Basic Concept of Disaster & Disaster Risk

• Definition of Disaster:

  • A sudden, calamitous occurrence that causes great harm, injury, destruction, and devastation to life and property
  • Disrupts the usual course of life, causing both physical and emotional distress
  • Two elements affected: life and property
  • Effects vary from minor damage to total destruction and can lead to death
• Nature of Disasters:

  • Natural disasters are unpredictable and caused by natural forces like earthquakes, typhoons, volcanic eruptions, hurricanes, fires, tornados, and extreme temperatures
  • They can be classified as rapid onset disasters and those with progressive onset, such as droughts that lead to famine. These events, usually sudden, can have tremendous effects.
  • Man-made disasters are caused by human activities and can happen with or without warning, such as floods caused by an unknown leak in a water dam
• Concept of Disaster Risk:

  • Risk is the combination of the probability of an event and its negative consequences (UNISDR, 2009)
  • Disaster risk refers to potential disaster losses in lives, health status, livelihoods, assets, and services that could occur in a community or society over a specified future period
  • Disaster risk is the product of possible damage caused by a hazard due to vulnerability within a community
  • Vulnerability is the inability to resist a hazard or respond when a disaster occurs
• Types of Hazards:

  • Natural hazards: biological (Diseases, Epidemics, Plagues), meteorological (Storm surges, Cyclones, Tornadoes), hydrological (Avalanche, Floods), geological (Earthquakes, Landslides, Tsunamis, Volcanic Activity), and climatological (Drought, Wildfires)
  • Human-made hazards: technological/industrial, terrorism/violence, complex humanitarian emergencies
• Disaster Risk Reduction:

  • Aims to reduce vulnerability of life, property, or the environment to existing hazards
  • Seeks to reduce the degree of exposure to hazards and increase preparedness through proper mitigation procedures
  • Mitigation involves preventing or minimizing the effects of a disaster by introducing precautionary measures before it strikes a community
• A hazard is a threat to life, environment, or property. A hazard can be considered a disaster if it poses an actual harm to life and environment.
• Natural Hazards:

  • occurs when an extreme natural event is destructive to human life and property. This event could interfere with activities in a minor way.