DISASTER READINESS AND RISK

REDUCTION
(DRRR)
Why is there a need to study
Disaster Readiness and Risk
Reduction?
THE CONCEPT
OF DISASTER
DRRR 11 STEM/GAS
LESSON OBJECTIVE
At the end of this lesson, the learners should be able to;

Explain the meaning of disaster.

(DRRR/12-Ia-b-1)
BASIC CONCEPTS OF
DISASTER AND DISASTER
RISK
When does a natural event become a hazard?
A natural event can be likened to a weak concrete fence that
could collapse even with just a slight push. It does not pose
a threat to anything or anybody if there is nothing or no one
nearby. Once you park a car or stand right beside it, it
becomes a hazard. The threat of damage, injury, and even
death now exists.
When does a NATURAL
EVENT become a HAZARD?
A natural event can be likened to a
weak concrete fence that could
collapse even with just a slight push.
It does not pose a threat to anything
or anybody if there is nothing or no
one nearby. Once you park a car or
stand right beside it, it becomes a
hazard. The threat of damage, injury,
and even death now exists.
When does a HAZARD
becomes a DISASTER?
A disaster happens when the
probable destructive agent, the
hazard, hits a vulnerable
populated area. A natural event
like the volcanic eruption or
tsunami which hits an
uninhabited area does not qualify
as a disaster.
 The transformation of natural event into a disaster.
A natural event such as a tsunami becomes a hazard if it poses a
threat to people. A magnitude 6.5 earthquake is usually strong
enough to generate tsunamis that could be destructive to nearby
coastal areas. The tsunami waves that are about to hit a beach
area with people, animals, trees and houses are considered as a
hazard. After the tsunami hits the populated area, it is no longer
a hazard but a disaster with victims and destruction or damage
all over the place.
 A typhoon or storm surge affecting Leyte
 A typhoon passing over a remote and unpopulated island.
 A flood in a rural area which floods the roads but does not affect any
houses.
 A volcano erupting in isolation in the middle of the Pacific Ocean
 An avalanche in a ski resort
 An avalanche high on the mountain and slopes remote from any settlement
 A tsunami wave 5m high off coast of Japan
 An earthquake in Kashmir, Northern Pakistan
 A drought in Australia’s Outback (a vast, remote, arid interior of Australia)
 A landslide in a favela (slum area) in Rio De Janeiro.
SECTION ASSESSMENT
1. Name at least 3 natural phenomena that your community
considers as hazard. Explain why they are considered
hazard.
2. Explain what is meant by ‘Buildings kill people, not
earthquake’.
3. Explain how a seemingly harmless normal river flows in
the middle of a rapidly developing city, can later cause a
disaster.