Disaster and Disaster Risk
A disaster is any events that causes widespread human, economic, and environmental losses or impacts
that seriously disrupt the normal functioning of the community. When an event causes a significant
number of dead or missing people in an area, it is considered a disaster. The level of severity of the
disaster is determined based on the number of human lives missing or lost and on the condition of the
survivors. An event is also considered a disaster according to the assessed cost of repairing or
rehabilitating the structures and public infrastructures that have been damaged or destroyed. An event
is also considered a disaster based on the amount of income lost from work, livelihood, and other
economic activities that have been stopped or slowed down due to the disaster.
Disasters usually follow hazards that are not anticipated. When a disaster occurs, the
community affected may lose its ability to cope with the loss and damage using its own resources.
Hence, disasters may be prevented if proper and effective disaster plans are in place.
Disaster Risk may be specific to a location or a condition of a community. Usually, if certain
hazards frequent a specific location or if the present situation of a community puts it in a dangerous
position, the disaster risk becomes a vital consideration in defining the safety of the people in that
community. Disaster risk determines the tendency of a community to face disasters. For example, the
disaster risk of storm surges for a community living 100 kilometers away from the seashore is lower
compared with that of the community that is 10 kilometers near the seashore.
Ban Ki-moon, the Secretary General of the United Nations, once said, “We cannot eliminate disasters,
but we can mitigate the risk. We can reduce damage and save more lives.” There is no way to escape
hazards because they are part of life. Every day and everywhere, there is a hazard. Hazards can be
identified but difficult to avoid. Because hazards can be recognized, a community that is hazard-prone
may increase its disaster risk especially if it is not equipped or prepared for the possible disasters arising
from the hazard.
Risk Factors Underlying Disasters
While there is very little or nothing that can be done to prevent natural hazards, some human
actions worsen the risk of their occurrence, making the probable disaster more difficult to prevent or
even anticipate. Most of the anthropogenic or man-made activities as part of human exploration and
advancement compound the risks of disaster.
Here are some of them:

Housing and building development. In the pursuit of addressing the modern-day needs and
wants of people, the environment is put at risk. For example in order to develop a re
Definitions and Terminology
Hazard is defined as “a process, phenomenon or human activity that may cause loss of life, injury or
other health impacts, property damage, social and economic disruption or environmental degradation”.
Hazards may be single, sequential or combined in their origin and effects. Each hazard is characterized
by its "location, intensity or magnitude, frequency, and probability".
Exposure is defined as “the situation of people, infrastructure, housing, production capacities and other
tangible human assets located in hazard-prone areas”. As stated in the UNIDRR glossary, “measures of
exposure can include the number of people or types of assets in an area. These can be combined with
the specific vulnerability and capacity of the exposed elements to any particular hazard to estimate the
quantitative risks associated with that hazard in the area of interest”.
Vulnerability is defined as “the conditions determined by physical, social, economic and environmental
factors or processes which increase the susceptibility of an individual, a community, assets or systems to
the impacts of hazards”. Vulnerability is multi-dimensional in its nature, and next to the four dimensions
above, some authors also include cultural and institutional factors. Examples include, but are not limited
to; poor design and construction of buildings, inadequate protection of assets, lack of public information
and awareness, high levels of poverty and education, limited official recognition of risks
and preparedness measures, disregard for wise environmental management or weak institutions, and
governance (e.g. including corruption etc.).
Disaster Risk Reduction "is aimed at preventing new and reducing existing disaster risk and managing
residual risk, all of which contribute to strengthening resilience and therefore to the achievement of
sustainable development". The UNDRR definition further annotates that “disaster risk reduction is the
policy objective of disaster risk management, and its goals and objectives are defined in disaster risk
reduction strategies and plans".
Disaster Risk Reduction strategies and policies define goals and objectives across different timescales,
with concrete targets, indicators and time frames.
Disaster Risk Management is the application of disaster risk reduction policies and strategies, to prevent
new disaster risks, reduce existing disaster risks, and manage residual risks, contributing to the
strengthening of resilience and reduction of losses. Disaster risk management actions can be categorized
into; prospective disaster risk management, corrective disaster risk management and compensatory
disaster risk management (also referred to as residual risk management).
RISK FACTORS UNDERLYING DISASTERS
– 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 lower risk of lasting impact are those who
only had indirect exposure, such as news of the severe damage.
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.
– 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 tie. In general, children show more
severe distress after disasters than adults do. Higher stress in the parents is related to worse recovery in
children.
ific to the survivor Several factors related to a survivor’s background and
–
21. Other factors have also been found to predi
Displacement ( being force to leave home)
if the disaster occurs in a developing country. Disasters in developing countries, like Philippines, have
more severe mental health impact than disasters in developed countries. This is true even with less
serious disasters.
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.
24. EFFECTS OF NATURAL DISASTERS ON HUMAN LIFE
d
Pampanga were displaced. Their communities were ravaged by lahar flow that turned these
communities into “wilderness”
bacteria and malaria carrying mosquitoes. Dengue fever is another serious health problem caused by
mosquitoes.
world go hungry as a result of destroyed crops and loss of agricultural supplies, whether it happens
suddenly in a storm or gradually in a drought.
Confronted with scenes of destruction and the deaths of friends and loved ones, many children develop
post – traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), a serious psychological condition resulting from extreme
trauma.
29. Disaster from Different Perspective Disaster is analyzed from different perspective as follows:
30. Physical Perspective