Disaster Readiness and Risk Reduction

• The occurrence of disaster is presented by the International Federation of Red Cross
• A disaster occurs when a hazard impacts on vulnerable people
• Disaster is the result of the combination of vulnerability and hazard
• Capacity pertains to the capability of the people to reduce its risk or to mitigate its devastating effects
• Predicted calamities like typhoon become a disaster when its effect could no longer be controlled and disturbs people, damage properties and unsettles events
• Unpredicted calamities are more disastrous because people wouldn’t know when these calamities would have struck a place, a person, or a thing. Examples of these disasters are lightning, earthquake and tsunami
• Disaster pertains to anything that disrupts the normal functioning of people, events, and circumstances
• Hazard pertains to any condition or circumstances that endangers a person, thing or situation. Hazard could be classified as man-made or natural
• Natural hazards are hazards that may occur naturally, but don’t fall in to either of the categories above. These include insect infestations and disease epidemics
• Risk is caused by hazards
• Risk is the assessed damage to a person or property as a result of hazard
• Risk that is caused by man-made or natural disasters is called disaster risk. It is the result of hazard, exposure and vulnerability
• Disaster risk may be simplified using the formula below:

  Hazard + Exposure + Vulnerability = Disaster Risk
• Disaster risk has a direct relationship with hazards, exposure and vulnerability, with all three combined. This means that as hazard or exposure or vulnerability increases, disaster risk also increases
• Exposure is another variable to disaster risk as stated by the simplified formula above. This means that a person or property exposed to disaster likewise increases disaster risk
• The Voluntary Organizations in Cooperation in Emergencies, a non-governmental organization (NGOVOICE) and an active humanitarian aid worldwide, assists European Organizations on times of disasters
• Declining ecosystems pertains to environmental degradation due to the exploitation of our natural resources like rivers and mountains. Some disastrous events in the country like flash floods are believed to have been caused by our declining ecosystem
• Social aspect of risk factors may pertain to apathy of the people towards disaster preparedness
• Filipinos’ apathy may be a result of the “Bahala Na” attitude which makes people react only during the occurrence of disaster and not prevent its possible occurrence
• Economic Vulnerabilities refers to lack of financial capability of the concerned authorities to fund disaster information drive or the cost-effective thinking of builders makes them susceptible to disasters
• Climate change is also known as the change in the pattern of weather for an extended period of time. El Niño and La Niña are considered as results of climate change
• Climate change affects weather and the weather systems, breaking ice in the North and South Pole and changes the height of tides in our oceans. These changes increase the risk factors in disasters.
• Unplanned Urbanization is believed to be a threat to ecological balance and may cause severe flooding in the city or municipality
• Migration is seen as one of the factors of unplanned urbanization
• Migration from rural to urban areas may be due to natural disasters, livelihood opportunities in the city or lack of livelihood opportunities in the place where migrants originated
• UNDER DEVELOPMENT/ POVERTY is due to poverty, people become more vulnerable to disaster which increases the risk factor underlying disasters when they build homes along the rivers and other waterways or in the dumpsite making them more prone to diseases, which is also a kind of disaster.
• Disaster pertain to anything that is either expected or unexpected, but is considered to be distressing. Disaster brings mental and emotional anxiety and stress that affect any person including children and adults
• According to Adelman and Gray in their book, “The Nature of Disasters”, there are basically two different types of disasters: NATURAL AND MAN-MADE DISASTER
• Moro Gulf Tsunami is a tsunami triggered by a magnitude 7.9 earthquake devastates the Moro Gulf on the southern island of Mindanao on August 16, 1976, killing between 5,000 and 8,000 people.
• Tropical Storm Thelma unleashes flash floods on the central city of Ormoc on Leyte island on November 15, 1991, killing more than 5,100.
• Typhoon Bopha smashes into the main southern island of Mindanao on December 3, 2012. Rarely hit by cyclones, the region suffers about 1,900 people dead or missing.
• A 7.8 magnitude earthquake strikes the mountain resort of Baguio City and other areas of the northern Philippines on July 16, 1990, killing 1,621 people.
• Typhoon Ike hits the central islands on August 31, 1984, killing 1,363 people.
• Taal volcano, about 60 kilometers (30 miles) from Manila, erupts on January 30, 1911, killing about 1,300 people living in nearby villages.
• Mayon volcano in the far east of the country erupts on February 1, 1814, burying the nearby town of Cagsawa with ash and rock and killing about 1,200 people.
• Guinsaugon Landslide is an entire mountainside collapses on the village of Guinsaugon on the central island of Leyte on February 17, 2006, killing 1,126.
• Typhoon Washi hits the northern part of Mindanao island on December 16, 2011, killing at least 1,080 people.
• Floods and landslides unleashed by Typhoon Trix kill 995 people in the Bicol region of the main island of Luzon on October 16, 1952.
• Man-made disasters. These are stressful events caused directly and primarily by human action. It is also called human-made or human-caused disasters
• TUBBATAHA REEF INCIDENCE. The USS Guardian minesweeper ran aground on the Tubbataha Reef, a Unesco World Heritage Site, in January 2013.