DISASTER RISK REDUCTION

AND MANAGEMENT
 UNIT II. HAZARD MAPPING, VULNERABILITY, AND
RISK ASSESSMENT
II.1 HAZARD MAPPING: It is the process of pinpointing geographical areas
and determining the extent to which specific phenomena may pose a threat to
individuals, property, infrastructure, and economic activities. It involves
identifying, assessing, and mapping the potential risks and hazards in a specific
geographic area.
◦ Hazard Map: A map that shows the expected disaster areas and the locations
of evacuation sites, evacuation routes and other disaster prevention facilities
for the purpose of mitigating damage caused by natural disasters and for
disaster prevention measures.
◦ Hazard maps should facilitate and guide people’s evacuation efforts and
should not contribute to a false sense of safety.
Objective: To equip residents with information regarding the potential range of
damage and the measures they can take to prevent disasters.
 TWO TYPES OF HAZARD MAPS:

1. Resident – Educating Type: The main objective of this map is to inform the
residents of that particular area about the risk. The information on areas of danger or
places of safety and the basic knowledge on disaster prevention are given to
residents.
2. Administrative Information Type: The main objective of this map is to inform
the administration so that the maps can be used in warning and evacuation system.
* This map is used as the basic materials that the administrative agencies utilize to
provide disaster prevention services. These hazard maps can be used to establish a
warning system and the evacuation system, as well as evidence for land use
regulations.
 EXAMPLES OF HAZARD MAPPING FOR COMMON DISASTERS:

1. Flood Hazard Mapping: It involves identifying areas prone to flooding and

assessing the potential risk and impact of flood events. It considers factors such as
topography, hydrological data, historical flood records, and land use patterns to
create flood hazard maps.
 EXAMPLES OF HAZARD MAPPING FOR COMMON DISASTERS:

1. Flood Hazard Mapping: It involves identifying areas prone to flooding and

assessing the potential risk and impact of flood events. It considers factors such as
topography, hydrological data, historical flood records, and land use patterns to
create flood hazard maps.
2. Earthquake Hazard Mapping: It involves assessing the seismic activity and
potential for earthquakes in a specific region. It considers factors such as historical
earthquake data, fault lines, geological surveys, and soil characteristics to create
seismic hazard maps.
3. Landslide Hazard Mapping: It involves identifying areas prone to landslides and
assessing the potential risk. It considers factors such as slope stability, geological
data, land cover, and rainfall patterns to create landslide hazard maps.
4. Wildfire Hazard Mapping: It involves identifying areas at risk of wildfires and
assessing the potential impact. It considers factors such as vegetation type, fuel
load, weather patterns, and topography to create wildfire hazard maps.
 EXAMPLES OF HAZARD MAPPING FOR COMMON DISASTERS:

5. Volcanic Hazard Mapping: It involves assessing the potential risks associated with
volcanic eruptions in volcanic regions. It considers factors such as volcanic history,
eruption frequency, lava flow paths, and ash fall patterns to create volcanic hazard
maps.
6. Coastal Hazard Mapping: It involves assessing the risks associated with coastal
hazards such as storm surge, coastal erosion, and sea-level rise. It considers factors
such as coastal topography, wave patterns, sea-level rise projections, and land-use
patterns to create coastal hazard maps.
 II.1.a DATA REQUIREMENTS OF HAZARD MAPPING
Data requirements: Are the specific types of data that are necessary to effectively
assess and map the potential risks and hazards in a particular area. It involves
identifying and collecting the relevant information needed to understand the nature,
extent, and impact of various hazards.
Example of the Types of Information Needed for Hazard Mapping:
 II.1.b APPLICATIONS OF HAZARD MAPS
1. Disaster Risk Reduction and Management: Hazard maps help in developing
effective disaster risk reduction and management plans, including land-use planning,
infrastructure development, and emergency response strategies.
2. Land-use Planning and Zoning: Hazard maps help guide the development of
residential, commercial, and industrial areas away from high-risk zones, such as
floodplains, landslide-prone areas, or seismic hazard zones.
3. Emergency Response Planning: Information in hazard maps such as areas that are at
high risk during specific hazard events helps emergency managers develop evacuation
routes, establish emergency shelters, and allocate resources strategically.
4. Public Awareness and Education: By making hazard maps accessible to the public,
individuals and communities can better understand the hazards they may face and take
necessary precautions.
 II.1.b APPLICATIONS OF HAZARD MAPS
5. Infrastructure Development and Design: By identifying areas prone to hazards,
such as flooding or earthquakes, engineers and planners can incorporate appropriate
mitigation measures into the design of critical infrastructure like bridges, dams,
roads, and buildings. This helps enhance the resilience and safety of infrastructure
systems.
6. Environmental Planning and Conservation: Hazard maps help identify
environmentally sensitive areas that may be at risk from hazards, guiding
conservation strategies and land management practices to protect ecosystems and
biodiversity. Hazard maps also support environmental impact assessments by
considering potential hazards during project planning.
 II.2 VULNERABILITY ASSESSMENT
Vulnerability: Refers to the susceptibility or lack of resilience of
individuals, communities, or systems to the impacts of disasters.
* It is a measure of the potential harm or loss that can be
experienced due to a disaster event.
* It describes the characteristics and circumstances of a individuals,
community, system or asset that make it susceptible to the damaging effects
of a hazard.
* The conditions 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.
 II.2 VULNERABILITY ASSESSMENT
Vulnerability Assessment: It is a process that assesses the susceptibility of
a community or region to the impacts of hazards, such as natural disasters.
* The estimation of scale and severity these hazards may have on the
people, property, environment, and economy of a community.
* The assessment typically includes an analysis of physical, social,
economic, and environmental factors that contribute to vulnerability.
* It helps identify which communities are most at risk and why, so
that appropriate measures can be taken to reduce their vulnerability.
II.2 VULNERABILITY ASSESSMENT
 II.2.a TYPES OF VULNERABILITY
1. Physical Vulnerability: Refers to the susceptibility of infrastructure,
buildings, and natural resources to damage or destruction during a disaster.
It encompasses the physical characteristics and conditions that make an
area or structure more prone to harm.
* The physical vulnerability of an area also depends on its
geographic proximity to the source and origin of the disasters e.g. if
an area lies near the coast lines, fault lines, unstable hills etc. it makes
the area more vulnerable to disasters as compared to an area that is
far away from the origin of the disaster.
 II.2.a TYPES OF VULNERABILITY
2. Economic Vulnerability: The level of vulnerability is highly dependent
upon the economic status of individuals, communities, and nations.
* Families with low incomes often live in high-risk areas around
cities, because they can't afford to live in safer (and more expensive) places.
* Poor people are considered to be more vulnerable as their houses are
built of weak material and in dangerous areas.
3. Social Vulnerability: Refers to the inability of people, organizations and
societies to withstand adverse impacts to hazards due to characteristics
inherent in social interactions, institutions and systems of cultural values.
* When flooding occurs, some citizens such as children, elderly and
differently-able, may be unable to protect themselves or evacuate if necessary.
 II.2.a TYPES OF VULNERABILITY
4. Environmental Vulnerability: Refers to the susceptibility of the natural
environment condition to the adverse impact of a disaster. It focuses on
understanding and assessing the ecological and environmental factors that
make an area more prone to the negative effects of disasters.
* E.g. Poor environmental management, overconsumption of natural
resources, decline of risk regulating ecosystem services, climate change, etc.
 II.3 RISK ASSESSMENT
Risk: the possibility of something bad happening
* For example, a building is located in an earthquake-prone area. Some of
the risks are building collapse, injuries, and loss of life due to the shaking of
ground.
* Also following a major earthquake, there is a risk of aftershocks which
can cause further damage.
Hazard: something that is dangerous and likely to cause damage; potential
source of harm or danger
Disaster Risk: Refers to the potential loss of life, injury, or destroyed or
damaged assets which could occur to a system, society, or a community in a
specific period of time, determined probabilistically as a function of hazard,
exposure, vulnerability and capacity.
 II.3 RISK ASSESSMENT
Disaster Risk Assessment: A methodology to determine the nature and
extent of risk by analyzing potential hazards and evaluating existing
conditions of vulnerability that together could potentially harm exposed
people, property, services, livelihoods and the environment on which they
depend.
 II.3.a COMPONENTS OF RISK ASSESSMENT
1. Identification of hazards - identifying and understanding the hazards
that could potentially cause harm or damage.
• Hazards can be natural, such as earthquakes or floods, or human-
induced, such as chemical spills or infrastructure failures.
2. Hazard characterization - a review of the technical characteristics of
hazards such as their location, intensity, frequency, and probability;
• It is the process of understanding and describing the nature, properties,
and potential impacts of a specific hazard.
• It involves gathering, analyzing, and interpreting data and information
to develop a comprehensive understanding of the hazard's characteristics.
 II.3.a COMPONENTS OF RISK ASSESSMENT
3. Exposure Assessment - the analysis of exposure and vulnerability,
including the physical, social, health, environmental and economic
dimensions;
• This component focuses on determining the extent to which elements at
risk are exposed to the identified hazards.
• It involves evaluating the proximity, intensity, and duration of potential
hazard events and their potential impact on the vulnerable elements.
4. Risk Characterization - and the evaluation of the effectiveness of
prevailing and alternative coping capacities with respect to likely risk
scenarios.
 II.3.b POPULATION RISK
Population Risk: Population risk refers to the potential harm or adverse
impacts that a hazard or disaster can have on a specific population or group of
people.
• Understanding population risk is essential for disaster risk management
and planning effective strategies for risk reduction, preparedness, response,
and recovery.
• It helps in prioritizing resources, developing early warning systems,
designing evacuation plans, and implementing measures to protect and
support affected populations.