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• Vulnerability


  Characteristics and circumstances of community, system, or asset, that make it susceptible to damaging effects of hazard
• Vulnerable


  A community must be exposed to hazard first in order to become vulnerable
• Exposure to hazard


  Can make a community vulnerable
• Vulnerability


  Depends on the preparedness and readiness to hazard
• Disaster mitigation measures


  Eliminate or reduce the impacts and risk of hazard
• Hazard


  A harmful condition, substance, human behavior or condition that can cause loss of life, injury or other health effects, harm to property, loss of livelihood and services, social and economic disruption or damage to the environment
• Types of Hazard


  • Natural Hazards
  • Quasi-natural Hazards
  • Technological (or man-made) Hazards
• Hazard Signs and Symbols


  Signs and symbols with corresponding meaning that help people to be extra cautious, aware and observant in surroundings. Each picture is designed to become recognizable to anyone as a signal word like "danger" or "warning".
• Quasi-Natural Hazard Signs and Symbols

  • Global warming
  • Aquatic toxicity
  • Smog
  • Acid Rain
• Technological(Man-made) Hazard Signs and Symbols

  • Explosive
  • Fatal or toxic
  • Respiratory Toxicity
  • Flammable
• Physical vulnerability


  Includes population density levels, place of a settlement, the site design, and materials used for infrastructure and housing. When hazardous events occur, normally physical elements are severely damaged.
• Social vulnerability


  Happens due to inability of people, organization, and societies to prevent severe effects from hazards because of the expected behavior in social interactions, institutions, and system of cultural values.
• Economic vulnerability


  Based on the economic status of individuals, communities, and nations. The poorer the country, the more vulnerable to disasters because they lack the funds or budgets to build sturdy structures and put other engineering measures in place which protect them from being affected by disasters.
• Socio Economic vulnerability


  Combination of social and economic vulnerability
• Environmental vulnerability


  Caused by natural resources depletion and destruction. Organisms like humans, animals, and plants are all dependent on the environment for survival. Human activities like deforestation, burning of fossil fuels, and kaingin affect the natural abilities of the environment to protect itself from any natural hazard due to absence of trees which may cause landslide and flashfloods.
• Quantifying vulnerability


  Used in estimating how much mitigation and preparedness measures will be applied. Computation is based on the previous hazard events and severity of their effects. Vulnerability can be expressed as: 0 = lowest degree of vulnerability and 1 as the highest degree. Vulnerability of people is the ratio of casualties or injured to the total population. Vulnerability of buildings is expressed as a repair cost or degree of damage.
• The Philippines has high vulnerability due to the following reasons:
• Effects of Hazard, Exposure and Vulnerability to Disaster Risks
• Hazard is a harmful condition, substance, human behavior or condition that can cause loss of life, injury or other health effects, harm to property, loss of livelihood and services, social and economic disruption or damage to the environment. Any risk which is imminent is threat.
• Exposure


  The presence of elements at risk or chance of being harmed from a natural or man-made hazard event. Elements include the individuals, households or communities, properties, buildings and structures, agricultural commodities, livelihoods, and public facilities, infrastructures and environmental assets present in an area that are subject to potential damage or even losses. The more a community is exposed to hazard factors, the higher is the disaster risk or higher chance disaster occurrence.
• Vulnerability


  The characteristics and circumstances of a community, system, or asset, that make it susceptible to the damaging effects of a hazard and inability of a community to prevent, mitigate, prepare for and respond to hazardous events.
• Risk


  The probability of possible adverse effects. This results from the interaction of social and environmental systems, from the combination of physical danger, and exposed item vulnerabilities.
• Disaster


  A serious disruption to the functioning of a community or society which causes widespread human, material, economic or environmental losses that exceed the capacity of the community or society concerned to cope with the use of their own resources. It results from the mix of hazards, risk conditions and inadequate capability or measures.
• Exposure and vulnerability are distinct. A certain community can be exposed but it does not mean that it is vulnerable. Buildings and structures in Japan are exposed to earthquake, but they are not vulnerable since their architectural and engineering designs are earthquake proof or resistant. However, to become vulnerable, it must be exposed to hazard first.
• Exposure to hazard can make a community vulnerable. But not all communities that are exposed to hazard can be considered vulnerable. Vulnerability depends on the preparedness and readiness to a hazard of the community. It depends mostly on how they mitigate, respond, and recover. If a certain community has the ability to reduce the vulnerability by reducing the risk, the said community is already considered as less vulnerable or resilient.
• General Classification of Elements at Risk

  • Physical elements
  • Essential facilities
  • Transportation facilities
  • Life lines
  • Socio-economic aspects
  • Economic activities
  • Environmental elements
• Disaster Mitigation Measure


  Those that eliminate or reduce the impacts and risks of hazards by means of proactive measures taken before an emergency or disaster takes place. Mitigation is the action of reducing something's severity, seriousness, or painfulness.