SHS

DISASTER READINESS AND

RISK REDUCTION
Week 4 : Module 7
Disaster Readiness and Risk Reduction

Grade 11/12: Week 4: Module 7

First Edition, 2020

Copyright © 2020
La Union Schools Division
Region I

All rights reserved. No part of this module may be reproduced in any form

without written permission from the copyright owners.

Development Team of the Module

Author: Marivic F. Carolino, T - II

Editor: SDO La Union, Learning Resource Quality Assurance Team

Illustrator: Ernesto F. Ramos Jr., P II

Management Team:

ATTY. Donato D. Balderas, Jr.

Schools Division Superintendent

Vivian Luz S. Pagatpatan, PhD

Assistant Schools Division Superintendent

German E. Flora, PhD, CID Chief

 Virgilio C. Boado, PhD, EPS in Charge of LRMS

Rominel S. Sobremonte, EdD, EPS in Charge of Science

Michael Jason D. Morales, PDO II

Claire P. Toluyen, Librarian II

Disaster Readiness
and Risk Reduction
Week 7: Module 4
 Target

Amidst the impending threats of natural and manmade hazards and

disasters, it is of utmost importance that we are provided with knowledge and
awareness so that we can cope with the threats of disasters. It is hoped that
through this module, you will be encouraged to take further initiatives to meet the
challenges of facing disasters. Nature operates dynamically, making it
unpredictable. Natural hazards are phenomenathat may cause severe death toll,
damages to property, environment, and socio-economic condition of communities.

This module will provide you with information on how hazards, exposure
and vulnerability play a considerable impact in one’s life.

At the end of this module, you are expected to:

1. Differentiate among hazards, exposure, and vulnerabilities and give examples

from actual situations.

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 Jumpstart

Before going on, let us check how much you know about this topic. Answer
the pre test on a separate sheet of paper. Write the letter of the best answer for
each test item.

Pre assessment:
______1. Which among the following categories of disaster risk does famine,
deforestation, pest infestation belong?
A. Acute disaster risk C. Slow disaster risk
B. Extensive disaster risk D. Intensive disaster risk
______2. What category of disaster risk involves exposure of large number of
people in a specific geographic area to extreme events?
A. Acute disaster risk C. Slow disaster
B. Extensive disaster risk D. Intensive disaster risk ______3.Which of
the following concept happens when individuals living below the mountainous
area are more exposed to hazards?
A. Capacity B. Exposure C. Sensitivity D. Vulnerability ______4. Which
among the following is NOT a root factor of terrorist movements which exposes
large population ?
A. Inequity B. Poverty C. Marginalization D. Vulnerability
______5. What level of vulnerability is highly dependent upon the economic status
of individuals, communities and nations?
A. Physical B. Social C. Economic D. Environmental
______6. Which among the following does NOT measure exposure?
A. Assets in an area C. Economic factor
B. Geographical location D. Magnitude of exposure
______7. Which among the following is a phenomena that may cause severe death
toll, damages to property, environment, and socio-economic condition of
communities?
A. Biological hazards C. Hydrometeorological hazards
B. Geological hazards D. Natural hazard
______8. Which hazard include epidemic diseases that are caused by viral and
bacterial infection?
A .Biological hazards C. Hydrometeorological hazards
B.Geological hazards D. Human induced hazard
______9. Which kind of hazard sprouts from technological or industrial conditions
that include infrastructure failures or specific human activities?
A. Biological hazards C. Hydrometeorological hazards
B.Geological hazards D. Human induced hazard
______10. . Which among the following means serious disruption of the functioning
of a community or a society involving widespread human, material, economic or
environmental losses and impacts?
A. Hazard B. Disaster C. Disaster risk D. Exposure

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Discover

In the previous lessons, the term hazard has been mentioned casually
alongside exposure and vulnerability. The other components are
determined as other aspects of disaster risk.

A. Hazard
• A dangerous phenomenon, substance, human activity or condition
that may cause loss of life, injury or other health impacts,
property damage, loss of livelihoods and services, social and
economic disruption, or environmental damage.

Types:
1. Biological hazard – directly linked to an organic origin caused by
exposure of living organisms to toxic substances and microorganisms
that cause sickness.
Example: epidemic diseases caused by bacterial and viral infection like
Covid19 which is already a pandemic disease
2. Geologic hazard- events that originated in solid ground count as major
precursor. These hazards cause mortality and damages to life and
property.
Example: earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, landslides, mudflows.
3. Hydrometeorological hazard – this involves phenomena that are of
atmospheric, hydrological, or oceanographic nature that may cause loss
of life, injury or other health impacts, property damage, loss of livelihoods
and services, social and economic disruption, and environmental changes
4. Example: typhoon, thunderstorm, tornadoes, floods, flashfloods ,hail,
hailstorm, lightning, storm surge, wind shear, snow melt, desertification,
sand storms

B. Exposure
• People, property, systems, or other elements present in hazard
zones that are thereby subject to potential losses.
• Situation of people, infrastructure, housing, production capacities
and other tangible human assets located in hazard prone areas.

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 • Location, attributes, and value of assets that are important to
communities.

C. Vulnerability
• The characteristics and circumstances of a community, system or
asset that make it susceptible to the damaging effects of a hazard.
Vulnerability comprises conditions determined by physical, social,
economic, and environmental factors or processes, which increase
the susceptibility of a community, school, or certain area in a
locality to the impact of hazards.
• One of the defining components of disaster risk
• The likelihood that assets will be damaged, destroyed, affected
when exposed to hazard.
• The degree of loss resulting from the occurrence of the
phenomenon Examples:
a. poor design and construction of buildings
b. inadequate protection of assets
c. lack of public information and awareness
d. disregard for wise environmental management
e. weakness in a firewall that lets hackers get into a computer network
f. unlocked doors at businesses or lack of security cameras
Vulnerability can be seen in various ways:
a. Economic factors associated with levels of savings, debt, and
availability of credit and insurance.
b. Physical vulnerabilities including geographical location
and infrastructures
c. Social vulnerabilities such as education, peace and order, good
governance, health and nutrition, religion, and culture.

D. Capacity
• The combination of all the strengths, attributes and resources
available within a community, society or organization that can be
used to achieve agreed goals.
• Capacities are those positive resources and abilities which are
helpful to individuals, families and community in mitigating,
preparing for, responding to and recovering from the hazard
impact.
E. Adaptive capacity
• The ability of an individual or a community to withstand and adapt
to continuous environmental changes. Individuals and
communities depend on their access to and control over
wideranging resources which includes natural, human, social,
physical,, and financial resources.
F. Risk

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 • the probability of harmful consequences, or expected loss of lives,
people injured, livelihoods, disruption of economic activities and
damages to the environment as a result of interactions between
natural or human induced hazards and vulnerable / capable
conditions.
G. Sensitivity
• The degree to which a system, asset, or species may be affected,
either adversely or beneficially, when exposed to climate variability
or change or geophysical hazards.
Example: 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 also taken into account where gender perspective in
disaster reduction helps gender- specific capacities and
vulnerabilities to prepare, confront, and recover from disaster.
Disasters affect men and women as well as boys and girls
differently. Several studies found that girls and women are more
likely to be disproportionately affected by disasters including
increased loss of livelihoods, gender-based violence, and even loss
of life in the aftermath of disasters.

Determinants of Risk: Exposure and Vulnerability

The severity of the impacts of extreme and non-extreme weather and climate
events depends on the level of vulnerability and exposure. They are dynamic
and depend on economic, social, geographic, cultural, institutional,
governance and environmental factors. Lack of resilience and capacity to
anticipate, cope with, and adapt to extremes and change are important
causal factors of vulnerability.

Natural Hazards and Human Population

• In the past decade, The Philippines, along with China, US, India,
and Indonesia were among the top five countries that are most
frequently hit by natural disasters.
• Philippines – Super typhoon Yolanda (Haiyan) was considered as
the most catastrophic disaster which killed 6000 people.
• Baguio City, July 16,1990 – experienced a killer earthquake with a
magnitude of 7.9 lasting for 45 seconds which killed an estimated
1,621 people and caused a total of 15 billion pesos worth of
damages.
• 2013 Bohol earthquake, October 15, 2013 – experienced a 7.2
magnitude earthquake leaving an estimated 222 casualties and
over 340 displaced. The earthquake happened on a national
holiday and officials said that more people can be affected if the
quake happened on a regular weekday. The earthquake is said to
be the strongest to hit Bohol in 25 years.
• Mayon volcano (nestled at Eastern portion of Albay Province)
eruptions:

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 a. 50 eruptions in the last 500 years
b. 1814 – most destructive claiming 1,200 lives and buried
Cagsawa church
c. February 1993 – killed 78 farmers working on the slopes and
displaced 60,000 people
d. 2000 – emitted lava and molten rocks reaching more than 3000
meters high displacing 80,000 residents
e. December 2009 – generated lahar flow that led to the
evacuation 0f 112,000 people from within the designated 6 km
radius danger zone
f. May 2013 – spewed out ash blast which killed five and injured
seven, all of whom are recreational climbers
g. September 2014 – 12,000 evacuees within an eight km radius
h. 2019 eruption Hazards associated: a. pyroclastic flow
b. ash fall
c. volcanic avalanche
d. lava flow
e. mud flow
f. earthquake
g. airfall tephra
• China (2012) – experienced 13 floods and landslides, 8 storms, 7
earthquakes, and a period of extreme temperature. Documented
its 4th highest number of natural disaster.
• Haiti – January 12,2010 – epicenter of 7.0 earthquake magnitude
is at Port Au Prince. Fifty-nine (59) aftershocks were recorded
ranging from 4.2 to 5.9 magnitude.
• USA – 2005 – deadliest hurricane to hit the Gulf Coast was
ranked 6th strongest to hit USA. One of the costliest with estimated
property damages of 81 billion dollars.
• A total of 357 natural disasters recorded in 2012
• Natural disasters remain as one of the major cause of death
accounting to 9655 people killed with an annual average of
107,000 and 124.55 million victims word wide with an annual
average of 268 million from 2002 to 2011.
• `According to Center for Research on Epidemiology of Disasters
(CRED), natural disasters affected an annual average of 168.5
million people between 2005 and 2014.

Vulnerability and Human Population

A community’s vulnerability is fluid and may change overtime. That is
why identifying historical events is important in order to anticipate
future trends.
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

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 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.
• When talking about vulnerability to hazard, exposure can be an
essential aspect. Though the impact is very relative, the poor
communities are often affected although not exclusive.
Example: Wealthy families who live far from the epicenter
during an Indian earthquake in 2000 were killed because their
houses had additional structures without strengthened
foundation that collapsed. This made them more vulnerable to
the said disaster than the poor who stayed in simpler homes.

Explore

Enrichment Activity: Read carefully the details about the illustration and try
to answer the guide questions in a separate sheet of paper.

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 This house is a typical raised house found in the Pampanga area affected by
lahar.

 The frame of the house including the foundation is made from reinforced
concrete, with hollow-blow in-fill walls.

 The roof system consists of a cocolumber roof frame and galvanized iron
roofing material.

 The partitions are constructed from wooden materials.

 The house was designed and constructed by a foreman with no formal

engineering or architectural training.

 There are 7 persons living inside the house which include:

 The owner of the house who is male and 34 years old.

 The wife of the owner of the house who is 32 years old.

 Three children aged 5-years, 3-years, and a 6-month old infant.

 A 72-year old female.

 A 40 year old male who is wheelchair bound.

 Most of the furnishing of the house is either wooden or plastic in

construction.

1. Does putting the raising of the house together with its occupants and
contents, make it overall more vulnerable considering it is exposed to
earthquake, fire, flood and typhoon hazards? Why or why not?

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 2. Suggest a measure that can be done to reduce the vulnerability of the
house, its occupants or its contents to each of the four hazards it is
exposed to.

Gauge

Directions: Read carefully each item. Use a separate sheet for your answers. Write
only the letter of the best answer for each test item.

1.This can be measured by the number of people or types of assets in an

area.
A. Capacity B. Exposure C. Hazard D. Vulnerability
2.The degree to which a system, asset, or species may be affected, either
adversely or beneficially, when exposed to climate variability or change or
geophysical hazards.
A. Exposure B. Hazard C. Resiliency D. Sensitivity
3.Which hazard include epidemic diseases that are caused by viral and
bacterial infection?
A .Biological hazards C. Hydrometeorological hazards
B.Geological hazards D. Human induced hazard
4. Which among the following means serious disruption of the functioning
of a community or a society involving widespread human, material, economic
or environmental losses and impacts?
A. Hazard B. Disaster C. Disaster risk D. Exposure

5. Which among the following classification or subtypes of disaster does

understanding of resilience belong?
A. Natural disaster C. Technological disaster
B. Human Made disaster D. Environmental disaster
6.An example of this type of natural hazard is epidemic disease caused by
viral and bacterial infection.
A. Geological hazard C. Biological hazard
B. Human induced hazard D Hydrometeorological hazard
7. Which among the following phenomena does not belong to the group
which may cause severe death toll, damages to property, environment, and
socioeconomic conditions of the community?
A. Biological hazard C. Geologic hazard
B. Human induced hazard D Hydrometeorological hazard
8. Disaster impacts are increasing in terms of vulnerability due to

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 A. Interrupted vector control C. Poverty
B. Introduction of new disease or vector D. Climate change
9.Which among the following explains how people and the differences among
them contribute to the situation or context wherein they operate?
A. Adaptive capacity B. Exposure C. Sensitivity D. Vulnerability
10 Which term explains the ability of an individual or a community to
withstand and adapt to environmental changes?
A.Capacity B. Exposure C. Sensitivity D .Vulnerability
11.Vulnerability can be seen in various ways EXCEPT
A. Geographical location C. Financial resources
B. Economic factors like credit and insurance D Education, health, nutrition
12. Which among the following concept explains a community dependent
on rain-fed rainfall pattern changes?
A. Exposure C. Vulnerability
B. Sensitivity D. Adaptive capacity
13. Which of the following impact happens when disaster produce economic
and ecosystem damage because it reduces water supply which is essential
for living organisms to survive?
A. Economic impact C. Social impact
B. Environmental impact D. Psychological impact 14. What
will happen when disaster temporarily shut down the production of
industries and can destroy factories, offices, electricity lines, roads?
A. Economic impact C. Social impact
B. Environmental impact D. Psychological impact
15. The following countries are the most prone to disasters EXCEPT
A. India B. Indonesia C.Philippines D. Thailand

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