DISASTER

MANAGEMENT

Aswin.KP

K.V.No:02, Colaba.

WHAT IS A DISASTER?*A DISASTER is a natural or man-made hazard that

has come to fruition, resulting in an event of

substantial extent causing significant physical

damage or destruction, loss of life, or drastic

change to the environment.

*Disasters are seen as the consequence of

inappropriate risks. These risks are the product

of a combination of both hazard/s and

vulnerability.

*Developing countries suffer the greatest costs

when a disaster hits – more than 95 % of all deaths

caused by disasters occur in developing

countries, and losses due to natural disasters are

20 times greater (as a percentage of GDP) in

developing countries than in industrialized

countries.

DISASTER

MANAGEMENT

WHAT IS DISASTER MANAGEMENT

Disaster Management is a strategic process, and not

a tactical process, thus it usually resides at the Executive

level in an organization. It normally has no direct

power, but serves as an advisory or coordinating function

to ensure that all parts of an organization are focused on

the common goal. Effective Emergency Management relies

on a thorough integration of emergency plans at all levels

of the organization, and an understanding that the lowest

levels of the organization are responsible for managing the

emergency and getting additional resources and assistance

from the upper levels.

The most senior person in the organization administering

the program is normally called an Emergency Manager, or a

derived form based upon the term used in the field (e.g.

Business Continuity Manager).

DISASTER

MANAGEMENT

WHAT IS VULNERABILITY?

The extent to which a

community, structure, service or geographic area

is likely to be damaged or disrupted by the impact

of particular disaster hazard.

Vulnerability is the propensity of things to be

damaged by a hazard

DISASTER

MANAGEMENT

TYPES OF DISASTERS

There are two types of disasters:

Natural Disasters

Man-Made Disasters

DISASTER

MANAGEMENT

NATURAL DISASTERS

• A natural disaster is a consequence when a natural

calamity affects humans and/or the built environment.

Human vulnerability, and often a lack of

appropriate emergency management, leads to

financial, environmental, or human impact. The resulting

loss depends on the capacity of the population to support

or resist the disaster: their resilience. This understanding

is concentrated in the formulation: "disasters occur when

hazards meet vulnerability". A natural hazard will hence

never result in a natural disaster in areas without

vulnerability.

• Various disasters like earthquake, landslides, volcanic

eruptions, flood and cyclones are natural hazards that

kill thousands of people and destroy billions of dollars of

habitat and property each year. The rapid growth of the

world's population and its increased concentration often

in hazardous environment has escalated both the

frequency and severity of natural disasters.

DISASTER

MANAGEMENT

Among various naturalhazards, earthquakes, landslides, floods and cyclones are themajor disasters adversely affecting very large areas andpopulation in the Indian sub-continent. These naturaldisasters are of

(i) geophysical origin such as earthquakes, volcaniceruptions, land slides and

(ii) climatic origin such asdrought, flood, cyclone, locust, forest fire.

Though it may not be possible to control nature and to stopthe development of natural phenomena but the efforts couldbe made to avoid disasters and alleviate their effects onhuman lives, infrastructure and property. Risingfrequency, amplitude and number of natural disasters andattendant problem coupled with loss of human livesprompted the General Assembly of the United Nations toproclaim 1990s as the International Decade for NaturalDisaster Reduction (IDNDR) through a resolution 44/236 ofDecember 22, 1989 to focus on all issues related to naturaldisaster reduction. In spite of IDNDR, there had been astring of major disaster throughout the decade.Nevertheless, by establishing the rich disaster managementrelated traditions and by spreading public awareness theIDNDR provided required stimulus for disaster reduction. Itis almost impossible to prevent the occurrence of naturaldisasters and their damages.

A natural disaster is the effect

of a natural

hazard (e.g., flood, tornado,

hurricane, volcanic

eruption, earthquake, heat

wave, or landslide). It leads

to financial, environmental

or human losses. The

resulting loss depends on

the vulnerability of the

affected population to resist

the hazard, also called

their resilience.

If these disasters continue it

would be a great danger for

the earth. This

understanding is

concentrated in the

formulation: "disasters

occur when hazards

meet vulnerability."

Thus a natural hazard will not

result in a natural disaster

in areas without

vulnerability, e.g. strong

earthquakes in uninhabited

areas. The term natural has

consequently been disputed

because the events simply

are not hazards or disasters

without human

involvement.

A concrete example of the

division between a natural

hazard and a natural

disaster is that the 1906 San

Francisco earthquake was a

disaster, whereas

earthquakes are a hazard.

DISASTER

MANAGEMENT

NATURAL DISASTERSD

TYPES OF NATURAL DISASTERS

Avalanches:

During World War I, an estimated 40,000 to 80,000 soldiers died as

a result of avalanches during the mountain campaign in

the Alps at the Austrian-Italian front, many of which were caused

by artillery fire. D

Earthquakes

An earthquake is the result of a sudden release of energy in

the Earth's crust that creates seismic waves. At the Earth's

surface, earthquakes manifest themselves by vibration, shaking and

sometimes displacement of the ground. The vibrations may vary in

magnitude. Earthquakes are caused mostly by slippage within

geological faults, but also by other events such as volcanic

activity, landslides, mine blasts, and nuclear tests.

The underground point of origin of the earthquake is called the focus.

The point directly above the focus on the surface is called

the epicenter. Earthquakes by themselves rarely kill people or

wildlife. It is usually the secondary events that they trigger, such as

building collapse, fires, tsunamis (seismic sea waves) and

volcanoes, that are actually the human disaster.

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Volcanic eruptions

Volcanoes can cause widespread destruction and consequent disaster

through several ways. The effects include the volcanic eruption itself

that may cause harm following the explosion of the volcano or the

fall of rock.

Second, lava may be produced during the eruption of a volcano. As it

leaves the volcano, the lava destroys many buildings and plants it

encounters.

Third, volcanic ash generally meaning the cooled ash - may form a

cloud, and settle thickly in nearby locations. When mixed with water

this forms a concrete-like material. In sufficient quantity ash may

cause roofs to collapse under its weight but even small quantities

will harm humans if inhaled.D

Floods

A flood is an overflow of an expanse of water that submerges

land. The EU Floods directive defines a flood as a temporary

covering by water of land not normally covered by water. In the

sense of "flowing water", the word may also be applied to the inflow

of the tide. Flooding may result from the volume of water within a

body of water, such as a river or lake, which overflows or breaks

levees, with the result that some of the water escapes its usual

boundaries. While the size of a lake or other body of water will vary

with seasonal changes in precipitation and snow melt, it is not a

significant flood unless such escapes of water endanger land areas

used by man like a village, city or other inhabited area. let us take an

example the thunderstorm which attacked Tamil Nadu.

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Droughts

If a particular area has no rainfall or less rain than normal for a

long period of time is called drought. it is not only lack of rainfall

that causes drought. Hot dry winds, very high temperature and

evaporation of moisture from the ground can result in conditions

of drought. D

Tsunamis

Tsunamis are caused by undersea earthquakes. Tsunamis generally

consist of a series of waves with periods ranging from minutes to

hours, arriving in a so-called "wave train".

Wave heights of tens of metres can be generated by large events.

Although the impact of tsunamis is limited to coastal areas, their

destructive power can be enormous and they can affect entire ocean

basins.

The 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami was among the deadliest natural

disasters in human history with over 230,000 people killed in 14

countries bordering the Indian Ocean.

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Tornadoes

A tornado is a violent, dangerous, rotating column of air that is

in contact with both the surface of the earth and

a cumulonimbus cloud or, in rare cases, the base of a cumulus

cloud.

They are often referred to as a twister or a cyclone, although

the word cyclone is used in meteorology in a wider sense, to

name any closed low pressure circulation.

Tornadoes come in many shapes and sizes, but are typically in

the form of a visible condensation funnel, whose narrow end

touches the earth and is often encircled by a cloud

of debris and dust.

D

MAN-MADE DISASTERS

Anthropogenic hazards or man-made hazards can come to

fruition in the form of a man-made disaster. In this

case, "anthropogenic" means threats having an element of human

intent, negligence, or error; or involving a failure of a man-made

system.

Airplane crashes and terrorist attacks are examples of man-made

disasters: they cause pollution, kill people, and damage property.

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MANAGEMENT OF DISASTERS

• The local communities at the time of disaster or before thedisaster make groups for helping the people from sufferingduring the disaster.

• These groups include First Aid group, Health group, Foodand Welfare group, Federal Emergency Management Agency(FEMA) etc. They all are well trained by some localcommunity members.

• All the groups are sent for helping any other localcommunity that is suffering from a disaster. They also askpeople to move from the area affected from disaster to someother safe regions.

• They are given shelter and every possible facilities by thoselocal management communities. Some agencies also providemaps of potential disaster sites.

• Today, Government is also making effort to provide goodfacilities during the disaster.

• In Indian rural areas, the community (group of families) arechoosing a leader and developing their Disaster managementskills to protect themselves and other local communities aswell.

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DISASTER MITIGATION

• To reduce the impact of disasters by adopting suitable disaster mitigationstrategies. Disaster mitigation mainly addresses the following:

• minimize the potential risks by developing disaster early warning strategies

• prepare and implement developmental plans to provide resilience to suchdisasters,

• mobilize resources including communication and tele-medicinal services

• to help in rehabilitation and post-disaster reduction.

• Disaster management, on the other hand involves:

• pre-disaster planning, preparedness, monitoring including relief managementcapability

• prediction and early warning

• damage assessment and relief management.

• Expanding on the above steps:

1. Preparedness:

• A set of warning systems should be thought of, so that people are warned to takesafety measures. Thus, more loss of life and property can be avoided. The warningsystems may include: radio, television, loudspeakers, personal messages, beatingof drums, bells, etc.

• The people must be educated to cope with a disaster. They should be taught tokeep a survival kit.

• On the practical side, mock drill training and practice should be undertaken. D

• Emergency contact and operation centres should be opened.

• Help the injured and the needy.

• Involve local people at all levels of activities.

• Temporary shelters should be provided for the affected.

• Medical camps should be set up.

• Rescue teams should be deployed to look for those who are

missing.

2. Rehabilitation:

• Essential services such as providing drinking

water, transport, electricity, etc., should be restored.

• The people should be taught hot to follow healthy and safety

measures.

• The victims should be provided with temporary

accomadation, financial assistance and employment

opportunities.

• Those who have lost their family members should be

consoled.

• If there is a danger of epidemics, vaccination programme

should be undertaken.

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3. Prevention:

• The land use has to be so planned as to reduce the loss of life and

property.

• Buildings should not be constructed in risk zones.

• Mobilizing support of different co-ordinating agencies such as

the local government, voluntary organisation, the insurance

companies, etc., to ensure co-ordination at the time of a disaster.

• All buildings should be earthquake and landslide resistant.

• The local community should be involved in making and

implementing safety norms.

• Disaster reduction is a systematic work which involves with

different regions, different professions and different scientific

fields, and has become an important measure for human and

nature sustainable development.

• For surviving in and after a disaster, people should carry a

survival kit which contains the following supplies: 1. First aid

kit. 2. Essential medicines. 3. Water - at least 9 litres per person

for 3 days. 4. Food - enough for three days. 5. A torch and a radio.

6. Personal hygiene items like toothbrush, soap, etc. 7. Baby and

pet supplies, toilet paper, etc.

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Preparedness

• Preparedness is a continuous cycle ofplanning, managing, organizing, training, equipping, exercising, creating, evaluating, monitoring and improving activitiesto ensure effective coordination and the enhancement ofcapabilities of concerned organizations to prevent, protectagainst, respond to, recover from, create resources andmitigate the effects of natural disasters, acts ofterrorism, and other man-made disasters

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• Personal preparedness focuses on preparing equipment andprocedures for use when a disaster occurs, i.e., planning.Preparedness measures can take many forms including theconstruction of shelters, installation of warning devices, creation ofback-up life-line services (e.g., power, water, sewage), andrehearsing evacuation plans.

• Two simple measures can help prepare the individual for sitting outthe event or evacuating, as necessary. For evacuation, a disastersupplies kit may be prepared and for sheltering purposes astockpile of supplies may be created. The preparation of a survivalkit such as a "72-hour kit", is often advocated by authorities. Thesekits may include food, medicine, flashlights, candles and money.Also, putting valuable items in safe area is also recommended.

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72 HOUR KIT

• The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), recommends

the following for a disaster preparedness kit: one gallon of water

per person per day for three days, non-perishable food for each

person for three days, battery powered or hand crank radio and

extra batteries, flashlights for each person and extra batteries, first

aid kit, whistle, filter mask or a cotton t-shirt for each

person, moist towlettes, garbage bags, and plastic ties, wrench or

pliers, manual can opener, plastic sheeting and duct tape, important

family documents, daily prescription medicine, other things include

diapers/formula for babies and special need items.

• Typically a three day supply of food and water is the minimum

recommendation, having a larger supply means longer survival

(Federal Emergency Management Agency [FEMA), n.d.).

• Small comfort items can be added like a few toys for children, a

candy bar, or a book to read.

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4 phases in emergency treatment

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RESPONSE TO DISASTERS

• The response phase includes the mobilization of thenecessary emergency services and first responders in the disaster area.This is likely to include a first wave of core emergency services, such asfire-fighters, police and ambulance crews.

• When conducted as a military operation, it is termed Disaster ReliefOperation (DRO) and can be a follow-up to a Non-combatant evacuationoperation (NEO). They may be supported by a number of secondaryemergency services, such as specialist rescue teams.

• A well rehearsed emergency plan developed as part of the preparednessphase enables efficient coordination of rescue. Where required, searchand rescue efforts commence at an early stage.

• Depending on injuries sustained by the victim, outside temperature, andvictim access to air and water, the vast majority of those affected by adisaster will die within 72 hours after impact.

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• The response phase of an emergency may commence with search andrescue but in all cases the focus will quickly turn to fulfilling the basichumanitarian needs of the affected population. This assistance may beprovided by national or international agencies and organisations.

• Effective coordination of disaster assistance is often crucial, particularlywhen many organizations respond and local emergency managementagency (LEMA) capacity has been exceeded by the demand or diminishedby the disaster itself.

• Organizational response to any significant disaster – natural or terrorist-borne – is based on existing emergency management organizationalsystems and processes: the Federal Response Plan (FRP) and the IncidentCommand System (ICS). These systems are solidified through theprinciples of Unified Command (UC) and Mutual Aid (MA)

• There is a need for both discipline (structure, doctrine, process) andagility (creativity, improvisation, adaptability) in responding to adisaster There is also the need to on-board and build an effectiveleadership team quickly to coordinate and manage efforts as they growbeyond first responders.

• The leader and team must formulate and implement adisciplined, iterative set of response plans, allowing initial coordinatedresponses that are vaguely right, adapting to new information andchanges in circumstances as they arise.

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Health disasters causing during

Natural Disasters

Epidemics

An epidemic is an outbreak of a contractible disease that

spreads through a human population. A pandemic is an epidemic whose

spread is global. There have been many epidemics throughout

history, such as the Black Death. In the last hundred years, significant

pandemics include:

¤ The 1918 Spanish flu pandemic, killing an estimated 50 million people

worldwide

¤ The 1957-58 Asian flu pandemic, which killed an estimated 1 million

people

¤ The 1968-69 Hong Kong water flu pandemic

¤ The 2002-3 SARS pandemic

¤ The AIDS pandemic, beginning in 1959

¤ The H1N1 Influenza (Swine Flu) Pandemic 2009-2010

¤ Other diseases that spread more slowly, but are still considered to be

global health emergencies by the WHO, include:

¤ XDR TB, a strain of tuberculosis that is extensively resistant to drug

treatments

¤ Malaria, which kills an estimated 1.6 million people each year

¤ Ebola hemorrhagic fever, which has claimed hundreds of victims in

Africa in several outbreaks

Some common diseases causing

During Natural Disasters

Diarrheal disease

Cholera

Malaria

Dengue

Leptospirosis

Hepatitis A and E

Measles

Acute respiratory infections(ARI)

Tetanus

Dead bodies and the risk of

communicable diseasesDeaths associated with natural disasters are

overwhelmingly caused by blunt trauma,

crush-related injuries or drowning. The sudden presence of large

numbers of dead bodies

in the disaster-affected area can fuel fears of outbreaks . There is

no evidence that

dead bodies pose a risk of epidemics following natural disasters .

When death is directly due to the natural disaster, human

remains do not pose a risk for

outbreaks; the source of infection is more likely to be the

survivors than those killed by

the natural disaster . Even when death is directly due to

communicable diseases,

pathogenic organisms do not survive long in the human body

following death . Dead

bodies pose health risks only in a few situations requiring

specific precautions, such as

deaths from cholera or hemorrhagic fevers .