A strong typhoon may or may not result in a disaster.

How does a hazardous event result in

a disaster?

To understand how and when an event becomes a disaster, one must know the
difference between a hazard and a disaster. It was discussed in Lesson 1 that disaster is
defined as a sudden, calamitous event that can cause damage to property and death. On
the other hand, hazard is a natural or man-made event that can potentially harm a
population. Hazard can be considered a disaster when there are already negative impacts
to human life and their properties. For example, a tsunami that hits a deserted island cannot
be considered a disaster since there are no human inhabitants in the island.

Hazards are a risk factor in the occurrence of disasters. Thus, a disaster can be prevented
if the risk brought by a hazard can be prevented or reduced. For instance, a typhoon is a
natural hazard that can be predicted using weather satellites. Its impacts can be reduced
if proper mitigation procedures are done such as information dissemination and evacuation
before the typhoon strikes in a community. This is called a proactive approach to
emergency preparedness.

What will happen if no measures are made to prepare for a disaster? Or if the disaster is
unforeseen? For example, a 7.2 magnitude earthquake that hit Central Visayas in 2013 killed
222 people, resulted to 350 000 displaced victims, and destroyed 73 000 buildings.
Earthquakes are unforeseen natural hazards due to the movement of plates in the earth’s
crust.
 Fig. 1. Remains of Clarin Church in Bohol after 2013 earthquake.
John Martin PERRY, Remains of Clarin church post-2013 earthquake, CC BY-SA 4.0

Response during the occurrence of a disaster is important to lessen damages. If a hazard

is predicted in an area, agencies should warn the citizens in the area. It can be in the
form of news announcements done in various media sites and community evacuations.
During the actual disaster, emergency response teams should be fast in recovering
individuals trapped in

unfortunate situations to reduce the number of casualties.

Always remember that a hazard only becomes a disaster when it impacts human life and
damages properties. The greater the number of people in a risky area, the greater chance
it will become a catastrophe. Identifying communities or populations who have a higher
risk during disasters can help protect more lives.
When traveling for the first time, it is a natural tendency to be wary of one’s surroundings. It
may be because of curiosity, cautiousness, or both that urges anyone to be more familiar with
new places. In terms of safety and preparedness, awareness of your surroundings is very
important. What things should you be aware of about areas exposed to hazards?

The Philippines is geographically located at the “Pacific Ring of Fire”. These are countries that
are usually hit by disasters like earthquake. According to the Center for Research on the
Epidemiology of Disasters (CRED), the worst combination of disasters experienced by the
Philippines was from 1901 to 2000. The occurrence and effects of disasters are inevitable but
reducing the severity can be done by proper mitigation procedures.

One way to reduce disaster impact is to identify the areas exposed or prone to hazards.
This

information is helpful in planning for disaster risk reduction and management. Identifying
hazards can be categorized per type of hazard. This lesson focuses on identifying
different areas exposed to natural hazards.

Prediction and Warning

Prediction is a statement of probability of hazards to occur based on a number of evidences
or observations. These observations can come from precursor events or unusual physical
changes.

For example, volcanic eruptions are usually preceded by a series of earthquakes and changes
in the chemical composition of the gases coming from the volcanic vent. Monitoring these
activities can predict potential volcanic eruptions.

A warning is a signal that tells of a high probability of occurrence of a hazard. When a

warning is issued, the community should be alert on the dangers of the potential event
and proper measures should be made.
Climate and Weather Related Hazards
Areas with low elevation is more prone to impacts of typhoons and floods. Also, areas with
poor drainage systems, located near bodies of water can be prone to floods as well. Steep
landforms with poor vegetation are prone to landslides during typhoons.

Geophysical Related Hazards

Earthquakes are more prominent in areas near fault lines. We can recall the tectonic plates
in the earth’s crust and identify which are the fault lines. Areas that are deep-focused, are
prone to earthquakes because of its trench and nearby active faults.

Man-made Related Hazards

Fire hazards can be caused by faulty electrical wiring, children playing with matches, candles
left unattended, burning garbage, leaking LPG tanks, and using firewood in cooking. War
is considered the worst man-made disaster. In the Philippines, the war in Marawi last May
of 2017 caused a huge disaster not only to the city’s infrastructure but to the lives of the
people living there.

When an earthquake occurs in a populated area, not only can people be harmed physically
but their future can be affected as well. How does a disaster affect different aspects of
society?
In lesson 3, you learned about the effects of disaster to one’s life and how people usually
cope with it. Looking at a bigger picture, a disaster does not just a ffect the individuals that
have experienced it. There are other perspectives to consider in studying its e ffects. This
could also help in gathering information to create disaster risk reduction plans in the future.

Physical and Environmental Aspect

When a disaster hits, the first line of impact is the environment. Disaster causes drastic
changes in the structure of the environment. For example, when an earthquake occurs in
an area, there is a high possibility that roads will break and crack. Landslides in the
mountains causes erosion of the soil. This will lead to the removal of an arable layer of soil.
Arable soil is needed to plant more trees to prevent landslides in the future. Droughts can
cause soil cracking in farms as well because of the absence of water moisture. Because of
this, farmers cannot provide enough supply of crops because the land is not suitable for crop
growth.

Socio-economic Aspect
Impacts of disaster in the socio-economic aspect include the state of the social well-being and
the financial resources of the community. Government agencies are responsible for reducing
the socio-economic impacts of the community through proper mitigation procedures.

Recent studies revealed that developing countries like the Philippines are more vulnerable to
socio-economic impacts. One reason is that developing countries are more prone to
disaster impact because of its high vulnerability and low resistance. The low economic
status of developing countries contribute to their high vulnerability and mitigation
procedures has to involve proper budget allocation.

Urban areas with more stable infrastructure are less vulnerable than areas with poor
infrastructure. Proper information dissemination and education about disasters are lacking in
some rural areas. Because of this, they fail to implement a proper disaster risk reduction plan
in their area which would lead to higher risk and vulnerability to a disaster impact.

Educational Aspect
Access to information is important in reducing the hazardous e ffects of disasters. Observation
and data analysis is not just essential for identifying risk in disasters but also to educate
and train people on how to reduce disaster risk. Students in elementary and high school
are greater in population. This large percentage in a community is crucial in literacy when it
comes to disaster management. For example, students in Senior High School are taking
up the subject Disaster Readiness and Risk reduction as part of the new curriculum for
the K to 12 program. However, when disaster strikes, schools used as evacuation centers,
hinder the education of the students.

Psychological Aspect
A natural or man-made disaster is a traumatic event that can cause stress, depression, and
anxiety. People with underlying mental illnesses is considered a vulnerable group. Shock and
denial stages after disastrous events are normal for victims that is why they need psycho-
social intervention to be able to cope and live a normal life.

Biological Aspect
Disasters can cause health problems to individuals. In a larger scale, these diseases can cause
an epidemic or an outbreak especially if emergency care is not available.

In terms of biological diversity, animals, and plants that live in a community where disaster
strikes can drastically decrease in number. This would result to imbalance in the ecosystem
and potentially limited access to food resources, agriculture, and livestock.

Political Aspect
A disaster may also change the way citizens feel about other people in general, like after
giving donations to assist affected individuals. A disaster may also a ffect public opinion about
the government, because citizens can feel and see how the government handled the e ffects
of disaster. In that respect, potential social and political e ffects of disasters occur through
direct and indirect experiences.

In the Philippines, a disaster have brought donations from local and international
agencies. Survivors and their families expected to rebuild their properties from those
donations but government rebuilding efforts seem too slow. This scenario made a huge
political impact to the country regarding the trust rating of government officials.