Role of Census of population and

Housing on Disaster Management

What is a disaster ?

“Disaster is a serious disruption of the

functioning of a society, causing widespread
human, material, or environmental losses,
caused by hazards, which exceed the ability
of affected society (community) to cope using
only its own resources.”
What is a disaster management ?

Disaster management is skillful ways

and methods of controlling a disaster.
Any disaster management technique
requires use of country’s demographic
and socio-economic data.
Disaster management approaches

• The general approach to disaster

management remained reactive in
nature, focusing on relief and then
rehabilitation, reconstruction.
• However, prevention planning or
community preparedness and policy
priority are important components of
disaster management
• Disaster management is a cyclical
process (ASSESS – PRESCRIBE –
EDUCATE)
• Assessing RISK, demands for data on
disasters, their impacts etc.
• Census of population and housing is
one of the important source of data for
disaster mitigation.
Census of Population and Housing

The characteristics of the population and

attributes of buildings are derived from the
Census of Population and Housing
Data derived from Census of Population and Housing

• Population by • Building attributes

– Sex – Type of buildings
– Age group – Materials used for
– Ethnic group construction of buildings
– Religious group – Availability of electricity,
– water, sanitation etc.
Occupation
– Level of education
– Literacy level etc.
Some census information crucial for disaster management

• Population density gives an indication on

– Number of people who are to be affected by a hazard
– Chances of the hazard culminating into a disaster
– Cost and time involved for relief programmes

• Literacy

– Literacy is again a major factor in creating awareness.

– Literate people can be made aware easily as they understand easily
and with less effort and money.
– Literacy also decides the media that has to be used to create
awareness among people.
Uses of national census data for disaster mitigation
Census of population and housing mainly provide data on characteristics of
people and attributes of buildings. This information is crucial for following:
• For measuring populations at risk from the impacts of
natural or human-induced disasters
• To enhance decisions on humanitarian intervention
• Disaster relief operations
• Development assistance to populations vulnerable to a
wide range of hazards potentially leading to disasters
• Early warning systems and emergency actions
• Designing awareness programmes

Population data needs to be available at finer scale units such as at census block
level or grid of size 150 m for assessing damages as otherwise errors committed
in estimations would be high.
 GIS on census data

Mapping has now become a first

stage in census taking operations

Based on the number of housing

units, census blocks are
demarcated and census of
population and housing data can
be disaggregated at census block
level paving the way to
preparation of GIS on census data
at census block level

These Geographic information

Systems can be used for planning
and monitoring of disaster
management operations
Quick estimates on people and buildings affected by disasters
Population data from censuses can be made
available per census block. The datum
includes the spatial representation of the
census block unit as vector polygon and the
associated attribute reporting the total
population value by age, sex etc.

After identifying the affected census blocks

quick estimates of affected people and
buildings can be estimated which is more
reliable compared to estimates prepared
based on numbers reported by field officers
without following a proper methodology.

At the Tsunami disaster, affected population

in Sri Lanka, was quite accurately estimated
using census data for immediate relief
operations.
Identification of disaster prone areas

Disaster prone areas can be identified by geographic analysis of socio-economic

data collected by census together with hazard information and land use data
Identification of disaster prone areas contd.

Classification of census blocks by gravity of impact

Geographic analysis of census data together with hazard data and land use data,
can be used to estimate number of people and buildings in disaster prone areas at
different disaggregated levels.
Designing awareness programmes for disaster mitigation

GIS is used for designing an awareness

program based on the following factors

– Zonation of hazard, based on the risk,

– Land use,
– Population density,
– Literacy rate and
– Media usage.
Designing awareness programmes

overlay is performed by giving

weights and ranks to the various
factors: hazard map, land use map,
population density map, literacy map
and media usage map

The result of the overlay gives an

indication on areas where the
awareness should be created, on what
disaster, to what level, its intensity and
the type of media that can be best
used.
Conclusion

• Census of population and housing data plays a vital role in

disaster management operations
• It is the main source of data for characteristics of people and
buildings
• Census data alone may not be sufficient for taking decisions
and census data should be analyzed together with other
crucial information such as hazard and land use data
• GIS is very important for integrated analysis of disaster
related data
• internationally standardized method for assessing damages,
should be developed and put forward for global use as
technology is largely concentrated in developed countries
Thank You
Census of Buildings and Persons affected
by the Tsunami – 2004

Sri Lanka
 Introduction

• The Department of Census and Statistics conducted a Census to assess the

impact of the Tsunami on 26th December, 2004 on the Buildings and people living in
those buildings , within a very short period of time.
 Stage I - Listing and updating of all the buildings

Frame used
• Census blocks (part of a GN Division) pertaining to the affected G.N. Divisions were
first identified. If at least one damaged unit was found in a census block it was
identified as an affected census block.

• These census blocks were prepared at the Population and Housing Census – 2001
and lists were prepared for all building units in those census blocks.
Listing and updating of all the buildings

• Field staff of the Department of Census & Statistics (DCS) updated the lists of
damaged housing units in each of the affected census blocks due to Tsunami.

• Housing units belong to the affected census blocks were categorized in this listing
stage as follows:
1. Totally damaged housing units
2. Partially damaged housing units (Cannot be used)
3. Partially damaged housing units (Can be used)
4. Housing units not damaged.

• Above categorization was made by the field staff of DCS (an eye estimation) at the
time of listing which was carried out in the field in February 2005.
Galle District Matara District
Hambantota District Kalutara District
Colombo District Gampaha District
Puttalam District Ampara District
Trincomalee District Batticaloa District
Jaffna District