Laurence Matthew Villanueva Disaster Readiness and Risk Reduction

Grade 11-STEM

ACTIVITY 1: VENN DIAGRAM

RISK EXPOSURE
The potential loss of life, The situation of people,
injury, or destroyed or infrastructure, housing,
damaged assets which could production capacities and
occur to a system, society or other tangible human
a community in a specific assets located in hazard-
period of time, determined prone areas.
probabilistically as a function
of hazard, exposure,
vulnerability and capacity.

ACTIVITY 2: DEFINING CONCEPTS

1. Disaster

Disaster is defined as a “sudden calamitous event bringing great damage, loss, or destruction.”
Disaster is also a serious disruption of the functioning of community or a society causing widespread
human, material, economic or environmental losses that exceed the ability of the affected community
or society to scope using its own resources.

2. Hazard

Hazard is defined as “a dangerous phenomenon, substance, human activity or condition that

may cause loss of lives, injuries, or other health problems, property damages, loss of livelihood and
services, social and economic disruptions, or environmental damage. Hazard is also any source of
potential damage, harm or adverse health effects on something or someone. Basically, a hazard is the
potential for harm or an adverse effect (for example, to people as health effects, to organizations as
property or equipment losses, or to the environment).

3. Vulnerability

Vulnerability is the inability to resist a hazard or to respond when a disaster has occurred. For
instance, people who live on plains are more vulnerable to floods than people who live higher up.
Vulnerability is also the degree of susceptibility or proneness of a community to the damaging effects of
a hazard on a particular environment.
ACTIVITY 3: REFLECTIVE JOURNAL

1. How does disaster, hazard, and vulnerability relate to each other?

They relate to each other because they are associated with danger and harm. Disasters cause
harm and it is also the same with hazard and vulnerability. Although vulnerability is mostly used as a
description to a thing or a person, it still means that they are weak and when exposed to certain
dangers, they are harmed.

2. How can disaster be sometimes beneficial to people and their surroundings?

Disasters can sometimes be beneficial to people and their surroundings such as Floods,
Volcanoes, and Hurricanes. The benefits of floods for farmers and those in the agricultural sector are it
helps them in the long run by providing nutrients to the soil that were lacking. This makes the soil more
fertile and increases agricultural production. Nutrients are also added to rivers and lakes, improving the
health of fishes that can be consumed. There may be relocation of fishes and organisms living in water
bodies. This may improve the ecosystem. New predators and prey are introduced to areas, balancing the
aquatic population. The benefits of Volcanoes are after a volcanic eruption, the soil becomes rich due to
the nutrients from the volcano. Precious stones and gems that were once deep within the earth are
brought to the earth's surface and will contribute greatly to the economy of the country. Some valuable
emissions from volcanoes are pumice, opal, gold, mercury, and metals. It also releases good chemicals
into the atmosphere. Chemicals such as carbon dioxide and hydrogen that contributes to the water
cycle. While the benefits of hurricanes is that the winds from a hurricane can also contribute to the
agricultural sector in the long run. The wind will cause the topsoil to be distributed to areas in which it
was lacking. Through the redevelopment of infrastructure, the property value and living conditions in
some areas will improve. Hurricanes help to bring people together as they help each other in the
aftermath and lowers temperature.

3. How can hazard turn into disaster?

A hazard becomes a disaster when it happens where many people are living or have their
livelihoods and causes damage to them and their property. For example, during a flood many people
drown or are injured, lose their animals and their property.