Disaster

A disaster is a serious problem occurring over a short

or long period of time that causes widespread human,
material, economic or environmental loss which
exceeds the ability of the affected community or
society to cope using its own resources.
Disasters are serious disruptions to the functioning of
a community that exceed its capacity to cope using its
own resources. Disasters can be caused by natural,
man-made and technological hazards, as well as
various factors that influence the exposure and
vulnerability of a community
 Disasters know no boundaries. Man-made or natural,
technological or chemical it can strike at any moment
anywhere, paving destruction in the present as well as in the
future. There is no doubt that hazards are integral aspects of
our environment. For centuries man considered disasters as
the work of the evil spirits and tried to please them with
magic and other rituals but later he started manipulating
nature. Paradoxically this attempt to control nature has
exposed the humanity to new threats. Disasters may be
result of natural or human induced processes of events with
the potential to create loss but exposure to a hazard need
not necessarily mean disaster. It is the level of vulnerability
of those exposed to the hazard that increases risk and the
likelihood of the disastrous occurrence
Scope of the Disaster

The term “Disaster Management” encompasses the
complete realm of disaster-related activities . Traditionally
people tend to think of disaster management only in terms
of the taken by relief and reconstruction officials; yet
dispose-disaster actions aster management covers a much
broader scope, and many modern disaster managers may
find themselves far more involved in pre-disaster activities
than in post-disaster response. Those are-
1. The refugee field of disaster management is highly
specialized and requires not only many development skills
but also a broader awareness of political, legal, and
humanitarian issues.
2. DM aims and objectives, elements, Natural/man-made
Disasters,
3. Victims, Relief Systems,
4. Phases of Disaster Response/Relief Operations,
Government’s Role,
5. Refugee Assistance Models,
6. Prevention and Mitigation Tools, Preparedness Tools,
7. Tools of Post-Disaster Management, Mapping,
8. Aerial Photography and Remote Sensing,
9. Information Management,
10. Logistics, Epidemiology.
OBJECTIVES/AIM of DM
The world over disaster management is seen as evolving
process. There cannot be a single model or approach
towards management of disasters. Thus the objective of
disaster management comprises six elements: the pre-
disaster phase includes prevention, mitigation and
preparedness, while the post disaster phase includes
response, rehabilitation, reconstruction and recovery.
Although the actions taken to address a specific disaster
vary depending on the hazard, four objectives of disaster
management apply to every situation:
1. Reduce Damages and Deaths
2. Reduce Personal Suffering
3. Speed Recovery
 Objectives of Disaster management
Basically the main objective of disaster management is to reduce the
damage. However, there are several objectives are integrated with it.
Those are-
1. Identifying the hazard and its cause.
2. Reducing vulnerability and potential losses of hazard.
3. Assessing, reviewing and controlling the risk.
4. Applying efficient, effective, sustainable relief (food, shelter and
money), medical and other facilities in disaster affected people thus
they can survive.
5. Reducing the damage, death, sufferings and destruction of any
natural and human induced disaster.
6. Giving protection to victims.
7. Increasing the strength among people to survive against disasters.
8. Building up capacity in every sector like- individual, social, economic,
environmental, regional, national and international.
9. Ensuring the availability of local emergency equipment and
transportation.
PRINCIPLES OF DISASTER MANAGEMENT
1.Disaster management is the responsibility of all spheres of
government.
2. Disaster management should use resources that exist for a day-to-
day purpose.
3. Organizations should function as an extension of their core business.
4. Individuals are responsible for their own safety.
5.Disaster management planning should focus on large- scale events.
6.Disaster Management (DM) planning should recognize the difference
between incidents and disasters.
7. DM planning must take account of the type of physical environment
and the structure of the population.
8. DM arrangements must recognize the involvement and potential
role of non- government agencies.
Approach to Disaster Management
Till recently, the approach to Disaster Management has been reactive
and relief centric. A paradigm shift has now taken place at the national
level from the relief centric syndrome to holistic and integrated
approach with emphasis on prevention, mitigation and preparedness.
These efforts are aimed to conserve developmental gains as also
minimize losses to lives, livelihood and property.
Disaster Management means a continuous and integrated process of
planning, organizing , coordinating and implementing measures which
are necessary or expedient for-
1. Prevention of danger or threat of any disaster.
2. Mitigation or reduction of risk of any disaster or its severity or
consequences.
3. Capacity-building.
4. Preparedness to deal with any disaster.
5.Prompt response to any threatening disaster situation or disaster.
6.Assessing the severity or magnitude of effects of any disaster.
 Mitigation
China is prone to disasters and escalating disaster losses. Effective disaster
mitigation is the foundation for efficient disaster response and rescue and
for reducing the degree of hazardous impacts on the population.
Vulnerability refers to the population’s capacity to anticipate, cope with,
and recover from the impact of a hazardous event. A hazard vulnerability
assessment (HVA) systematically evaluates the damage that could be caused
by a potential disaster, the severity of the impact, and the available medical
resources during a disaster to reduce population vulnerability and increase
the capacity to cope with disasters. In this article, we summarized HVA team
membership, content (disaster identification, probability and consequences),
and methods and procedures for an HVA that can be tailored to China’s
needs. We further discussed the role of epidemiology in an HVA. Disaster
epidemiology studies the underlying causes of disasters to achieve effective
disaster prevention and reduction. In addition, we made several
recommendations that are already in practice in developed countries, such
as the U.S., for future implementation in China and other developing
countries. An effective HVA plan is crucial for successful disaster
preparedness, response, and recovery.
 Hazard vulnerability assessment
Population hazard vulnerability analysis has been extensively
studied and proven to be effective. A hazard vulnerability
assessment (HVA) is a systematic approach to identify all
possible hazards that may affect a specific population, assess the
risk associated with each hazard (e.g., the probability of hazard
occurrence and the consequences for the population), and study
the findings to develop a prioritized comparison of hazard
vulnerabilities. The consequence, or vulnerability, is related to
both the impact on the population and the likely service
demands created by the impact [10]. An HVA can be carried out
at the community level or at the hospital (and other health care
facility) level. After the events of September 11, 2001, in New
York, U.S., experts suggested that hospitals should function as
“an integrated entity within the scope of the broader
community”.
Because hospitals and other health care facilities are always at
the forefront to prepare for and respond to disastrous events,
they are now expected to be community organizations instead of
standalone institutions. We usually rely on hospitals to treat
disaster victims, provide ongoing health care to the community,
and prevent secondary disease outbreaks caused by the loss of
infrastructure and/or sanitation . An HVA is the key step in the
emergency response to a disaster. It should be able to
methodologically evaluate the degree of impact and provide
background information to create a targeted disaster mitigation
plan. An HVA can also be applied in response to manmade
disasters, such as terrorist attacks. In addition, a community
HVA and a hospital HVA should be designed to complement one
another for disaster emergency response and rescue.
 Approach
A qualitative or quantitative approach to determine the nature
and extent of disaster risk by analyzing potential hazards and
evaluating existing conditions of exposure and vulnerability that
together could harm people, property, services, livelihoods and
the environment on which they depend .

Annotation: Disaster risk assessments include: the identification

of hazards; a review of the technical characteristics of hazards
such as their location, intensity, frequency and probability; the
analysis of exposure and vulnerability, including the physical,
social, health, environmental and economic dimensions; and the
evaluation of the effectiveness of prevailing and alternative
coping capacities with respect to likely risk scenarios.
Risk assessment
A risk assessment is a process to identify potential hazards and
analyze what could happen if a hazard occurs. A business impact
analysis (BIA) is the process for determining the potential
impacts resulting from the interruption of time sensitive or
critical business processes. There are numerous hazards to
consider. For each hazard there are many possible scenarios that
could unfold depending on timing, magnitude and location of the
hazard. Consider hurricanes: A Hurricane forecast to make
landfall near your business could change direction and go out to
sea. The storm could intensify into a major hurricane and make
landfall. View from outer-space of a hurricane in Gulf of Mexico
There are many “assets” at risk from hazards. First and
foremost, injuries to people should be the first consideration of
the risk assessment.
Hazard scenarios that could cause significant injuries should be
highlighted to ensure that appropriate emergency plans are in
place. Many other physical assets may be at risk. These include
buildings, information technology, utility systems, machinery, raw
materials and finished goods. The potential for environmental
impact should also be considered. Consider the impact an incident
could have on your relationships with customers, the surrounding
community and other stakeholders. Consider situations that would
cause customers to lose confidence in your organization and its
products or services. As you conduct the risk assessment, look for
vulnerabilities—weaknesses—that would make an asset more
susceptible to damage from a hazard. Vulnerabilities include
deficiencies in building construction, process systems, security,
protection systems and loss prevention programs. They contribute
to the severity of damage when an incident occurs. For example,
a building without a fire sprinkler system could burn to the ground
while a building with a properly designed, installed and
maintained fire sprinkler system would suffer limited fire
Risk Assessment Resources
Natural Hazards Multi-hazard Mapping Information Platform -
Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA)Flood Map
Service Center – FEMA Earthquake Hazards information - United
States Geological Survey (USGS)Hurricane – FEMA Landslide
Hazards Program – USGS Volcano Hazards Program – USGS
Protecting Workers from Heat Illness - Occupational Safety and
Health Administration (OSHA)Human-Caused Hazards Survey Your
Workplace for Additional Hazards - OSHA Compliance Assistance
Quick Start for General Industry Workplace Violence—Issues in
Response - Federal Bureau of Investigation Technological
Hazards Risk Assessment Portal, guidance and guidelines - U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency Computer Security Resource
Center, Special Publications, National Institute of Standards and
Technology, Computer Security Division United States Computer
Emergency Readiness Team
Prevention
Mitigation and prevention efforts aim to reduce the potential damage and
suffering that disasters can cause. While disaster management cannot
prevent disasters, it can prevent them from becoming compounded as a
result of neglecting causal factors and manageable risks. Mitigation
specifically refers to actions taken that can lessen the severity of a disaster’s
impact. Investing in measures that limit hazards can greatly reduce the
burden of disasters . Strategies that disaster management professionals
implement to protect vulnerable communities and limit hazards include the
following:
Raising awareness about potential hazards and how to address them
Educating the public about how to properly prepare for different types of
disaster Installing and strengthening prediction and warning systems Managing
hazards and risks means planning to minimize a community’s vulnerability to
disasters. This can involve: Encouraging community members to buy
appropriate insurance to protect their properties and belongings Educating
families and businesses on how to create effective disaster plans Promoting
the use of fire-retardant materials in construction Advocating for capital
works initiatives, such as the construction and maintenance of levees Building
partnerships between sectors and agencies at the federal, state, and local
 Emergency Public Information and
Warning
Disasters can have significant health impacts on communities and their
residents. Effective communication is a key component to properly managing
and responding to incidents of all sizes. Communication includes providing
the public with information through verbal, written, or symbolic means. As
the world watched the 2014 Ebola outbreak spread through West Africa and
land on American soil, medical professionals trained in risk communications
sprang into action to release timely and effective messages providing public
awareness, and other important information such as symptoms to look for.
Clear, concise messages provided by trusted leaders before, during, and after
an incident can help residents feel more in control and persuade them to
make important health-related decisions to help ensure their safety.
Resources in this Topic Collection include lessons learned; education and
training modules; results from studies conducted on the effectiveness of risk
communications; and plans, tools, and templates that can be tailored to
meet the specific threats and needs of healthcare and medical professionals.
Phase 1 : Prevention
Identify and minimize the risks posed by the building, its
equipment and fittings, and the natural
hazards of the area.
• Carry out a building inspection and alter factors which
constitute a potential hazard.
• Establish routine housekeeping and maintenance measures to
withstand disaster in buildings and
surrounding areas.
• Install automatic fire detection and extinguishing systems, and
water-sensing alarms.
• Take special precautions during unusual periods of increased
risk, such as building renovation.
• Make special arrangements to ensure the safety of library or
archival material when exhibited.
• Provide security copies of vital records such as collection
inventories, and store these off-site.
Phase 2 : Preparedness
Getting ready to cope.
• Develop a written preparedness, response and recovery plan.
• Keep the plan up-to-date, and test it.
• Keep together supplies and equipment required in a disaster and maintain
them.
• Establish and train an in-house disaster response team. Training in :
− disaster response techniques,
− identification and marking on floor-plans and enclosures of irreplaceable
and important
material for priority salvage.
• Prepare and keep an up-to-date set of documentation including :
− Building floor-plans, with locations of cut-off switches and valves.
− Inventory of holdings, with priorities for salvage marked on floor-plans.
− List of names, addresses, and home telephone numbers of personnel with
emergency
responsibilities.
− List of names, addresses, and home telephone numbers of the in-house
disaster response
team.
− List of names, addresses and home telephone numbers of trained
conservators with
experience in salvaging water-damaged materials, resource organizations,
and other facilities
able to offer support in the event of a disaster.
− List of disaster control services, in-house supplies and equipment, and in
any central store,
including locations and names of contacts with home telephone numbers.
− List of suppliers of services and sources of additional equipment and
supplies, including
names of contacts and home telephone numbers.
− Arrangements made to access freezing facilities.
− Arrangements for funding emergency needs.
− Copies of insurance policies.
− Salvage procedures.
• Distribute the plan and documentation to appropriate locations on- and off-
site.
• Institute procedures to notify appropriate people of the disaster and
assemble them rapidly.
Phase 3 : Response
When disaster strikes.
• Follow established emergency procedures for raising the alarm,
evacuating personnel and making
the disaster site safe
• Contact the leader of the disaster response team to direct and
brief the trained salvage personnel
• When permission is given to re-enter the site, make a
preliminary assessment of the extent of the
damage, and the equipment, supplies and services required.
• Stabilize the environment to prevent the growth of mold.
Photograph damaged materials for insurance claim purposes.
• Set up an area for recording and packing material which
requires freezing, and an area for air-
drying slightly wet material and other minor treatment.
• Transport water-damaged items to the nearest available
freezing facility.
Phase 4 : Recovery
Getting back to normal.
• Establish a programme to restore both the disaster site and the damaged
materials to a stable and
usable condition.
• Determine priorities for restoration work and seek the advice of a
conservator as to the best
methods and options, and obtain cost estimates.
• Develop a phased conservation programme where large quantities of
material are involved.
• Discard items not worth retaining, and replace or re-bind items not
justifying special conservation
treatment.
• Contact insurers.
• Clean and rehabilitate the disaster site.
• Replace treated material in the refurbished site.
• Analyze the disaster and improve the plan in the light of experience.
– Be prepared for any type of disaster. Contact and consult other libraries or
archives and library or archives associations to share information and
experience, and with a view to regional co-operation.
– Take advantage of educational sessions, particularly disaster
planning workshops and
preparedness exercises.
– Seek expert advice and help from the preservation offices of
national and large research libraries,
members of the Standing Committee of the Section on
Conservation of the IFLA, the centres of
the IFLA-PAC Programme, and the Technical Committees of ICA
and of the International
Audiovisual Archives Associations FIAF, FIAT, and IA
 Communications for Disaster
Management
All disaster emergencies and crisis events are by nature chaotic
and highly dynamic, creating physical, emotional, and social
disorder. In such crisis events and emergencies, communications
is critical at all phases of disaster management.
Communications during emergencies incorporates a wide range
of measures to manage risks to communities and the
environment. Before disasters strike,
telecommunications can be used as a conduit for disseminating
information about the impending danger thus, making it possible
for people to take the necessary precautions to mitigate the
impact of these hazards. Other telecommunication applications,
including remote sensing and global positioning system (GPS),
have critical roles to play in tracking approaching hazards,
alerting authorities, warning
affected populations, coordinating relief operations, assessing
damages and
mobilizing support for reconstruction. It is clear therefore that
telecommunications play a pivotal role in disaster prevention,
mitigation, and management.
In times of natural calamity like floods, storms, cyclone,
tsunami, fire etc. the usual mode of communication like phone,
mobile etc might not work or might be lost in the calamity. The
society at large must be well protected and the protection given
by the police or disaster management forces must be instant and
immediate. Thus the disaster management crew must be well
trained and equipped with the best appliances which might help
them to communicate the condition they are in and he status of
the calamity in the region they work for.
Communication Technologies
Reliability is what these disaster management communication systems must
focus on as the need for these systems might be more in remote parts and
some time even inaccessible areas like deep seas and mountain tops. We see
so many people getting lost while trekking in forests or mountains. Many
accidents occur during avalanche and landslides. So a communication system
must be reliable and must be in working condition at all times. Thus wide
area network with satellite signals is usually recommended. Many new
discoveries and easy to use communication gadgets are introduced from time
to time.
Establishing communication with remote areas has been a great challenge
and with the advent of satellite communication, the problem of connectivity
to remote and far flung areas has been resolved. Satellite communication
provides the facility of covering areas (national and international) using one
or several satellites. Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellites orbit around earth at a
distance of few hundred kilometers providing the facilities of remote sensing
etc. Satellite radio plays an important role in disaster management. Arial
snap shots from the satellites also reveal the severity of the disaster and they
can almost
penetrate closer to any region to get a good view of that place.
PREDICTION AND WARNING
Good predictions and warnings save lives. With only a few
minutes' notice of a tornado or flash flood, people can act to
protect themselves from injury and death. Predictions and
warnings can also reduce damage and economic losses. When
notice of an impending disaster can be issued well in advance, as
it can for some riverine floods, wildfires, and hurricanes,
property and natural resources can be protected.National
Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 1991. A Safer
Future: Reducing the Impacts of Natural Disasters. Washington,
DC
PREDICTION
A program for enhancing the nation's capability to predict
atmospheric, hydrologic, and geological hazards should include:
Modernization of the weather prediction system. New
observation and information technologies can improve the
prediction of severe weather, floods, wildfire potential, and
other weather-related hazards. NWS is currently deploying
several new systems that will improve detection and prediction
of severe weather and flooding. The observation systems being
implemented as part of the modernization include advanced
geostationary and polar orbiting satellites, Doppler radars,
automated surface observing systems, and doppler wind-profiling
systems. Information systems include interactive computer,
display, and storage systems for local weather stations and large
central supercomputing facilities at national centers.
WARNING
A program for enhancing the nation's capabilities for the dissemination of
warnings should include: Public-private partnerships for dissemination of
warnings. Because of their universality, radio and television broadcasts are
particularly effective in issuing warnings. Recognizing this potential, the
broadcast media have arranged to disseminate NWS severe weather and flood
warnings. The Emergency Broadcast System can be activated in virtually any
emergency. Meteorologists at most television stations and some radio stations
ensure the quality and timeliness of predictions. The 24-hour cable-television
weather channels provide continuous national and local weather coverage.
NOAA Weather Radio broadcasts continuous weather and flood information
across the country. Despite the many successes in public-private partnerships
for dissemination of warnings, several problems remain. Radio and television
programming is not always interrupted when emergency messages are
released, and the vast broadcast range of cable television makes it a difficult
medium through which to issue local warnings.
Research on behavioral response to warnings. When individuals
and organizations respond to warnings, their behavior stems
from the interaction of the type of message they receive, their
confidence in the source, their knowledge of the risks they face,
their fears for the safety of loved ones and possessions, and
other factors. People may feel, for example, that the possibility
of looters is more threatening than an approaching flood,
although research shows that looting seldom occurs in
community disasters. Despite the body of knowledge from
research on behavioral response to warnings, advanced studies
are needed. A particular gap exists in understanding the
response of people at manufacturing plants, offices, hotels,
schools, sports stadia, and other places of public assembly. Many
businesses are reluctant to close or let employees leave unless
the threat is quite certain. The factors that move organizations
to act on warnings need to be systematically ascertained