Basic Concepts on Disaster Readiness and Risk Reduction

Definition of Terms
Disaster
 A serious disruption of the functioning of a community or a society involving widespread human,
material, economic, or environmental losses which exceeds the ability of the affected
community to cope using its own resources.
- United Nations Office for Disaster Reduction (UNISDR)

 Any occurrence that causes damage, ecological disruption, loss of human life, deterioration of
health and health services, on a scale sufficient to warrant an extraordinary response from
outside the affected community or area.
- World Health Organization (WHO)

Risk
 The chance or probability that a hazard will cause harm to people, property, or environment.
 Probable negative outcomes an event may incur.
 The measure of the losses due to a particular or combination of hazards.

Hazard
 Something that has the potential to cause harm to people, property, or the environment.
 A dangerous phenomenon (event), substance, a human activity or condition that may cause
1. Loss of life
2. Injury or other health impacts
3. Property damage
4. Loss of livelihoods and services
5. Social and economic disruptions
6. Environmental damage

Exposure
 The extent of the effect of a natural hazard towards a community in terms of land area or
number of persons.
 It is expressed as the no. of human lives and value of the properties/environment that can
potentially be affected.

Vulnerability
 A state of being unable to prevent, mitigate, prepare for and respond to hazardous events.
 A state of being open to damage & injury; susceptible to hazards.
 Refers to the physical, social, economic, and environmental factors which increase susceptibility
to hazards.

Capacity
 Strengths, abilities, and resources which give latitude (ability) to the citizenry and society to
cope up and overcome the adverse effects of disasters.

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 Basic Concepts on Disaster Readiness and Risk Reduction

Elaboration of Concepts

Disaster

 A (1)serious disruption of the functioning of a community or a society (2) involving widespread human,
material, economic, or environmental losses (3)which exceeds the ability of the affected community
to cope using its own resources.
- United Nations Office for Disaster Reduction (UNISDR)

 Any occurrence that causes damage, ecological disruption, loss of human life, deterioration of
health and health services, on a scale sufficient to warrant an extraordinary response from outside
the affected community or area.
- World Health Organization (WHO)

An example of a disaster occurring in the Philippines - the disaster caused by Yolanda.

 There is no such thing as “natural disaster”. A disaster is by design.

“The crucial point about understanding why disasters happen is that it is not only natural events that
cause them, they are also the product of social, political, & economic environment.”
- Wisner, Blaikie, Cannon, Davis.
At Risk: Natural Hazards, People’s Vulnerability, and Disasters

 There is no disaster without the presence of human population, thus disasters are social events.

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Classifications of disaster effects according to elements

1. People or human lives (includes psychological trauma)
2. Homes
3. Infrastructures
4. Economy
5. Environment

Disaster can also be classified according to

1. Primary – effects coming from the incident directly.
Ex. Water damage of crops due to floods, or collapsed structures due to an earthquake.

2. Secondary – effects resulting from primary effects.

Ex. Fires from down electrical lines caused by an earthquake.

3. Tertiary – effects resulting from secondary effects.

Ex. Permanent relocation of a community due to the reshaping of a river channel after an
earthquake.

Aspects of disaster effects

1. Physically
2. Emotionally
3. Psychologically
4. Socio-culturally
5. Economically
6. Politically
7. Biologically

Disaster Risk

 Probable negative outcomes an event (or phenomenon) may incur.

 The measure of the losses (deaths, injuries, damage to property) due to a particular or combination
of hazards.
 The chance or probability that a hazard will cause harm to people, property, or the environment.

 The chance or probability that a disaster will occur due to a hazard depends on three factors,
namely: EXPOSURE (of a population to the hazard), VULNERABILITY (or susceptibility of the
population) and COPING/ADAPTIVE CAPACITY (of the population to the effects of the hazard)

The relationship of these 3 factors to disaster risk is reflected in the formula:

Disaster Risk = Hazard x Exposure x Vulnerability

Capacity

What factor/s increase the value of the risk?

What factor/s lower the value of the risk?

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Hazard

 Something that has the potential to cause harm to people, property, or the environment.
 A dangerous phenomenon (event),substance, a human activity or condition that may cause
1. Loss of life
2. Injury or other health impacts
3. Property damage
4. Loss of livelihoods and services
5. Social and economic disruptions
6. Environmental damage

 Environmental event (phenomenon) becomes a hazardous event once it threatens to adversely

affect society and/or the environment. A physical event such as volcanic eruption that does not
affect humans (in any way) is a natural event but not a natural hazard.

Hazard Classifications according to:

1. Extent of naturalness
a. Natural hazards Ex. volcanic eruption
b. Quasi hazards Ex. smog
c. Technological hazards ex. spraying of pesticide to crops
2. Nature
a. Atmospheric ex. typhoons, extreme temperatures
b. Hydrologic ex. Flood, drought, tsunami
c. Geologic ex. landslide, mudflow, earthquake, volcanic eruption
d. Biologic ex. Plague or epidemic, infestation
e. Technologic ex. car accident, spillage, Industrial accident, nuclear accident,
accidental release of toxic chemicals, collapse of building
3. Timeframe
a. Chronic (repeating)
b. Seasonal
c. Random
4. Rate
a. Fast
b. Slow

 The level of harm of a hazard is defined by 3 aspects

1. Magnitude (size)
2. Intensity (strength)
3. Return Period (frequency) – a statistical measure of how often a hazard event of a given
magnitude and intensity will occur. The frequency is measured in terms of a hazard’s
recurrence interval.

 No. of hazards and their intensity have increased in recent years because of climate change

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 Basic Concepts on Disaster Readiness and Risk Reduction

Exposure

 The extent of the effect of a natural hazard towards a community in terms of land area or
number of persons.
 The total value of elements at risk. It is expressed as the no. of human lives and value of the
properties/environment that can potentially be affected.

 Exposure to hazards has multiplied as urban centers, settlements, and economic activities expand
into hazard-prone areas.

 Exposure to disaster risk is growing faster than our resilience to bounce back.

 Measures to minimize exposure include the ff:

1. Prepare a map of hazard-prone areas and disseminate this to the population (check out Project
NOAH – National Operational Assessment of Hazards of DOST in the internet)
2. Draw up the Land Use Plan of the Barangay/City/Province/Region.
3. Draft laws to enforce the Land Use Plan
4. Force evacuation of people in hazard-prone areas

Vulnerability

 A state of being unable to prevent, mitigate, prepare for and respond to hazardous events.
 A state of being open to damage & injury; susceptible to hazards.
 Refers to the physical, social, economic, and environmental factors which increase susceptibility
to hazards. Ex. Disregard for environmental management , poorly planned communities, poorly
constructed infrastructures and homes, lack of public information and awareness on
preparedness and risks, presence of poor and marginalized, sick, disabled, very young/old
population

Categories of Vulnerability

1. Physical/Material vulnerability
This include but not limited to poor people who have few physical and material resources; who
often live on marginal land like river banks or under the bridge; people with no savings and
insurance; those with poor health; people with limited physical and material resources.

2. Social/Organizational vulnerability
People who have been marginalized in social, economic, or political terms are vulnerable to
suffering from disasters whereas groups which are well-organized and have high commitment to
their members, suffer less during disasters.

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Some sources of social and organizational vulnerabilities are as follows:

 Family structure (strong/weak)
 Leadership qualities and structure
 Legislation
 Administrative structures and institutional arrangements
 Decision-making structures
 Participation levels
 Divisions and conflicts: ethnic, class, caste, religion, ideology, political groups, language
groups, and structures for mediating conflicts
 Degree of justice, equality, access to political process
 Community organizations: formal, informal, traditional, governmental, progressive
 Relationship to government, administrative structures
 Isolation or connectedness

3. Attitudinal/Motivational vulnerability
People who have low confidence in their ability to affect change or who have “lost heart” and
feel defeated by events they cannot control, are harder hit by disasters than those who have a
sense of their ability to bring the changes they desire.

Some sources of attitudinal and motivational vulnerabilities are as follows:

 Attitude towards change
 Sense of ability to affect their world, environment, get things done
 Initiative
 Faith, determination, fighting spirit
 Religious, beliefs, ideology
 Fatalism, hopelessness, despondency, discouragement
 Dependent/Independent (self-reliant)
 Consciousness, awareness
 Cohesive, unity, solidarity, cooperation
 Orientation towards past, present, and future

Capacity

 Strengths, abilities, and resources which give latitude (ability) to the citizenry and society to
cope up and overcome the adverse effects of disasters.
 Assets, resources and skills available within a community, society, or organization that can be
used to reduce the risks or effects of a disaster.

 Capacity may include

1. physical,
2. institutional,
3. social
4. economic means
5. as well as skilled personal or collective attributes such as leadership and management.

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 Even the weakest in the community has capacities. The people whose houses or crops have been
destroyed by, let say, typhoon or flood can recover things from their homes and from their farms
that can be recycled.

In most disasters, people suffer their greatest losses in the physical and material realm. However,
even when everything physical is destroyed, people still have their skills and knowledge; they have
family and community organization. They have leaders and systems for making decisions and
representations. They have tribal loyalties or church affiliations. They have capacities in the social
and organizational realm.

People also have positive attitudes and strong motivations such as the will to survive, love, and
concern for each other, bravery and willingness to help each other. These, too are important
capacities and form the basis for development just as much as the physical resources that people
have.

 Some examples of capacity

o Ownership of land and home w/ safe location
o Adequate income
o Savings
o Adequate food sources
o Local knowledge
o Family and community support in times of crises
o Responsive local government
o Enabling legislation
o Strong community organizations

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 Basic Concepts on Disaster Readiness and Risk Reduction

Research the following ;

YOLANDA

Profile of Yolanda No. of houses lost

Date/time of entry & departure Value of properties lost
Route (provinces directly Value of structural damages
affected) (including public facilities)
Magnitude / Intensity
Wind speed Economic
Amount of rainfall (precipitation) Value of lost opportunities
Value of crop damages
People No. of people who lost their jobs
No. of deaths Value of public services
No. of injured disrupted
No. of sick Environment
No. rendered homeless Value of environmental damages
Property

BOHOL EARTHQUAKE
Profile of Bohol Earthquake Value of properties lost
Date/time of occurrence Value of structural damages
Location of epicenter (including public facilities)
Provinces affected Economic
Magnitude / Intensity Value of lost opportunities
Value of crop damages
People No. of people who lost their jobs
No. of deaths Value of public services
No. of injured disrupted
No. of sick Environment
No. rendered homeless Value of environmental
Property damages
No. of houses lost

Literature Survey:
1. Newspaper accounts of the disaster
2. Studies conducted about the disaster

Key Informant Interviews:

1. Identify the key informants to be interviewed
2. List all the information required to have a clear picture of the disaster
3. Formulate the questions to ask based on the required information

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Activity
Analyze your own family’s disaster risk profile in case a natural event occurs in your community in terms
of:
1. Hazards
2. Exposure
3. Vulnerability
4. Capacity

Use the knowledge acquired from this handout.