DRRR Midterms

• Disaster


  A serious disruption of the functioning of a community or a society causing widespread human material, economic, or environmental losses and impacts that exceed the ability of the affected community or society to cope using its resources (United Nations Office of Disaster Risk Reduction; UNISDR)
• Disasters are inherently unexpected or can come quickly with little or no warning. As a result, disasters (both man-made and natural events) can cause widespread injuries, death, and property damage.
• Characteristics of a disaster


  • Knows no political boundary
  • Requires restructured and new responding organizations
  • Creates new tasks and requires more people as disaster responders (volunteers)
  • Worsen confusion in understanding roles of people and organization (miscommunication)
  • Renders inutile routine emergency response equipment and facilities (panic or organizations cause useless routine)
  • Exposes lack of disaster planning, response, and coordination
• Impact of disaster


  • Medical effects
  • Damage to facilities
  • Disruption of transportation
  • Economic impact
  • Global environment change
  • Social and political impacts
• Exposure


  The amount of natural hazards an area is exposed to
• Susceptibility


  The tendency to be affected by something
• Coping


  The ability to resist the impact of a natural disaster through preparedness
• Adaptive


  The capacity to make strategies to reduce the impact of natural disasters
• The Philippines tops the World Disaster Risk Index 2022 - Floods, heat waves, and droughts are increasing seriously, and climate change is also having a massive impact on the assessment of risks.
• Risk factors underlying disasters


  • Severity of exposure
  • Gender and family
  • Age
  • Low or negative social support
• Recovery is worse if you: 1) Were not functioning well before the disaster, 2) Have had no experience dealing with disasters, 3) Must deal with other stressors after the disaster, 4) Have poor self-esteem, 5) Feeling of being uncared, 6) Have little control of the events, 7) Lack of the capacity to manage stress.
• Exposure


  The degree in which the elements at risk are likely to experience hazard events of different magnitudes
• Vulnerability


  The diminished capacity of an individual or group to anticipate, cope up, resist, and recover from the impact of hazard
• At least 60% of the country's total land area, nearly 300,000 square kilometers (116,000 square miles), is vulnerable to natural hazards, in large part due to the archipelago's location along both the path of the tropical storms brewing in the western Pacific and the Ring of Fire.
• Factors that determine people's level of vulnerability

  • Physical
  • Economic
  • Social
  • Political
• Poverty is the major contributor to vulnerability. For example, the rich may have more to lose, but the poor are repeatedly the ones who suffer the most, are more exposed to risk, and are living in unsafe places and unsafe homes.
• Potentially vulnerable groups


  • Displaced populations
  • Migrants
  • Returnees
  • Specific groups within the local population such as marginalized, excluded, or destitute people
  • Young children, pregnant and nursing women, unaccompanied children, widows, elderly people without family support, and disabled persons
• Social, environmental, and economic dimensions of exposure and vulnerability

  • Social dimension
  • Environmental dimension
  • Economic dimension
• Infrastructure that may be damaged

  • Essential facilities
  • Industrial and High Potential Loss Facilities and Facilities Containing Hazardous Materials
  • Transportation lifelines
  • Utility lifelines
• Factors to consider assessing the level of vulnerability of an area

  • Proximity to a Hazard Event
  • Population Density near Hazard Event
  • Capacity and Efficiency to Reduce Disaster Risk
  • Building Codes and Disaster Policies
• Categories of vulnerability


  • Physical/ Material Vulnerability
  • Social/ Organization Vulnerability
  • Attitudinal/ Motivational Vulnerability
• Disaster risk assessment


  Risk assessment = Hazard x Exposure x Vulnerability
• Steps in disaster risk assessment

  • Identify the hazard
  • Identify who and what are exposed to hazards
  • Determine the vulnerability of exposed elements
• When it is not possible to avoid exposure to events, land use planning and location decisions must be accompanied by other structural or non-structural methods for preventing or mitigating risk.
• Reducing vulnerability is one of the main opportunities for reducing disaster risk.
• Types of Vulnerability


  • Physical/ Material Vulnerability
  • Social/ Organization Vulnerability
  • Attitudinal/ Motivational Vulnerability
• Steps in Disaster Risk Assessment

  1. Identify the hazard

  2. Identify who and what are exposed to hazards

  3. Determine the vulnerability of exposed elements
• When it is not possible to avoid exposure to events, land use planning and location decisions must be accompanied by other structural or non-structural methods for preventing or mitigating risk
• Reducing vulnerability is one of the main opportunities for reducing disaster risk. Vulnerability changes over time because many of the processes that influence vulnerability are dynamic
• Approaches to Vulnerability Reduction

  • Implementing building codes
  • Insurance and social protection (risk)
  • Emphasizing economic diversity and resilient livelihoods
  • Knowledge and awareness raising
  • Preparedness measures
• Elements Exposed to Hazards

  • Physical Elements
  • Socio-Economic
  • Environmental
• Physical Elements


  Elements that are tangible or can be seen
• Physical Elements


  • Brick Missionary - cement dermatitis, awkward postures, and heavy loads
  • Dry Wall Installers - Cement dermatitis, awkward postures, and heavy loads
  • Electricians - Heavy metals in solder fumes, awkward postures, heavy loads, and asbestos
  • Painters - Solvent vapors, toxic metals in pigments, and paint additives
  • Carpet Layers - Awkward postures, knee trauma, glue, and glue vapor
  • Insulation Roofers - Awkward postures, asbestos, synthetic fibers
  • Carpenters - Noise, awkward postures, repetitive motion
• Socio-Economic


  It compromises the institutional and government systems that dictate the kind of well-being and lifestyle of communities
• Environmental


  It includes the ecosystem and natural processes that are exposed to hazard events
• Capacity


  The combination of all strengths and resources available within a community, society, or organization that can reduce the level of risk or effects of a disaster
• Capacity Development


  The process through which individuals, organizations, and societies obtain, strengthen, and maintain the capabilities to set and achieve their development objectives over time
• Coping Capacity


  The ability of people, organizations, and systems in using available skills and resources, to face and manage adverse conditions
• UNISDR


  A strategic framework, adopted by United Nations Member States in 2000, aiming to guide and coordinate the efforts of a wide range of partners to achieve substantive reduction in disaster losses and build resilient nations and communities
• Hazard, Vulnerability, and Capacity Assessment (HVCA)

  1. Hazard Assessment - Participatory analysis of past patterns of hazards and present threats at the community level

  2. Vulnerability Assessment - Combined with an understanding of the underlying causes of why a hazard becomes a disaster

  3. Capacity Assessment - Available resources an affected community uses to cope with the adverse effects