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Chapter 1 - Disaster and Disaster Risk

The document discusses disaster, disaster risk, and the risk factors underlying disasters. It defines disaster as a sudden event that causes great damage and defines disaster risk as the probability of harm from hazards given a community's vulnerability. It identifies several risk factors that can influence the effects of disasters like severity of exposure, gender, age, and social support systems. Developing countries are seen to experience more severe impacts from disasters due to their vulnerabilities.

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Rhea Gulay
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1K views18 pages

Chapter 1 - Disaster and Disaster Risk

The document discusses disaster, disaster risk, and the risk factors underlying disasters. It defines disaster as a sudden event that causes great damage and defines disaster risk as the probability of harm from hazards given a community's vulnerability. It identifies several risk factors that can influence the effects of disasters like severity of exposure, gender, age, and social support systems. Developing countries are seen to experience more severe impacts from disasters due to their vulnerabilities.

Uploaded by

Rhea Gulay
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PPTX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Disaster and Disaster

Risk
Learning Competencies:

 Explain the meaning of disaster. (DRR11/12-Ia-b-1)


 Differentiate the risk factors underlying disasters. (DRR11/12-Ia-b-1)
 Describe the effects of disasters on one’s life. (DRR11/12-Ia-b-1)
 Explain how and when an event becomes a disaster. (DRR11/12-Ia-b-1)
 Identify areas/locations exposed to hazards that may lead to disasters. (DRR11/12-Ia-b-
1)
 Analyze disaster from the different perspectives (physical, psychological, socio-cultural,
economic, political, and biological). (DRR11/12-Ia-b-1)
What is Disaster?

“A sudden, calamitous event, bringing great damage, loss, destruction and


devastation to life and property”. (Asian Disaster Preparedness Center- ADPC,
2012)
 it can be natural or human origin.
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).
DISASTER
Bomb
Explosion

Wildfire in
Arizona

Wowowee
Stampede Japan
Tsunami
What is Hazard?

A dangerous phenomenon, substance, human activity or


condition that may cause loss of life, injury or health
impacts, property damage, loss of livelihoods and services,
social and economic disruption or environmental damage.
What is Disaster Risk?

 “the probability that a community’s structure or geographic area is to


be damaged or disrupted by the impact of a particular hazard, on
account of its nature, construction and proximity to a hazardous area”
(ADPC, 2012).
 Disaster risk signifies the possibility of adverse effects in the future.
 Derived from the interaction of social and environmental processes,
from the combination of physical hazards and the vulnerability of
exposed elements.
Types of Disasters

 Natural Disasters- these originates form the different “forces” of nature (geological,
meteorological, hydrometeorological and biological).
 earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, typhoons, and cyclones affect many countries in Asia particularly the
Philippines.

 Human-made Disasters- these disasters occur due to people’s action against human,
material and environment.
 These include transport and industrial accidents, such as, air and train crashes, chemical spills, and
building collapses.
Natural Types of Disasters

 Agricultural diseases and pests


 Wildfires
 Storm surge
 Sinkholes
 Drought and water shortage- El Nino
 Emergency Diseases (pandemic influenza)
 Earthquakes
 Extreme heat
 Hurricanes and tropical Storms
 Floods and flash floods
 Landslide and debris flow
 La Nina
 Thunderstorm and lightning
 Tsunamis
 Tornadoes
Human-Made and Technology Types of
Disasters

 Hazardous materials
 Power service disruption and blackout
 Nuclear power plant and nuclear blast
 Radiological emergencies
 Chemical Threat and biological weapons
 Cyber attacks
 Explosion
 Civil unrest
Quiz.
Risk Factors Underlying Disasters

 Severity of Exposure
 Gender and Family
 Age
 Other factors specific to the survivor
 Developing countries
 Low or negative social support
Risk Factors Underlying Disasters

o Severity of Exposure
The amount of exposure to the disaster is highly related to risk of future
mental problems. At highest risk are those that go through the disaster
themselves. Next are those in close contact with victims. At low risk of
lasting impact are those who only had indirect exposure such as news of
the severe damage. Injury and life threat are the factors that lead most
often to mental health problems.
Risk Factors Underlying Disasters

Gender and Family


Almost always, women or girls suffer more negative effects than do men or
boys. Disaster recovery is more stressful when children are present in the
home. Women with spouses also experience more distress during recovery.
Having a family member in the home who is extremely distressed is related to
more stress for everyone. Marital stress has been found to increase after
disasters. Also, conflicts between family members or lack of support in the
home make it harder to recover from disasters
Risk Factors Underlying Disasters

Age
Adults who are in the age range of 40-60 are likely to be more distressed
after disasters. The thinking is that if one is in that age range, he/she has
more demands from job and family. Research on how children react to
natural disasters is still limited at this point in time. In general, children
show more severe distress after disasters than do adults. Higher stress in
the parents is related to worse recover in children.
Risk Factors Underlying Disasters
 Other factors specific to the survivor
Several factors related to a survivor’s 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 disasters
 Must deal with other stressors after the disaster
 Have poor self-esteem
 Think they are uncared by others
 Think they have little control over what happen
 Lack the capacity to manage stress
Other factors have also been found to predict worse outcomes:
 Bereavement (death someone close)
 Injury to self or another family member
 Life threat
 Panic, horror, or feelings like that during the disaster
 Being separated from family (specially among youth
 Great loss property
Risk Factors Underlying Disasters

Developing Countries
There is a strong body of evidence that these risk factors can be made worse
if the disaster occurs in a developing country. Disasters in developing
countries, like the Philippines, have more severe mental health impact than
do disasters in developed countries. This is true even with less serious
disasters. For example, natural disasters are generally thought to be less
serious than human-caused. In developing countries, however, natural
disasters have more severe effects than do human-caused disasters in
developed countries.
Risk Factors Underlying Disasters

Low or Negative Social Support


The support of others can be both a risk and a resilience factors. Social
support can weaken after disasters. This may be due to stress and the need
for members of the support network to get on with their own lives.
Sometimes the responses from others disaster victims rely on for support are
negative. For example, someone may play down their problems, needs or
pain or expect them to recover more quickly than is realistic. This is strongly
linked to long-term distress in trauma survivors.
Effects of Natural Disaster on Human Life

 Displaced Populations
 Health Risk
 Food Scarcity
 Emotional

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