DISASTER MANAGEMENT

PDU 08105
Module Instructor
KATWALE SOSTHENES J.
 Pathway
• Application of Disaster,hazard,risk management
knowledge and skills in Development mitigation
measures.
• Application of Disaster management cycle
approaches in Disaster management
• Analysis of Linkages between
mitigation,preparedness,relief and reconstruction
in enhancing disaster management
• Disaster management structures,piolicy and
regulatory framework in managing disaster.
 Disaster,hazard,risk management in
Development mitigation measures

• Disaster
• Hazard
• Risk Management
• Susceptibility
• Vulnerability
 Disaster
• Disaster is defined as a crisis situation causing
wide spread damage which far exceeds our
ability to recover.
• Disaster is a sudden, calamitous event bringing
great damage, loss, destruction and devastation
to life and property.
• Disasters are serious disruptions to the
functioning of a community that exceed its
capacity to cope using its own resources.
 Definition of Disaster cont..
• Disaster is an undesirable occurrence resulting
from forces that are largely outside human
control, strikes quickly with little or no
warning, which causes or threatens serious
disruption of life and property including death
and injury to a large number of people, and
requires therefore, mobilisation of efforts in
excess of that which are normally provided by
statutory emergency services.
 Defn cont…
• The World Health Organization (WHO) defines a
disaster as “a sudden ecological phenomenon of
sufficient magnitude to require external assistance”.
• It is any event, typically occurring suddenly, that
causes damage, ecological disruption, loss of
human life, deterioration of health and health
services, and which exceeds the capacity of the
affected community on a scale sufficient to require
outside assistance.
 Types of Disaster
• Natural Disaster
• Manmade disaster
 Natural Disaster.
• Natural disasters occur as the result of action
of the natural forces and tend to be accepted
as unfortunate, but inevitable.
 Natural disasters result from forces of climate
and geology. Natural disasters are perhaps the
most “unexpected” and costly overall in terms
of loss of human lives and resources.
 Natural disaster cont..
• Natural disasters are relatively sudden and
cause large scale, widespread death, loss of
property and disturbance to social systems
and life over which people have a little or no
control e.g.Earthquake, Flood, Tsunami,
Drought, Hurricane etc
 Manmade
• The man made disasters results from some human
activities, such as explosions, fires, the release of toxic
chemicals or radioactive materials, bridge or building
collapse, crashes, dam or levee failure, nuclear reactor
accidents.
• man-made disasters are unpredictable, can spread
across geographical areas, may be unpreventable and
may have limited physical damage but long-term effect.
• They are also much more difficult for the community to
deal with and for victims to accept.
 Man made disaster cont….
• Man made disaster have issues of blame
involved and the community spends much
time discussing who was responsible and what
mistakes were made.eg
Terrosism,Bushfire,pollution,chemical spills etc
 Causes of Disaster
 Disasters can be caused by natural, man-made hazards, as well as
various factors that influence the exposure and vulnerability of a
community. These are=
• Poverty: Virtually all disaster studies show that the wealthiest of
the population survive the disaster, remains unaffected or are
able to recover quickly.
• ™Population growth: Increasing number of people will compete
for limited amount of resources which can lead to conflict and
conflict may result in crisis-induced migration.
• ™Rapid urbanization: competition for scarce resources is an
inevitable consequence of rapid urbanization, leading to human-
made disasters.
 Causes cont…
• Transitions in cultural practices: Societies are
constantly changing and in continuous state of
transition. These transitions are often
extremely disruptive and uneven, leaving gaps
in social coping mechanisms and technology.
Conflicts as well as transitional cultural
practices can also lead to civil conflict (e.g.
communal violence triggered by religious
differences).
 Causes cont..
• Environmental degradation: Deforestation
leads to rapid rain run off, which contributes to
flooding. ™
• Lack of awareness and information: Disasters
can also happen because people vulnerable to
them simply do not know how to get out of
harm’s way or to take protective measures. ™
• Wars and civil strife are among the principal
man made factors precipitating disaster.
 Hazard
• Hazard is a rare or extreme event in the
natural or human made environment that
adversely affects human life, property or
activity to the extent of causing a disaster.
 Risk
• Risk is the expected losses (lives lost, persons
injured, damages to property and disruption of
economic activity) due to a particular hazard.
• Risk is the probability that a person will experience
an event in a specified period of time. Risk as a
function of hazard and vulnerability, a relationship
that is frequently illustrated with the following
formula, although the association is not strictly
erythematic:
Risk = hazard x vulnerability.
 Disaster mitigation
• Disaster Mitigation is the cornerstone of
emergency management. It’s the ongoing
effort to lessen the impact disasters have on
people and property.
• Mitigation involves keeping homes away from
floodplains, creating and enforcing effective
building codes to protect property from
hurricanes etc
 forms of disaster mitigation
• Promoting sound land use planning based on known
hazards
• Buying flood insurance to protect your belongings
• Relocating or elevating structures out of the floodplains
• Securing shelves and water heaters to nearby walls.
• Having hurricane straps installed to more securely
attach a structure’s roof to its walls and foundation.
• Developing, adopting, and enforcing effective building
codes and standards
 Forms cont..
• Engineering roads and bridges to withstand
earthquakes
• Using fire-retardant materials in new
construction
• Developing and implementing a plan in your
business or community to reduce your
susceptibility to hazards
 Types of disaster mitigation
Disaster mitigation measures may be structural
(e.g. flood dikes) or non-structural (e.g. land
use zoning).
 structural/non structural
• Hazard mapping
• Adoption and enforcement of land use and
zoning practices
• Implementing and enforcing building codes
• Flood plain mapping
• Raising of homes in flood-prone areas
• Disaster mitigation public awareness programs
• Insurance programs