DISASTER READINESS

AND
RISK REDUCTION

Basic Concept of Disaster and Disaster Risk

OBJECTIVES:
At the end of the discussion,
the students will be able to:
 explain the meaning of
disaster; and
 differentiate the risk factors
underlying disasters.
 Do you feel scared or shocked when you
hear news about typhoons, floods, fires,
earthquakes, landslides, terrorism,
kidnapping, and epidemic diseases? When
these happen, you hear terrible deaths,
witness many injured or sick people, see
massive infrastructure destruction or
experience economic loss.
The question is …

In this world, we always face

these threats. Are there ways
how you can become prepared
for these threats?
ACTIVITY: THE PANDEMIC
RISES
Direction: Analyze the picture shown then answer the
questions given.
ACTIVITY: THE PANDEMIC
RISES
 1. What could be the reason people are wearing masks?
ACTIVITY: THE PANDEMIC
RISES
 2. Is it dangerous not to wear a mask in this situation? Why?
ACTIVITY: THE PANDEMIC
RISES
3. Would you also wear a mask? Why?
ACTIVITY: THE PANDEMIC
RISES
Based on this activity,
what do you think is the
meaning of disaster?
THE CONCEPT OF DISASTER AND
DISASTER RISK
The terminologies listed are defined
by the United Nations Office for
Disaster Risk Reduction (UNDRR),
also known as the United Nations
International Strategy for Disaster
Reduction (UNISDR).
 A disaster is defined as a serious
disruption of the functioning of a
community or a society at any scale due to
hazardous events interacting with
conditions of exposure, vulnerability, and
capacity that may lead to one or more of
the following: human, material, economic,
and environmental losses and impacts.
 An event is already a disaster if a
hazard has already affected a
population making them
vulnerable. One example we can
have for a disaster is a typhoon
directly passing through a city or a
province.
Disaster risk is the potential loss of
life, injury, or destroyed or damaged
assets that could occur to a system,
society, or community in a specific
period, determined probabilistically
as a function of hazard, exposure,
vulnerability, and capacity.
The disaster risk formula is shown below:
Hazard
is defined as a process, phenomenon, or
human activity that may cause loss of life,
injury or other health impacts, property
damage, social and economic disruption
or even environmental degradation.
Exposure
is the situation of people,
infrastructure, housing,
production capacities and other
tangible human assets located
in hazard-prone areas.
Vulnerability
is a condition determined by
physical, social, economic, and
environmental factors or processes
which increase the susceptibility of
an individual, a community, assets or
systems to the impacts of hazards.
Capacity
is the combination of all strengths, attributes, and
resources available within an organization,
community, or society to manage and reduce
disaster risks and strengthen resilience. The
capacity of a community may include the
knowledge and skills of people, leadership and
management of the local government, and the
infrastructure and facilities available to the
community.
DISASTER RISK CAN BE
PRESENTED WITH THIS
DIAGRAM:
NATURE OF DISASTER
1. Natural Hazards and
Disasters
– are the results and outcomes of
naturally occurring processes that
occurred throughout Earth’s
history.
Examples: Flood, volcanic
eruption, insect infestation,
tropical cyclone, earthquake,
tsunami, landslide, hurricane,
tornado, sinkhole, drought, storm
surge etc.
2.
Man-made/Human-induced/Anthro
pogenic Hazards and Disasters
– occur as a result or an outcome of
human actions and interactions with
other people and the environment.
Examples: Chemical threat,
hazardous material, nuclear
blast, cyber-attack, terrorism,
civil unrest, bioweapon etc.
DISASTER RISK
DRIVERS
Disaster risk drivers are
factors that promote or
increase the risk of a disaster.
The following are some
disaster risk drivers:
1. Climate change – this can amplify disaster risk while
weakening the resilience of the community.
2. Poverty – extreme poverty equates to greater disaster
impact.
3. Socio-economic inequality – can result to limited
capacity of households and communities to manage the
risk and improve their resilience.
4. Increase population density/growth – the higher the
population, the greater vulnerability to disasters.
5. Rapid and unplanned urbanization – can result to an increased
severity of disasters.
6. Environmental degradation – can reduce the environmental
capacity to provide social and ecological needs.
7. Lack of awareness – households, communities, and societies who
have lack of awareness on disasters are not disaster prepared thus
can aggravate disaster risk.
8. Weak governance – inefficient and incompetent protection of
human rights, and failure to provide public services can happen due
weak governance.
 ACTIVITY: THE MOST MEMORABLE
EXPERIENCE IN A DANGEROUS SITUATION
IN MY LIFE
Directions: Based on the discussion, can you recall
any disaster that happened to you? If you don’t
recall any, you may ask someone in your household
to tell a disaster they had experienced. Make a short
descriptive essay about it. Take note of the details
and expressions you have, or they had while
recalling.
 ASSIGNMENT 1: EVERYTHING
AROUND US
Directions: Try to remember a disaster that
happened in the past or is currently happening. Try
to identify how did the risk drivers magnified
disasters. Write the risk drivers in the first (1st)
column and explain how these answers magnified
the risk of a disaster in the second (2nd) column.