DISASTER &

DISASTER RISK
 Learning Objectives
• Define disaster and disaster
risk;
• Explain the risk factors
underlying disaster;
• Describe the effects of disaster
to human life
• Explain how and when an
event becomes a disaster;
 DISASTER
• It is defined as “ a sudden
calamitous event, bringing
great damage, loss,
destruction and devastation to
life and property.” ( Asian
Disaster Preparedness Center-
APDC, 2012)
• WHO defines disaster
as “ any occurrence
that causes
damage, ecological
disruption, loss of
human life,
deterioration of
health and health
services, on a scale
sufficient to warrant
an extraordinary
response from
outside the affected
community or area.
• From a socio-cultural
perspective, disaster is defined
as” a serious disruption of the
functioning of society, causing
widespread human, material
or environmental losses, which
exceed the ability of the
affected people to cope using
their human resources.
(Adelman, 2011)
• Natural or man-made emergencies
that cannot be handled by
affected communities who
experience severe danger and incur
loss of lives and properties causing
disruption in its social structure and
prevention of the fulfillment of all or
some of the affected community’s
essential functions.
 Risk
• is the probability of harmful
consequences, or expected loss
of lives, people injured,
livelihoods, disruption of
economic activities and damages
to the environment as a result of
interactions between natural or
human induced hazards and
vulnerable / capable conditions.
 Hazard

Vulnerability
Disaster
DISASTER RISK
• The potential disaster
losses, in lives, health
status, livelihoods,
assets and services,
which could occur to
a particular
community or a
society over some
specified future time
period.
Factors of Disaster Risk
• Hazard
• Vulnerability
• capacity
Essential Components in Determining
Risk
• Hazard occurrence
probability
is the likelihood of
experiencing a natural or
technological hazard at a
given location or region.
 Quantifying hazard
probability involves
assessing not only the
probability of occurrence
but the probability of
magnitude
• Elements at risk
Identifying and making an
inventory of people or
school buildings or other
elements which would be
affected by the hazard.
• Vulnerability of the elements at
risk
How affected the school
buildings or school children or
other elements would be if they
were to experience some levels
of hazard impact.
 TYPES OF DISASTER
• Natural Disaster
originate from the different
“forces” of nature( geological,
meteorological,
hydrometeorological and
biological).
Natural Types of Disaster
• Pest infestation
• Storm surge
• Typhoons/ cyclones
• Floods
• Flashfloods
• Volcanic eruption
• Earthquakes
• Droughts
• Tsunamis
• Heavy rains
• Fires (caused by lightning)
• Landslides (natural)
 Man-Made
• Armed conflicts
• Industrial and chemical hazards
• Road and car accidents
• Environmental pollution
• War
• explosions
• Terrorist attack
• Oil spill
• Fire(caused by faulty wirings, etc.
• Maritime accidents
• Epidemics
 Four Theories of Disaster

• Disaster as an Act of God

viewed as divine retribution for
human misdeeds and failings. Thus, the
old biblical idea of disasters as Acts of God
include the notion of a God acting in
response to human failings
• for example, in explanations of the
epidemic of HIV, is just punishment for
behavior they see as immoral.”
“catastrophic” earthquake, as God’s way
of controlling the relentless rise of
population.”
• Disaster as an Act of Nature
“Natural disasters have come to be
seen as random, morally inert phenomena
-- chance events that lie beyond the
control of human beings.
• Disaster as intersection of society and
nature
disasters are the result of human
activities, not of natural or super natural
forces. Disasters are simply the collapse of
cultural protections; thus, they are principally
man-made. Mankind is responsible for the
consequences of his actions as well as of his
omissions.”
• Disaster as Avoidable Human
Creation
Inequalities in risk (and
opportunity) are largely a function of
the principal systems of power
operating in all societies, which are
normally analyzed in terms of class,
gender, and ethnicity.”
It is the weaker groups in society
that suffer worst from disasters: the
poor (especially), the very young and
the very old, women, the disabled, and
those who are marginalized.
 Factors Underlying the
Effect of Disasters
• Severity of Exposure
The amount of exposure to the
disaster is highly related to risk of
future mental problems.

At high risk- survivor

 Next – those in close contact
with the survivor
Low risk – who had indirect
exposure

Injury and life threat are the

factors that lead most often to
mental health problems.
• Gender and Family
Almost always, women suffer
more negative effects than men.
Disaster recovery is more
stressful when children are present
in the home
• Age
adults with an age range of
40-60 are likely to be more
distressed after disaster, because
he/she has more demands from job
and family.
 Other factors specific to
the survivor
• Background
• Resources
Background and resources are
important for recovery from disaster.
 Recovery is worse if
survivors:
• Were not functioning well before
the disaster
• Have had no experience dealing
with disaster
• Must deal with other stressor after
the disaster
• Have poor self-esteem
• Think they are uncared for by
others
• Think they have little control over
what happened to them
• Lack the capacity to manage
stress
• Developing countries
disasters in developing
countries have more severe mental
health impact than in developed
countries.
• Low or negative social support
social support can weaken
after disaster. This maybe due to
stress and the need for members of
the support network to get on their
own lives.
Effects of Natural Disaster
to Human Life
• Displaced population
• Health risks
• Food scarcity
• emotional aftershocks
How and When an Event
becomes a Disaster?