The document discusses key concepts related to disaster management including: 1) It defines terms like hazard, disaster, emergency, vulnerability, and risk. 2) It outlines different phases of disaster management like relief, rehabilitation, and reconstruction. 3) It describes different types of disasters like sudden onset, slow onset, natural disasters, and human-made disasters.

1. LT COL K C
MONNAPPA

2. Overall learning
Objectives
•Create interest in disaster management
•Stimulate motivation
•link the learning to your work activities
•Relate the learning to your values and
attitudes about disaster management

3.  Governments are increasingly dependent on NGOs to
coordinate all pre/post-disaster assistance and sometimes
international assistance. Therefore, governments need better
communication about their mutual needs and capabilities.
 Disasters are a growing problem. They will become of
increasing concern to government’s principal activities. In
disaster-prone countries developmental programmes are
inevitably affected by disasters. Projects are set back or
suffer delays as a country recovers from the consequences of
a disaster.
 Disasters are non-routine events that require non-routine
responses. Government and development agencies in
general cannot rely on normal procedures to implement
appropriate responses. They need to learn and practice
special skills and attitudes.

4.  Disasters are closely linked with at least four other priorities for
which NGOs has accepted either a direct or supportive role:
displaced persons, refugees and returnees, women in
development, and environmental protection. The issues of all
these subjects overlap significantly. A training programme in
one will support the professional development of Social
Worker in all.
 The world community takes considerable interest in disasters.
Governments and the NGOs have high profiles involvement
in these events, which are observed closely by the media.
Developmental agencies and governments must prove their
competence in order to project a positive image of
providing appropriate support.

6. A hazard is a rare or extreme event in the natural or human-
made environment that adversely affects human life,
property or activity to the extent of causing a disaster.

7. A disaster is a serious disruption of the functioning of a society,
causing widespread human, material, or environmental losses
which exceed the ability of affected society to cope using only its
own resources. Disasters are often classified according to their
speed of onset (sudden or slow), or according to their cause
(natural or man-made).

8. Another term closely related to disaster is emergency. A disaster
might be regarded as a particular type (or sub-set) of an emergency.
“Disaster” suggests an intense time period and level of urgency.
Whereas a disaster is bound by a specific period in which lives and
essential property are immediately at risk, an emergency can
encompass a more general period in which:
• there is a clear and marked deterioration in the coping abilities of
a group or community, or
• coping abilities are only sustained by unusual initiatives by the
group or community or by external intervention.

9. A disaster stems from the fact that certain communities or
groups are forced to settle in areas susceptible to the impact of a
Natural calamity such as a raging river or a volcanic eruption. It
is essential to make a distinction between hazards and disasters,
and to recognize that the effect of the former upon the latter is
essentially a measure of the society’s vulnerability.

10. Vulnerability is seen as the progression of three
stages:
 Underlying causes: a deep-rooted set of factors within a
society that together form and maintain vulnerability.
 Dynamic pressures: a translating process that channels the
effects of a negative cause into unsafe conditions; this
process may be due to a lack of basic services or provision
or it may result from a series of macro-forces
 Unsafe conditions: the vulnerable context where people and
property are exposed to the risk of disaster; the fragile
physical environment is one element; other factors include
an unstable economy and low income levels.

12.  Poverty
 Population growth
 Rapid urbanization
 Transitions in cultural practices
 Environmental degradation
 Lack of awareness and information
 War and civil strife

14. Disaster management is the body of
policy and administrative decisions and
operational activities which pertain to
the various stages of a disaster at all
levels.

15.  Human-made disasters are disasters or
emergency situations where the principal,
direct cause(s) are identifiable human
actions, deliberate or otherwise.
 Apart from “technological” and
“ecological” disasters, this mainly involves
situations in which civilian populations suffer
casualties, losses of property, basic services
and means of livelihood as a result of war or
civil strife.

16. Risk is the expected losses (lives lost,
persons injured, damage to property
and disruption of economic activity) due
to a particular hazard. Risk is the product
of hazard and vulnerability.

17. Vulnerability is the degree of loss (for
example, from 0 to 100 percent) resulting
from a potentially damaging
phenomenon.

18. Population displacements are usually
associated with crisis-induced mass
migration in which large numbers of
people are forced to leave their homes
to seek alternative means of survival.
Such mass movements normally result
from the effects of conflict, severe food
shortages or collapse of economic
support systems.

19. Complex emergencies are a form of
human-made emergency in which the
cause of the emergency as well as the
assistance to the afflicted are bound by
intense levels of political considerations.
This sort of emergency is normally
associated with the problems of
displaced people during times of civil
conflict or with people in need caught in
areas of conflict.

20.  Rapid onset disasters
 Slow onset disasters

21.  Relief phase: The relief phase is the
period immediately following the
occurrence of a sudden disaster (or the
late discovery of a
neglected/deteriorated slow-onset
situation) when exceptional measures
have to be taken to search and find the
survivors as well as meet their basic
needs for shelter, water, food and
medical care.

22.  Rehabilitation: Rehabilitation is the
operations and decisions taken after a
disaster with a view to restoring a stricken
community to its former living conditions,
while encouraging and facilitating the
necessary adjustments to the changes
caused by the disaster.

23.  Reconstruction: Reconstruction is the
actions taken to reestablish a community
after a period of rehabilitation
subsequent to a disaster. Actions would
include construction of permanent
housing, full restoration of all services,
and complete resumption of the pre-
disaster state.

24.  Mitigation: Mitigation is the collective
term used to encompass all actions
taken prior to the occurrence of a
disaster (pre-disaster measures) including
preparedness and long-term risk
reduction measures. (Mitigation has
been used by some institutions or authors
in a narrower sense, excluding
preparedness.)

25.  Preparedness: Preparedness
consists of activities designed to minimize
loss of life and damage, organize the
temporary removal of people and
property from a threatened location,
and facilitate timely and effective
rescue, relief and rehabilitation.

27. Early warning: The process of monitoring
situations in communities or areas known to
be vulnerable to slow onset hazards. For
example, famine early warning may be
reflected in such indicators as drought,
livestock sales, or changes in economic
conditions. The purpose of early warning
are to enable remedial measures to be
initiated and to provide more timely and
effective relief including thorough disaster
preparedness actions.

28. Emergency phase: The emergency phase is
the period during which extraordinary
measures have to be taken. Special
emergency procedures and authorities may
be applied to support human needs, sustain
livelihoods, and protect property to avoid the
onset of disaster. This phase can encompass
pre-disaster, disaster alert, disaster relief and
recovery periods. An emergency phase may
be quite extensive, as in a slow onset disaster
such as a famine. It can also be relatively short-
lived, as after an earthquake.

29. Rehabilitation: The action taken after a
slow onset disaster where attention must
be given to the issues of resettlement or
returnee programmes, particularly for
people who have been displaced for
reasons arising out of conflict or
economic collapse.

30. There are several hazard types for which
there is widespread concern. They can be
categorized as follows:
 Sudden onset hazards – (geological and climatic hazards)
earthquakes, tsunamis, floods, tropical storms, volcanic
eruptions, landslides
 Slow onset hazards – (environmental hazards) drought,
famine, environmental degradation, desertification,
deforestation, pest infestation
 Industrial/technological – system failures/accidents,
spillages, explosions, fires
 Wars and civil strife – armed aggression, insurgency,
terrorism, and other actions leading to displaced persons
and refugees Epidemics-water and/or food–borne diseases,
person-to-person diseases (contact and respiratory spread),
vector-borne diseases and complications from wounds

31.  Socio/political forces
 At least one of three situations arise:
› The government’s ability to assist the disaster-
afflicted becomes severely constrained.
› The government becomes extremely suspicious
of or uninterested in afflicted people who have
fled from non-government to government held
areas.
› The government or opposition groups actually
create or compound a disaster through actions
that generate refugees and the mass
displacement of people.

32.  Displaced persons These include people
who are:
› forced to leave their homes as a result of drought, famine,
or other disaster, usually in search of food
› non-combatant individuals and families forced to leave
their homes because of the direct or indirect
consequences of conflict but who remain inside their
country
› forcibly resettled by their government if the resettlement is
ethnically, tribally or racially motivated
› expelled from a country, especially as an ethnic or
national group, forced out for economic or political
reasons.

33.  Reasons for concern
 One is that displaced persons are often
ineligible to receive relief and assistance
available to refugees (individuals who have
crossed an international border seeking
protection).
 A second reason is that the displaced are
often insecure about relying on their own
government for protection.
 A third reason is the obstacle of national
sovereignty that limits outside agencies to
assist this population.

34. The basic characteristics of of disasters
and emergencies and appropriate
response measures can be structured as
follows:
› Causal phenomena - Typical effects
› General characteristics - Possible risk
reduction measures
› Predictability - Specific preparedness
measures
› Factors contributing to vulnerability - Typical
post-disaster needs

37.  Disasters set back development programming
destroying years of development initiatives.
- Infrastructure improvement e.g. transport
and utility systems are destroyed by a flood.
 Rebuilding after a disaster provides significant
opportunities to initiate development programs.
- A self-help housing program to rebuild
housing destroyed by an earthquake teaches
new skills, strengthens community pride and
leadership and retains development money
that otherwise would be exported to
large construction companies.

38.  Development programs can increase an area’s
susceptibility to disasters.
- A major increase in livestock development
leads to overgrazing, which contributes to
desertification and increases vulnerability to
famine.
 Development programs can be designed to
decrease the susceptibility to disasters and their
negative consequences.
- Housing projects constructed under building
codes designed to withstand high winds result
in less destruction during the next tropical
storm.

39.  Loss of resources
 Interruption of programs
 Impact on investment climate
 Impact on the non-formal sector
 Political destabilization

40. Loss of resources: Development resources are lost when a
disaster wipes out the products of investment–it shortens the life of
development investments. The disasters affect development through:
› " Impact on capital stock and inventory
› " Loss of production and provision of services due to disruption and increased cost of goods
and services
› " The secondary effects of the disaster include inflation, balance of payment problems,
increase in fiscal expenditure, decreases in monetary reserves
› " Other indirect losses, for example: the impact on a country’s debt position could be that
as the debt service burden increases, the country has less resources available to invest in
productive enterprises
› " The outcome of these losses of resources include: loss of economic growth, delays to
development programs, cancellation of programmes, and disincentives to new investment
› " There may also be a shift in skilled human resources toward high visibility recovery activity–
a diversion from long-term to short-term needs.

41. Interruption of programs
Disasters interrupt ongoing programs and
divert resources from originally planned
uses.

42. Impact on investment climate
Disasters, especially when they have
occurred repeatedly within a short period
of time, have a negative impact on the
incentive for further investment. Investors
need a climate of stability and certainty to
be encouraged to risk their money. The
disaster further clouds the investment
picture when it has caused loss of
employment, thereby depressing market
demand, and resulting in a stagnation
which limits overall growth.

43. Impact on non-formal sector
Disasters have special negative impacts on
the non-formal sector where approximate
costs of disasters are often underestimated.
Disasters depress the non-formal economy
through the direct costs of lost equipment
and housing (which often also serves as
business sites). The indirect costs of disasters
include lost employment, and lost income.
Sometimes the importation of relief items
creates disincentives to producers.

44. Political destabilization
The stress to a country caused by a disaster often
results in the destabilization of the government. This
may occur for several reasons. For example, the
government may have mismanaged the disaster
relief and recovery, leading to discontent on the
part of affected communities. Or the survivors may
have had unmet expectation which, for whatever
reason, translate into some form of protest. The
government could also become the scapegoat for
problems beyond its control, again leading to its
possible downfall. In fact, it is very common for a
government to collapse or be overthrown within
two or three years of a major disaster.

45. Disasters often create a political and
economic atmosphere wherein extensive
changes can be made more rapidly than
under normal circumstances. For example,
in the aftermath of a disaster, there may be
major opportunities to execute land reform
programmes, to improve the overall
housing stock, to create new jobs and job
skills, and to expand and modernize the
economic base of the community-
opportunities that would not otherwise be
possible.

46.  loss of means of livelihood
 communities becoming separated from
any services previously provided
 loss of normal sources of food
 lack of shelter and household necessities
 lack of fuel for cooking

47.  lack of potable water
 communicable diseases and over-
crowding
 additional burdens particularly for
women heads of households
 possibly large numbers of
unaccompanied children
 loss of land tenure

48.  possible communication and logistics problems
 insecurity due to tensions and military activities
 Not to be forgotten is the population that may
remain at home and, even though they are
not “trapped in combat areas”, they
nonetheless are in places that are hard to
reach because of political, logistical and/or
security obstacles.
 They may suffer many of the above problems
and be isolated from humanitarian relief.