chapter 1 introduction to disaster management · introduction to disaster management background:...

Natural Hazards & Disaster Management

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Objectives of the chapter:

The main objective of this chapter is tohave a basic understanding of variousconcepts used in Disaster Management.The concepts explained here are:Disaster, Hazard, Vulnerability, Capacity,Risk and Disaster Management Cycle.Apart from the terminologies, the chapteralso tries to explain various types ofdisasters. In standard VIII, IX and Xmany of you have already beenintroduced to some of these concepts.This chapter has been designedto upgrade your knowledge and skillso as to have a better understanding ofnatural hazards, disasters and theirmanagement.

After reading this chapter thestudents and the teachers will beable to have a basic understandingof the concepts and should be ableto differentiate between them withsuitable examples.

Chapter 1INTRODUCTION TO DISASTER MANAGEMENT

Background:

The global context:

Disasters are as old as human history butthe dramatic increase and the damagecaused by them in the recent past havebecome a cause of national and internationalconcern. Over the past decade, the numberof natural and manmade disasters hasclimbed inexorably. From 1994 to 1998,reported disasters average was 428 per yearbut from 1999 to 2003, this figure went up toan average of 707 disaster events per yearshowing an increase of about 60 per centover the previous years. The biggest rise wasin countries of low human development,which suffered an increase of 142 per cent.

The figure 1.1 shows the deadliest disastersof the decade (1992 – 2001). Drought andfamine have proved to be the deadliestdisasters globally, followed by flood,technological disaster, earthquake, winds-torm, extreme temperature and others. Globaleconomic loss related to disaster eventsaverage around US $880 billion per year.

Fig : 1.1 World Scenario: Reported Deaths from allDisasters (1992-2001)


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Indian scenario:

The scenario in India is no different fromthe global context. The super cyclone ofOrissa (1999), the Gujarat earthquake(2001) and the recent Tsunami (2004)

Table 1.1 Major disasters in India since 1970

Sl. No Disaster ImpactCyclone

1 29th October 1971, Orissa Cyclone and tidal waves killed 10,000people

2 19th November, 1977, Cyclone and tidal waves killed 20,000Andhra Pradesh people

3 29th and 30th October 1999, Cyclone and tidal waves killed 9,000 andOrissa 18 million people were affectedEarthquake

4 20th October 1991 Uttarkashi An earthquake of magnitude 6.6 killed723 people

5 30th September 1993 Latur Approximately 8000 people died andthere was a heavy loss to infrastructure

6 22 May 1997 Jabalpur 39 people dead7 29th March 1997, Chamoli 100 people dead8 26th January, 2001, Bhuj, More than 10,000 dead and heavy loss

Gujarat to infrastructureLandslide

9 July 1991, Assam 300 people killed, heavy loss to roadsand infrastructure

10 August 1993, Nagaland 500 killed and more than 200 housesdestroyed and about 5kms. Roaddamaged.

11 18th August 1998, Malpa 210 people killed. Villages were washedaway

Flood12 1978 Floods in North East India 3,800 people killed and heavy loss to

property.13 1994 Floods in Assam, More than 2000 people killed and

Arunachal Pradesh, Jammu and thousands affectedKashmir, Himachal Pradesh,Panjab, Uttar Pradesh, Goa,Kerala and Gujarat

affected mill ions across the countryleaving behind a trail of heavy loss of life,property and livelihood. Table 1.1 showsa list of some of the major disasters thathave caused colossal impact on thecommunity.


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While studying about the impact we need tobe aware of potential hazards, how, whenand where they are likely to occur, and theproblems which may result of an event. InIndia, 59 per cent of the land mass issusceptible to seismic hazard; 5 per cent ofthe total geographical area is prone to floods;8 per cent of the total landmass is prone tocyclones; 70 per cent of the total cultivablearea is vulnerable to drought. Apart from thisthe hilly regions are vulnerable to avalanches/landslides/hailstorms/cloudbursts. Apart fromthe natural hazards, we need to know aboutthe other manmade hazards which arefrequent and cause huge damage to life andproperty. It is therefore important that we areaware of how to cope with their effects.

We have seen the huge loss to life, propertyand infrastructure a disaster can cause butlet us understand what is a disaster, whatare the factors that lead to it and its impact.

What is a Disaster ?

Almost everyday, newspapers, radio andtelevision channels carry reports on disasterstriking several parts of the world. But whatis a disaster? The term disaster owes its

origin to the French word “Desastre” whichis a combination of two words ‘des’ meaningbad and ‘aster’ meaning star. Thus the termrefers to ‘Bad or Evil star’. A disaster canbe defined as “A serious disruption in thefunctioning of the community or a societycausing wide spread material, economic,social or environmental losses which exceedthe ability of the affected society to copeusing its own resources”.

A disaster is a result from the combinationof hazard, vulnerability and insufficientcapacity or measures to reduce the potentialchances of risk.

A disaster happens when a hazard impactson the vulnerable population and causesdamage, casualties and disruption. Fig: 1.2would give a better illustration of what adisaster is. Any hazard – flood, earthquakeor cyclone which is a triggering event alongwith greater vulnerability (inadequate accessto resources, sick and old people, lack ofawareness etc) would lead to disastercausing greater loss to life and property. Forexample; an earthquake in an uninhabiteddesert cannot be considered a disaster, nomatter how strong the intensities produced.

Fig: 1.2


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An earthquake is disastrous only when itaffects people, their properties and activities.Thus, disaster occurs only when hazardsand vulnerability meet. But it is also to benoted that with greater capacity of theindividual/community and environment toface these disasters, the impact of a hazardreduces. Therefore, we need to understandthe three major components namely hazard,vulnerability and capacity with suitableexamples to have a basic understanding ofdisaster management.

What is a Hazard ? How is it clas-sified ?

Hazard may be defined as “a dangerouscondition or event, that threat or have thepotential for causing injury to life or damageto property or the environment.” The word‘hazard’ owes its origin to the word ‘hasard’in old French and ‘az-zahr ’ in Arabicmeaning ‘chance’ or ‘luck’. Hazards can begrouped into two broad categories namelynatural and manmade.

Table 1.2: Various types of hazards

Types HazardsGeological Hazards 1. Earthquake 4. Landslide

2. Tsunami 5. Dam burst3. Volcanic eruption 6. Mine Fire

Water & Climatic Hazards 1. Tropical Cyclone 6. Cloudburst2. Tornado and Hurricane 7. Landslide3. Floods 8. Heat & Cold wave4. Drought 9. Snow Avalanche5. Hailstorm 10.Sea erosion

Environmental Hazards 1. Environmental pollutions 3. Desertification2. Deforestation 4. Pest Infection

Biological 1. Human / Animal Epidemics 3. Food poisoning2. Pest attacks 4. Weapons of Mass

Destruction

1. Natural hazards are hazards which arecaused because of natural phenomena(hazards with meteorological, geological oreven biological origin). Examples of naturalhazards are cyclones, tsunamis, earth-quake and volcanic eruption which areexclusively of natural origin. Landslides,floods, drought, fires are socio-naturalhazards since their causes are both naturaland man made. For example flooding maybe caused because of heavy rains, landslideor blocking of drains with human waste.

2. Manmade hazards are hazards whichare due to human negligence. Manmadehazards are associated with industries orenergy generation facilities and includeexplosions, leakage of toxic waste, pollution,dam failure, wars or civil strife etc.

The list of hazards is very long. Many occurfrequently while others take placeoccasionally. However, on the basis of theirgenesis, they can be categorized asfollows:


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What is vulnerability ?

Vulnerability may be defined as “The extentto which a community, structure, servicesor geographic area is likely to be damagedor disrupted by the impact of particularhazard, on account of their nature,construction and proximity to hazardousterrains or a disaster prone area.”

Vulnerabilities can be categorized intophysical and socio-economic vulnerability.

Physical Vulnerability: It includes notions ofwho and what may be damaged ordestroyed by natural hazard such as earth-quakes or floods. It is based on the physicalcondition of people and elements at risk,such as buildings, infrastructure etc; and their

proximity, location and nature of the hazard.It also relates to the technical capability ofbuilding and structures to resist the forcesacting upon them during a hazard event.

Figure 1.3 shows the settlements which arelocated in hazardous slopes. Many landslideand flooding disasters are linked to what yousee in the figure 1.3. Unchecked growth ofsettlements in unsafe areas exposes thepeople to the hazard. In case of an earth-quake or landslide the ground may fail andthe houses on the top may topple or slideand affect the settlements at the lower leveleven if they are designed well for earthquakeforces.

Socio-economic Vulnerability: The degreeto which a population is affected by a hazard

Chemical, Industrial and 1. Chemical disasters 3. Oil spills/FiresNuclear Accidents 2. Industrial disasters 4. Nuclear

Accident related 1. Boat / Road / Train 3. Building collapse

accidents / air crash 4. Electric Accidents

Rural / Urban fires 5. Festival related

Bomb /serial bomb disasters

blasts 6. Mine flooding

2. Forest fires

Types Hazards

Figure 1.3 : Site after pressures from population growth and urbanization


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will not merely lie in the physical componentsof vulnerability but also on the socio-economic conditions. The socio-economiccondition of the people also determines theintensity of the impact. For example, peoplewho are poor and living in the sea coast don’thave the money to construct strong concretehouses. They are generally at risk andloose their shelters when ever there isstrong wind or cyclone. Because of theirpoverty they too are not able to rebuild theirhouses.

What is capacity ?

Capacity can be defined as “resources,means and strengths which exist inhouseholds and communities and whichenable them to cope with, withstand,prepare for, prevent, mitigate or quicklyrecover from a disaster”. People’s capacitycan also be taken into account. Capacitiescould be:

Physical Capacity: People whose houseshave been destroyed by the cyclone or cropshave been destroyed by the flood cansalvage things from their homes and fromtheir farms. Some family members haveskills, which enable them to find employmentif they migrate, either temporarily orpermanently.

Socio-economic Capacity: In most of thedisasters, people suffer their greatest lossesin the physical and material realm. Richpeople have the capacity to recover soonbecause of their wealth. In fact, they areseldom hit by disasters because they live in

safe areas and their houses are built withstronger materials. However, even wheneverything is destroyed they have thecapacity to cope up with it.

Hazards are always prevalent, but thehazard becomes a disaster only when thereis greater vulnerability and less of capacityto cope with it. In other words the frequencyor likelihood of a hazard and the vulnerabilityof the community increases the risk of beingseverely affected.

What is risk ?

Risk is a “measure of the expected lossesdue to a hazard event occurring in a givenarea over a specific time period. Risk is afunction of the probability of particularhazardous event and the losses eachwould cause.” The level of risk dependsupon:

❖ Nature of the hazard

❖ Vulnerability of the elements which areaffected

❖ Economic value of those elements

A community/locality is said to be at ‘risk’when it is exposed to hazards and islikely to be adversely affected by itsimpact. Whenever we discuss ‘disastermanagement’ it is basically ‘disaster riskmanagement’. Disaster risk managementincludes all measures which reduce disasterrelated losses of life, property or assets byeither reducing the hazard or vulnerabilityof the elements at risk.


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Disaster Management Cycle

Disaster Risk Management includes sumtotal of all activities, programmes andmeasures which can be taken up before,during and after a disaster with the purposeto avoid a disaster, reduce its impact orrecover from its losses. The three key stagesof activities that are taken up within disasterrisk management are:

1. Before a disaster (pre-disaster).

Activities taken to reduce human andproperty losses caused by a potentialhazard. For example carrying out aware-ness campaigns, strengthening the existingweak structures, preparation of the disastermanagement plans at household and

community level etc. Such risk reductionmeasures taken under this stage are termedas mitigation and preparedness activities.

2. During a disaster (disasteroccurrence).

Initiatives taken to ensure that the needs andprovisions of victims are met and suffering isminimized. Activities taken under this stageare called emergency response activities.

3. After a disaster (post-disaster)

Initiatives taken in response to a disasterwith a purpose to achieve early recovery andrehabilitation of affected communities,immediately after a disaster strikes. These arecalled as response and recovery activities.

Disaster Risk Reduction can take place in the following ways:

1. Preparedness

This protective process embraces measures which enable governments, communitiesand individuals to respond rapidly to disaster situations to cope with them effectively.Preparedness includes the formulation of viable emergency plans, the developmentof warning systems, the maintenance of inventories and the training of personnel.It may also embrace search and rescue measures as well as evacuation plans forareas that may be at risk from a recurring disaster.

Preparedness therefore encompasses those measures taken before a disaster eventwhich are aimed at minimising loss of life, disruption of critical services, and damagewhen the disaster occurs.

2. Mitigation

Mitigation embraces measures taken to reduce both the effect of the hazard and thevulnerable conditions to it in order to reduce the scale of a future disaster. Thereforemitigation activities can be focused on the hazard itself or the elements exposed tothe threat. Examples of mitigation measures which are hazard specific include watermanagement in drought prone areas, relocating people away from the hazard proneareas and by strengthening structures to reduce damage when a hazard occurs.

In addition to these physical measures, mitigation should also aim at reducing theeconomic and social vulnerabilities of potential disasters


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Reference: Are you prepared? Learning from the Great Hanshin-AwajiEarthquake Disaster - Handbook for Disaster Reduction and Volunteer activities

Figure 1.4 : Disaster Management

In the subsequent chapters we woulddiscuss in detail some of the major hazardsprevalent in our country its causes, impact,preparedness and mitigation measures thatneed to be taken up.

Reference for further reading:

1. Reading materials of 11th Community BasedDisaster Risk Management Course,Bangkok, Thailand July 21 – August 1, 2003.

2. Anderson, M. and P. Woodrow. 1989. Risingfrom the Ashes: Development Strategies in

Times of Disaster. UNESCO and West viewPress, Inc., Colorado.

3. Anderson M. Vulnerability to Disaster andSustainable Development: A GeneralFramework for Assessing Vulnerability.

4. UNDP Disaster Management TrainingProgramme.1992. An Overview of DisasterManagement.

5. International Federation of Red CrescentSocieties World Disaster Report: Focus onCommunity resilience.

6. http://www.unisdr.org/eng/l ibrary/l ib-terminology


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Exercise

1) Explain with examples the differencebetween hazard, and vulnerability. Howdoes capacity influence vulnerability?

2) Explain in detail the vulnerabilityprofile of our country.

3) Define risk and suggest two ways ofreducing risk with appropriateexamples.

4) Briefly discuss the DisasterManagement Cycle with suitableexamples.

chapter 1 introduction to disaster management · introduction to disaster management background:...

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