DISASTER
Calamitous, distressing, or ruinous effects of a disastrous event (such as drought, flood, fire, hurricane, war) of such scale that they disrupt (or threaten to disrupt) critical functions of an organization, society or system, for a period long enough to significantly harm it or cause its failure.
It is the consequences of a disastrous event and the inability of its victims to cope with them that constitute a disaster, not the event itself. It may also be termed as “a serious disruption of the functioning of society, causing widespread human, material or environmental losses which exceed the ability of the affected society to cope using its own resources.”
The extent of damage in a disaster depends on:
1) The impact, intensity and characteristics of the phenomenon and
2) How people, environment and infrastructures are affected by that phenomenon
Risk:
Risk is a measure of the expected losses due to a hazardous event of a particular magnitude occurring in a given area over a specific time period. Risk is a function of the probability of particular occurrences and the losses each would cause. The level of risk depends on:
v Nature of the Hazard
v Vulnerability of the elements which are affected
v Economic value of those elements
Vulnerability:
It is defined as “the extent to which a community, structure, service, and/or geographic area is likely to be damaged or disrupted by the impact of particular hazard, on account of their nature, construction and proximity to hazardous terrain or a disaster prone area”
Dimensions of vulnerability assessment
• Physical vulnerability-analyze impacts of events on assets such as building, infrastructure, agriculture
• Social Vulnerability- estimate impacts of events on highly vulnerable groups such as the poor, coping capacity, status institutional structure designed to help coping, awareness of risk
• Economic vulnerability-potential impacts of hazards on economic assets and processes (business interruption, secondary effects)
• Environmental vulnerability-Degraded environmental quality limits the natural resilience to hazard effects and reduces environmental buffering of effects
Hazards:
Hazards are defined as “Phenomena that pose a threat to people, structures, or economic assets and which may cause a disaster. They could be either manmade or naturally occurring in our environment.”
Types of Disaster
Disasters are mainly of 2 types,
1. Natural disasters. Example – earthquakes, floods, landslides, etc.
2. Man made disasters. Example – war, bomb blasts, chemical leaks, etc.
Causes of disasters
Natural disasters
The causes of natural disasters are many such as fire, earthquakes, drought etc. Human activities play a role in the frequency and severity of disasters. A natural disaster is a disruption in the balance of the environment. The human factor raises the cost, in both property damage and loss of life. The causes will vary depending on the disaster in question.
Manmade disasters.
1. Ignorance
2. Unawareness
3. Illiteracy
5. Carelessly handling of dangerous chemicals, weapons, etc
6. Negligence. Etc
Phases in Disaster management
Disasters are not totally discrete events. Their possibility of occurrence, time, place and severity of the strike can be reasonably and in some cases accurately predicted by technological and scientific advances. It has been established there is a definite pattern in their occurrences and hence we can to some extent reduce the impact of damage though we cannot reduce the extent of damage itself.
1-Mitigation
A precursor activity to the mitigation is the identification of risks. Physical risk assessment refers to the process of identifying and evaluating hazards. In risk assessment, various hazards (e.g. earthquakes, floods, riots) within a certain area are identified. Each hazard poses a risk to the population within the area assessed. The hazard-specific risk combines both the probability and the level of impact of a specific hazard.
Mitigation efforts attempt to prevent hazards from developing into disasters altogether, or to reduce the effects of disasters when they occur. The mitigation phase differs from the other phases because it focuses on long-term measures for reducing or eliminating risk.
Mitigative measures can be structural or non-structural. Structural measures use technological solutions, like flood levees. Non-structural measures include legislation, land-use planning (e.g. the designation of nonessential land like parks to be used as flood zones), and insurance. Mitigation is the most cost-efficient method for reducing the impact of hazards.
2- Preparedness
In the preparedness phase, emergency managers develop plans of action for when the disaster strikes. Common preparedness measures include the
· Communication plans with easily understandable terminology and chain of command
· Development and practice of multi-agency coordination and incident command
· Proper maintenance and training of emergency services
· Development and exercise of emergency population warning methods combined with emergency shelters and evacuation plans
· Stockpiling, inventory, and maintenance of supplies and equipment
An efficient preparedness measure may consist of an emergency operations centre. Another preparedness measure is to develop a volunteer response capability among civilian populations. Since, volunteer response is not as predictable and planable as professional response; volunteers are most effectively deployed on the periphery of an emergency.
Another aspect of preparedness is casualty prediction, the study of how many deaths or injuries to expect for a given kind of event. This gives planners an idea of what resources need to be in place to respond to a particular kind of event.
3- Response
The response phase includes the mobilization of the necessary emergency services and first responders in the disaster area. This is likely to include a first wave of core emergency services, such as fire-fighters, police and ambulance crews. They may be supported by a number of secondary emergency services, such as specialist rescue teams.
A well rehearsed emergency plan developed as part of the preparedness phase enables efficient coordination of rescue efforts. Emergency plan rehearsal is essential to achieve optimal output with limited resources.
Individuals are often compelled to volunteer directly after a disaster. Volunteers can be both a help and a hindrance to emergency management and other relief agencies.
4-Recovery
The aim of the recovery phase is to restore the affected area to its previous state. It differs from the response phase in its focus; recovery efforts are concerned with issues and decisions that must be made after immediate needs are addressed. Recovery efforts are primarily concerned with actions that involve rebuilding destroyed property, re-employment, and the repair of other essential infrastructure. An important aspect of effective recovery efforts is taking advantage of a ‘window of opportunity’ for the implementation of mitigative measures that might otherwise be unpopular. Citizens of the affected area are more likely to accept more mitigative changes when a recent disaster is in fresh memory.
Effects of disasters
Physical Destruction
The biggest visible effect of natural disasters is the physical ruin they leave behind. Homes, vehicles and personal possessions are often destroyed within a short period of time, leaving families homeless and shutting some businesses down permanently.
Emotional Toll
Possessions are not hard to replace, as many people keep insurance on their property and tangible goods. The emotional toll of disasters is much more devastating. The death of a loved one may be the worst-case scenario but it's not the only lasting emotional effect victims experience.
Economic Concerns
Indirect Effects
While the visible effects of disasters are immediate and strongly felt, communities in the vicinity can be indirectly affected by them as well. Disasters almost always lead to a disruption in utility services around the area impacted. This can mean life or death for those who rely on dialysis or oxygen to live.
Geography
Geography plays a large role in how disasters affect an area. In rural or isolated communities, disasters can thrust families into a situation where they must do without modern conveniences like electric and running water.
Environment
Humans aren't the only living things affected by natural disasters. As is the case with humans, animals can be displaced from their homes.
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