined by the presence of three variables: hazards (natural or anthropogenic);
vulnerability to a hazard; and coping capacity linked to the reduction, mitigation, and resilience to the vulnerability
of a community.

Disaster risk has three important elements such as:

1. Exposure - the “elements at risk from a natural or man-made hazard event (Quebral, 2016).
2. Hazard-a potentially dangerous physical occurrence, phenomenon, or human activity that may result in loss of life
or injury, property damage, social and economic disruption, or environmental degradation.
3. Vulnerability - the condition determined by physical, social, economic, and environmental factors or processes,
which increase the susceptibility of a community to the impact of hazards (Food and Agriculture Organization of the
United Nation, FAO 2008).

The following are also taken into consideration when risk factors underlying disaster are involved:

 The severity of exposure - which measures those who experience disaster first-hand which have the
highest risk of developing future mental problems, followed by those in contact with the victims such as
rescue workers and health care practitioners, and the lowest risk are those most distant like those who
have awareness of the disaster only through the news.
 Gender and Family - the female gender suffers more adverse effects. This worsens when children are
present at home. Marital relationships are placed under strain.
 Age - adults in the age range of 40-60 are more stressed after disasters but in general, children exhibit
more stress after disasters than adults do.
 Economic status of the country - evidence indicates that severe mental problems resulting from
disasters are more prevalent in developing countries like the Philippines. Furthermore, it has been
observed that natural disasters tend to have more adverse effects in developing countries than do man-
99caused disasters in developed countries.

Factors that underlie disasters:

1. Climate Change - can increase disaster risk in a variety of ways – by altering the frequency and intensity of
hazard events, affecting vulnerability to hazards, and changing exposure patterns.
2. Environmental Degradation - changes to the environment can influence the frequency and intensity of
hazards, as well as our exposure and vulnerability to these hazards. For instance, deforestation of slopes
often leads to an increase in landslide hazards, and the removal of mangroves can increase the damage
caused by storm surges (UNISDR, 2009b).
3. Globalized Economic Development - It results in an increased polarization between the rich and poor on a
global scale. Currently increasing the exposure of assets in hazard-prone areas, globalized economic
development provides an opportunity to build resilience if effectively managed.
 4. Poverty and Inequality - The lack of access to insurance and social protection means that people in poverty
are often forced to use their already limited assets to buffer disaster losses, which drives them into further
poverty. Poverty is therefore both a cause and consequence of disaster risk (Wisner et al., 2004), particularly
extensive risk, with drought being the hazard most closely associated with poverty (Shepard et al., 2013).
5. Poorly planned and Managed Urban Development -The growing rate of urbanization and the increase in
population density (in cities) can lead to the creation of risk, especially when urbanization is rapid, poorly
planned, and occurring in a context of widespread poverty.
6. Weak Governance - weak governance zones are investment environments in which public sector actors are
unable or unwilling to assume their roles and responsibilities in protecting rights, and providing basic
services and public services. This reflects how risk is valued against a backdrop of broader social and
economic concerns (Holley et al., 2011).
7. Geographical Location - The Philippines is one of the most vulnerable countries in the world to natural
disasters. The country's location makes it vulnerable to storms that cause flooding, mudslides, and typhoons.

What is the difference between hazard and disaster?

A hazard is a dangerous situation or event that carries a threat to humans. A disaster is an event that harms
humans and disrupts the operations of society. Hazards can only be considered disasters once it affected
humans. If a disaster happened in an unpopulated area, it is still a hazard.

The Human Effect of Natural and Man-Made Disasters

1. Displaced Populations
A large influx of refugees can disrupt the accessibility of health care and education, as well as food
supplies and clean water.
2. Health Risks
Severe flooding can result in stagnant water that allows the breeding of waterborne bacteria and
malaria-carrying What is It 11 CO_Q1_DRRR SHS Module 3 mosquitoes.
3. Food Scarcity
The impacts of hunger following an earthquake, typhoon, or hurricane can be tremendous, causing
lifelong damage to children’s development.
4. Emotional Aftershocks
Natural disasters can be particularly traumatic for young children. Left untreated, children suffering
from PTSD can be prone to lasting psychological damage and emotional distress.

Great damage caused by a disaster can be reduced if everyone will take responsibility for anticipating its effects.
Here are some ways how to plan ahead of a disaster:
1. Check for hazards at home.
2. Identify safe places indoors and outdoors
3. Educate yourself and your family members
4. Have Disaster kits/supplies on hand.
5. Develop an emergency communication plan.
6. Help your community get ready.
7. Practice the Disaster Preparedness Cycle

The Different Perspectives of Disaster

1. Physical perspective
Natural disasters generally affect the physical infrastructural facilities, and agricultural productivity
and even lead to loss of life and cause damage to property.
Effects of Physical Disasters
- Injuries
- Physical disabilities or illness
- Sanitation
- Damage to infrastructure
2. Psychological Perspective
Disasters are mostly unpredictable, which leaves the victims in a state of shock. They tend to deny
the loss and try to escape from reality. Being in a denial state makes the victims more vulnerable to
stress, anxiety, and other different maladaptive reactions.
Psychological effects of a Disaster:
distress hopelessness
intrusion/avoidance emotional effects
hatred/revenge Cognitive Effects
dependence/insecurities Physical Effects
grief/withdrawn/isolation interpersonal effect
guilt feeling helplessness
lack of trust

3. Socio-cultural Perspective
To people who are used to natural calamities like typhoons, flash floods, and volcanic eruptions most
citizens would find contentment with what they have at the moment. The culture of “malalampasan
din natin ‘to..” belief and “ bahala na and Diyos” syndrome give hope to most Filipino in the midst of
a disaster. Such perspective helps a lot especially those who belong to the marginalized sector to be
hopeful and continue fighting against any challenge at hand.
Socio-Cultural Effect of Disasters
 change in individual roles
 disruption of social relationships and personal connections
\
4. Economic Perspective
Disasters affect the economic condition of a community because they reduce local and international
trade. It can also partially or totally paralyze a country’s transportation system, just like what happened
in the COVID19 pandemic. Implementation of a partial and total shut down of local business operations
result to a lot of people losing means of living.
Economic Effects of Disasters
- loss of life
- unemployment
- loss of property loss of household articles
- loss of crops
- loss of public infrastructure

5. Political Perspective
Natural disasters are commonly thought to be less politically argumentative than armed conflicts, yet a
closer look shows that both the effects of a natural disaster and the resulting distribution of humanitarian
aid are profoundly linked to politics.

Political Effects of a Disaster

- People who have trust in political institution will assess the government’s risk assessments as credible and
accept their hazard policies (Johnson 1999)
- Low level of trust in public institutions therefore means that citizens may ignore the recommendations and
disregard the information provided by these institutions (McCaffey 2004).
- If individuals are confident that they will receive sufficient aid from the government when a disaster occurs,
they might not be motivated to take measures on their own (King and Kang 2000).

6. Biological Perspective
The disturbing effects caused by a prevalent kind of disease or virus in an epidemic or pandemic level is
known as biological disaster.
(a) Epidemic Level: Biological disaster affects large numbers of people within a given community or area. Ex:
Dengue.
 (b) Pandemic Level: Biological disaster affects a much large region, sometime spanning entire continents or
the globe.
Example of it is the COVID19 pandemic which infected millions in less than a month and left thousands of
deaths in the same duration. Viral respiratory infections can lead to anything from a mild cough that lasts a
few weeks or months to full-blown persistent wheezing or asthma (Martin, 2020).

Effects of Biological Disasters

 loss of lives
 public demobilization
 negative economic effect
 unemployment
 hunger

Vulnerability is a state of being at risk. Defined as the characteristics and circumstances of a community, system or
resource that make it susceptible to the damaging effects of a hazard. Vulnerability is also situation specific. This
means that if a specific province is prone to earthquake, it does not mean that all localities on that province is
vulnerable to it. Hazards have different traits that can influence the disasters possible to happen.

Factors affecting the vulnerability of one’s community:

1. Population density near a hazard event.
 Population density refers to the number of individuals living in an area in relation to the size of an
area. If population density is high, it means that the number of individuals is high but the space is
very small. In that case, if fire broke in that area, there is little space for the population to escape
quickly and easily. So, crowded communities have higher vulnerability to hazards.
2. Capacity and efficiency to reduce Disaster Risk.
 Community that is less vulnerable has the capacity to reduce disaster risk because;
1. It can provide accessibility and availability of services and facilities during and after disaster.
2. It has the ability to anticipate, adapt, and respond to possible disaster.

Hazards can be categorized in different types:

1. Natural hazards - arise from natural processes in the environment.
e.g. earthquakes, tsunamis, landslides, volcanic eruptions, and floods
2. Quasi-natural hazards- arise through the interaction of natural processes and human activities
e.g. pollution or desertification, smog, and fog
3. Technological (or man-made) hazards- These arise directly as a result of human activities.
e.g. accidental release of chemicals, toxic and pesticides to floral and fauna

Hazards Signs and Symbols

Technology or Man-Made Hazards Signs and Symbols

FLAME HEALTH HAZARD

NATURAL HAZARD SIGNS AND SYMBOLS

Quasi-Natural Signs and Symbols

 ENVIRONMENT