e.g Janel072

• Disaster is an extreme event that causes great loss to life and property
• It poses a serious threat to normal life and development
• Disasters strike with sudden violence, tearing bodies, destroying lives and structures, and throwing apart families
• The term "disaster" originates from the French word "Disastre," combining "Des" meaning "Bad" and "Aster" meaning "Star," referring to "Bad or Evil Star"
• A disaster disrupts the normal pattern of life, causing physical and emotional suffering
• Any hazard like flood, earthquake, or cyclone/typhoon, along with greater vulnerability, can lead to a disaster causing significant loss to life and property
• Loss of life and destruction of assets are impacts of disasters
• Disasters have negative effects on human well-being, loss of services, social and economic disruption, and environmental degradation
• A disaster results from the combination of hazard, vulnerability, and insufficient capacity or measures to reduce the potential chances of risk
• Four main factors contributing to the increase of disaster risks are climate change, rapid urbanization, poverty, and environmental degradation
• Climate change will create new hazards such as glacier melting, sea-level rise, and extreme weather events, aggravating existing disaster risks and vulnerabilities
• Rapid and unplanned urbanization, combined with climate change and urban population explosion, will create new stresses for urban settlements and increase vulnerability
• Poverty and socio-economic inequalities aggravate disaster factors, making poor people more vulnerable to disasters and trapping them in a cycle of poverty
• Environmental degradation, including deforestation, coral reef loss, desertification, and global warming, increases the risk of disasters and threatens ecosystems and human settlements
• Effects of disasters on one's life include medical effects, damage to critical facilities, disruption of transportation, economic impact, global environmental change, and social and political impact
• The physical perspective of a disaster involves observable effects on buildings, infrastructures, and physical aspects of a community, including loss of life
• The psychological perspective of a disaster focuses on mental challenges like PTSD that individuals may face after experiencing a traumatic event
• The socio-cultural perspective of a disaster highlights how limited access to information and lack of education about disaster risk preparedness can make communities more vulnerable to disasters
• From an economic perspective, disasters imply a loss of manpower, physical, and financial capital, leading to a reduction in economic activity
• Disasters are intertwined with politics, affecting the delivery of humanitarian assistance and testing government preparedness and response capabilities
• Disasters occur due to a combination of hazards and vulnerabilities, including biological hazards that may cause new diseases