GGGGGGG A Disaster!!-Over View

DISASTER
MANAGEMENT
Sylvester Kugonza, P.K. (PhD)
Principal Consultant, Public & Governance
Dean, School of Civil Service, Public
Administration & Governance.
UMI
pskkugonza@umi.ac.ug 2
Dr. Sylvester Kugonza, P.K. 0772-
680-748 4
Objectives
This part of the course will enable the
participants to:
 Internalize the key concepts in disaster
analysis.
 Be able to identify the building blocks of a
disaster.
 Understand the relationship between
natural and human triggers of disasters.
Dr. Sylvester Kugonza, P.K. 0772-680-748
5
Objectives (Continued)
 Understand how to apply Vulnerability
Analysis Framework
 Gain expertise in assessing disaster
effects and impacts.
 Develop capacity to apply the disaster
response strategies.
Dr. Sylvester Kugonza, P.K. 0772-680-748

6
Important Concepts
 Hazards  Catastrophes
 Accidents  Calamities
 Emergencies
 Vulnerability
 Crises
 Temporal Aspects
 Pervasive Events
 Humanitarian
 Short Fuse Events
crisis  Disasters
 An earthquake struck Bam city in Iran in 2003 leaving
over 40,000 persons dead and flattening the city
structures.
 In Niger, crops burn under the scorching sun for more
than 6 months in 2005 resulting in 1,600,000
individuals who are food insecure.
 Wildfire burns uncontrollably destroying over 157
structures in northern San Diego County, California by
December, 2017.
 War raged in Syria leaving 456,000 dead, 12 million
displaced and 5 million refugees by March 2018.
 A volcano erupts in Iceland in April 2018 emitting
smokes in the atmosphere grounding many airplanes
in Europe.
 A plane crashes near Havana, Cuba in May 2018
killing 110 on board and leaving 3 critically injured.
 A group of persons kidnaps a young woman and
holds her with a lot of drama for over three weeks in
and around Kampala Uganda, demanding a one-
million-dollar ransom for her release. Later kills her
when the amount paid is less than what had been
demanded as ransom. A truck of a construction firm
fails to break and overturns killing 10 on sport and
scores maimed
 The list of events globally continues almost on a
regular basis.
 A plane crashes near Havana, Cuba in May 2018
killing 110 on board and leaving 3 critically injured.
 A group of persons kidnaps a young woman and
holds her with a lot of drama for over three weeks in
and around Kampala Uganda, demanding a one-
million-dollar ransom for her release. Later kills her
when the amount paid is less than what had been
demanded as ransom. A truck of a construction firm
fails to break and overturns killing 10 on sport and
scores maimed
 The list of events globally continues almost on a
regular basis.
 Of the events above, which ones could be
described as disasters and which ones
would be excluded?
 What would be indicators to consider in
distinguishing disaster events from the
ones that are not?
Of the litany of events above, which ones could be
described as disasters and which ones would be excluded?
What would be indicators to consider in distinguishing
disaster events from the ones that are not?
Disaster -various definitions
 A disaster may be defined as a

sudden, calamitous event that seriously
disrupts the functioning of a community
or society and causes human, material,
and economic or environmental losses
that exceed the community’s or society’s
ability to cope using its own resources.
Though often caused by nature, disasters
can have human origins.
What is a Disaster?
1. Charles Fritz (1961) defined a disaster as:
 Accidental and uncontrollable events that are
concentrated in time and space;
 In which event (s) a society or a relatively self-
sufficient section of a society undergoes severe
damage
 And incurs such losses to its members and physical
structures
 That the society’s structure is disrupted
 And fulfillment of all or some of its essential
functions is prevented
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Definition of a disaster
The implication of Fritz definition suggests
that:
 Normal routines must be severely be disrupted for
a large segment of a community before an event
can be considered a disaster.
 This means that for major segments of society
going to work would seem impossible or at least
inappropriate.
 Search and rescue efforts become the primary
concern.
 Cleaning the debris is the order of the day
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Definition (Continued)
 Restoring essential services become the focus.
 In other words, not only are there physical
damage and individual injuries, but there is also a
disruption of the victim’s normal daily behavior.
2. Krimgold (1976) defined a disaster as a crisis

that overwhelms at least for a time people’s
capacity to cope.

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3. According to Frederick Cuny (1983) natural
hazards such as earthquakes, Bududa landslides,
tsunamis, hurricanes, floods and droughts spring
to mind when the word disaster is mentioned.
 Yet these events are in fact natural agents that
transform a vulnerable human condition into a
disaster.
 The hazards themselves are not disasters but
factors in causing disasters.
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Two factors are essential:
 The event acting on people and their environment
 Human activities that increase their impact.
Otero and Marti (1994) in Munashinge and Caroline
Clarke (1994): defined a disaster as:
 A sudden and dramatic and unscheduled event
 Accompanied by large loss of human life,
 Suffering to society or significant part of it,
 Temporary breakdown in prevailing life structures
& lines
680-748 18
Definition: Critical reflection!
 For example an earthquake is sudden and
unscheduled and may cause death, injury, loss
of property and resources
 There are however, events that may be gradual
and less dramatic.
 In addition, some events which may cause loss
of life and property may be planned such as the
Rwanda Genocide in 1994, The New York Tower
Incident.
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Definition: Critical reflection!...
 Thereforethe definition of disaster
must be extended to go beyond the
one given by Otero and Marti to
include events which are slow on set,
planned and not dramatic.

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Key concepts in Disaster Analysis
 Key Concepts in Disaster Analysis include the
following: HAZARD, HAZARD RISK,
EXPOSURE, AND VULNERABILITY (Risk Triangle)
 HAZARD: is an event, or a series of them, which
is characterized by a certain magnitude and
likelihood of occurrence.
 HAZARD RISK: Is the probability of a hazard
occurring in a specific location.
 EXPOSURE: elements that are subject to the
impact of a specific hazard, such as houses on a
flood plain, people/women/children/infrastructure-
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Risk Triangle
Exposure Vulnerability
Risk
Hazard
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ELEMENTS OF RISK
HAZARDS EXPOSURE
RISK
VULNERABILITY LOCATION

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Exposure elements
 Tangible, intangible, institutional:
1. Tangible (biophysical) includes people, buildings,
and infrastructure for: power, water, telephone…
2. Intangible include heritage, personal
memorabilia, and community relationships
including social capital
3. Institutional elements include aspects such as
the capacity to share information, and the
effectiveness of emergency management plans
and coordination arrangements e,g, certain
skills of Achooli died in the IDP camps
680-748 24
Key concepts Cont’d
 VULNERABILITY: is the degree to which the
exposed elements will suffer a loss from the
impact of a hazard
 The degree of susceptibility and resilience of
the community and environment to hazards
 Characteristics of person or group in terms
of their capacity to anticipate, cope with,
resist, and recover from the impact of a
natural disaster
 A combinationDr.of factors
Sylvester that
Kugonza, P.K. 0772- determines…
680-748 25
Relationship between hazard and
vulnerability
 A combination of factors that determines the
degree in which someone’s life and livelihood is
put at risk by a discrete and identifiable event in
nature or in society
 A number and range of elements can be
considered and the more elements at risk
considered, the more comprehensive the risk
analysis
 Two major elements critical that add to
realization of a disaster:
 HAZARD + VULNERABILITY=DISASTER
680-748 26
Disaster
(VULNERABILITY+ HAZARD ) / CAPACITY = DISASTER
A disaster occurs when a hazard impacts on

vulnerable people.
The combination of hazards, vulnerability and

inability to reduce the potential negative
consequences of risk results in disaster.
Source: International Federation of Red Cross and

Red Crescent
Disaster analysis:
 Biophysical vulnerability
 People, buildings, infrastructure and the economy
 Social vulnerability
 Considers a person and/or society’s inherent
characteristics, such as social, economic, and political
background
 Social vulnerability can be viewed
independently of a hazard, as it refers to
the characteristics of individuals which are
shared by processes around them-
680-748 28
Social vulnerability: Example
 The loss of a house in a bushfire would not
affect all individuals in the same way.
 This because of their differential access to
support networks such as family, friends and the
community are different
 The ability of individuals to recover financially
from disaster also varies greatly
 Comprehensive vulnerability:
 Biophysical, economic, social, cultural, institutional,
political, and even psychological environment we live
in
 Constraints to comprehensive
assessment ??????
680-748 29
Relationship between hazard and
vulnerability
 Commentators on disaster agree that a
DISASTER occurs when a HAZARD comes into
contact with VULNERABLE CONDITIONS and
the SEVERITY OF THE IMPACT depends on
THE NATURE OF THE HAZARD and THE
DEGREE OF VULNERABILITY
 When a hazard interacts with less vulnerable
conditions the magnitude of the disaster is likely
to be low.
 When a hazard interact with very vulnerable
conditions, the magnitude of the disaster is likely
to be high.
680-748 30
Hazard and Vulnerability
 In the extreme, when a hazard occurs and
there is no vulnerability, there may be no
disaster.
 Similarly, when vulnerability exists, but
there is no hazard, there will be no
disaster.
680-748 32
Conditions for an event to be termed
a Disaster
 Conditions for an event to qualify as a
disaster :
 A Hazard must occur and impact on
 A Vulnerable condition
 Loss of life and or injury
 Loss of property and/or resources
 Paralysis of societal function
 External assistance required because
internal copying mechanisms fail

680-748 33
Conditions for an event to be
termed a Disaster..
 Destruction of sources of livelihoods
 All the afore-listed conditions lead to a
vulnerable state of the society, paralyzed,
non-functional and/or handicapped.
 A criteria codified in a policy

680-748 34
Examples of Disasters
 July 11 bombings in Kampala, 76 died
 Tsunami, 26th -12-2004, 300,000 people died.
 Hurricane Katrina, Sep 2005 in which over 1,000
people died.
 Pakistan earthquake 2005, 70,000 people died.
 Rwandan genocide 1994, 800,000-1,000,000
people died.
 2007 Ebola epidemic?????
680-748 35
 May 2007, heavy rains led to flooding in
Uganda’s Teso Region, particularly affecting
Katakwi and Amuria districts, where
subsistence farming families suffered l/stock,
crop, huts etc damage and un-quantified
losses; 45,000 people were affected.
 2007-2008 food insecurity in Karamoja,
750,000 people affected.
680-748 36
Interactions btn hazards
 Sometimes two hazards interact and push
the magnitude of a disaster to geometrical
proportions.
 Examples include:
a) Strong winds and Fire
b) Volcanic eruption-lava and petrol
c) Tsunami and damage to nuclear reactor
680-748 37
Interactions between disasters
 Sometimes more than one event overlaps with
another compounding the situation and making
response more challenging
 Examples include:
 Cattle rustling during famine in Karamoja region
 Malaria epidemic during a famine disaster.
 Ebola epidemic in the context of civil war in Gulu
in 2000.
 Cholera epidemic in the context of a flood
disaster.
680-748 38
Types of disasters
1. DISASTERS triggered by NATURAL AGENTS
including: Earthquakes, tsunamis, volcanic
eruptions, hurricanes,
cyclones/typhoons/tornadoes and floods
among others
2. DISASTERS triggered by HUMAN ACTION
a) Intrastate Conflicts
b) Interstate Conflicts
c) Technological Disasters
680-748 39
Types of disasters…
Examples of Technological Disaster include:
 Nuclear power plant accidents: Weapons of
mass destruction: biological and chemical
 Mass transportation accidents (air, rail and
water)
 Computer collapse: failure in air traffic control,
ground transport system, failure in banking
systems, lifts etc.

680-748 40
Relationship between Natural
and Human triggered disasters
 According to EL-MASRI AND TIPPLE in
Awotona (1997):
 Natural Hazards as part of our
environment can occur anywhere,
 Because vulnerable conditions are
products of human decisions.

680-748 41
Natural and human triggered
disasters…
 In many instances, there is no clear
distinction between natural and human
triggered disasters.
 This is because in those circumstances
natural hazard must first come into contact
with vulnerable conditions before a
disaster can result.
680-748 42
Beyond Likelihood and Consequence
 The traditional analysis of hazard Risk
analysis and the consequence in terms of
disaster tends to be limited to likelihood
(frequency or probability) and
consequence (or seriousness) in terms in
physical, social or economic terms
 However, we need to extend beyond
likelihood and consequence in
analysis/evaluation to treat risks and
manage disasters.
680-748 43
 Additionalfactors to account for political
aspects, community knowledge prior to
disaster, manageability through dealing
with the hazard(s), the critical importance
of community awareness of the risks
posed before the impact, urgency for
preventive action or potential for growth
which increases level of exposure and
associated vulnerability.
680-748 44
 manageability: the relative ability to reduce the risk through managing the
hazard, the community or both, for example, through warnings and
emergency management plans
 • awareness: the level of awareness of the risks posed within the community
and emergency management spheres before the hazard impact
 • urgency: the measure of how critical it is to address the risk, such as how
critical it is to implement a mitigation measure to address the problem •
growth: the potential or rate at which the risk will increase. This may be
through an increase in elements exposed to the hazard via development
and population growth, and/or an increase in the probability of an extreme
event occurring, for example via the influence of climate
 • outrage: the political dimension of risk. This becomes particularly evident
after a disaster, as a community expresses its outrage at what it believes to
have been an inadequate response or lack of preparedness on behalf of the
authorities. As a result, time is spent addressing community outrage rather
than community safety.
680-748 45
 Outrange
 Political dimension of risk.
 Becomes particularly evident after disaster,
a community expresses its anger at what it
believes to have been inadequate response
or lack of preparedness on behalf of
authorities (government)
 As a result, time is spent addressing
community outrage rather than
communityDr.safety.
Sylvester Kugonza, P.K. 0772-
680-748 46
 Growth
 Potential or rate at which the risk will grow
through an increase in elements exposed to
hazard via development and population growth
and/or an increase in the probability of an
extreme event occurring, e.g. via the influence
of climate
 Palm oil project in Kalangala affecting
Kalungu
680-748 47
Urgency Awareness
 Measure how critical it
 Knowledge of the risks
is to address risk, to posed within the
implement mitigation community and
measures to address emergency management
the problem spheres before the
hazard impact
 Calls for community
awareness building
including warnings
Seriousness Manageability
 Relative impact  Relative ability to
in physical, reduce the risk
social or through
economic terms emergency
warnings and
response plans
Thank You
The end
Public policy in Uganda -
definitions, process,
06/02/2023 considerations, formats … 50
Q&A
Public policy in Uganda -

definitions, process,
06/02/2023 considerations, formats … 51
Group exercise

680-748 52

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DISASTER

Dr. Sylvester Kugonza, P.K. 0772-680-748

 A disaster may be defined as a

2. Krimgold (1976) defined a disaster as a crisis

Dr. Sylvester Kugonza, P.K. 0772-

Dr. Sylvester Kugonza, P.K. 0772-

Dr. Sylvester Kugonza, P.K. 0772-

A disaster occurs when a hazard impacts on

The combination of hazards, vulnerability and

Source: International Federation of Red Cross and

 Loss of life and or injury

 Loss of property and/or resources

 Paralysis of societal function

 External assistance required because

internal copying mechanisms fail

Dr. Sylvester Kugonza, P.K. 0772-

Dr. Sylvester Kugonza, P.K. 0772-

Dr. Sylvester Kugonza, P.K. 0772-

Public policy in Uganda -

Dr. Sylvester Kugonza, P.K. 0772-

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