FEU High School DISASTER READINESS AND RISK REDUCTION STEM 2nd Semester Class

LESSON 1: BASIC CONCEPT OF DISASTER AND DISASTER RISK

Topic:

1. Concept of Disaster
2. Concept of Disaster Risk
3. Nature of Disasters
4. Effects of Disaster

Objectives:

At the end of the lesson, you should be able to:

1. Explain the concept of disaster.

2. Differentiate the risk factors underlying disaster.
3. Describe the different effects of disaster on one’s life.
4. Assess how and when an event becomes a disaster.
5. Integrate learnings to the present condition of society.

SUBJECT MATTER
Disaster readiness and risk reduction
is the course that focuses on the application of
scientific knowledge and the solution of
practical problems in physical environment.
It is designed to bridge the gap between
theoretical science and daily living. Disaster
risk reduction is a systematic approach to
identifying, assessing and reducing the risks
of disaster. It aims to reduce socio-economic
vulnerabilities to disaster as well as dealing
with the environmental and other hazards
that trigger them. Typhoons, hurricanes,
earthquakes, volcanic eruption, floods,
drought and extreme temperatures strike
communities around the world each year. The top ten disasters of 2004, in terms of number
of people affected, were all weather and climate-related. As climate change begins to
manifest itself – in the form of increased frequency and intensity of hazards such as floods,
storms, heat waves, and drought – the need for communities to address climate risks is
becoming urgent. The coming decades are likely to bring, among others, changes, altered
precipitation patterns so that many areas will experience more frequent floods and
landslides, while others will experience prolonged drought and wildfires.
As many communities are not prepared to cope with natural and man-made disasters
facing them today, an ongoing challenge is to build their resilience. In answer to this
challenge, Disaster Readiness and Risk Reduction (DRR) aims to address a comprehensive
mix of factors contributing to communities’ vulnerabilities. Having proper knowledge and
skills in disaster risk reduction will increase and ensure the chance of coping and survival of
different exposed elements. It is significant to recognize the inclusion of Disaster readiness
and risk reduction in the Senior High School curriculum given the fact that classroom
instruction of DRR can be a solid foundation for mainstreaming DRR education. Many
students can utilize whatever they learn in this course to empower not only themselves but

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also their respective families and communities with information that can spell difference
between survival and grief in the face of a disaster.

Concept of Disaster

A disaster is a serious disruption of the functioning of a community or a society

involving widespread human, material, economic or environmental losses and impacts,
which exceeds the ability of the affected community or society to cope up using its own
resources.
In contemporary academia, disasters are seen as the consequence of inappropriate
managed risk. Disasters are a result of the combination of the exposure to a hazard;
conditions of vulnerability that are present; and insufficient capacity or measures to reduce
or cope with the potential negative consequences. (Philippine Disaster Risk Reduction and
Management Act of 2010)

How and when an event becomes a Disaster?

A natural event such as a tsunami becomes a hazard if it poses a threat to people. A

magnitude 6.5 earthquake is usually strong enough to generate tsunamis that could be
destructive to nearby coastal areas. The tsunami waves that are about to hit a beach area
with people, animals, trees, and houses are considered as a hazard. After the tsunami hits
the populated area, it is no longer just a hazard but a disaster with victims and destruction
or damage all over the place.

Types of Disaster

1. Natural disasters: including floods, hurricanes, earthquakes and volcano eruptions

that have immediate impacts on human health and secondary impacts further
causing death and suffering from floods, landslides, fire, tsunamis.
2. Environmental emergencies: including technological or industrial accidents,
usually involving the production, use, or transportation of hazardous material which
occur where these materials are produced, used or transported, and forest fires
caused by humans.
3. Complex emergencies: involving a break-down of authority, looting and attacks on
strategic installations, including conflicts situations and war.

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4. Pandemic emergencies: involving a sudden onset of contagious disease that affects

health, disrupts services and businesses, and brings economic and social costs.

Disaster Risk

Disasters are sometimes considered external shocks, but disaster risk results from the
complex interaction between development processes that generate conditions of exposure,
vulnerability and hazard. Disaster risk is therefore considered as the combination of the
severity and frequency of a hazard, the numbers of people and assets exposed to the
hazard, and their vulnerability to damage (UNISDR, 2015a). Intensive risk is disaster risk
associated with low-probability, high-impact events, whereas extensive risk is associated
with high-probability, low-impact events.

Disaster risk is widely recognized as the consequence of the interaction between a hazard
and the characteristics that make people and places vulnerable and exposed.

To understand disaster risk one needs to find answers to the following questions:

• Where do people live?

• Why do people live there?

• How do they make a living?

• What is important for them to protect?

Understanding and finding answers to these four basic questions goes a long way in
making sense of the disaster risk which exists within various systems. Human beings are
complex and sometimes culture, beliefs, political orientation, link to nature and the
environment, economic well-being, and even social networks, have a profound impact on
how people perceive the disaster risks which they face. Any perception of a phenomenon
can be directly linked to the actions associated with it. Thus, if women and men find the
economic benefit of living in a flood line more advantageous than the risk associated with
placing themselves in harm’s way, then people will not necessarily nor voluntarily take
corrective actions to mitigate the disaster risk.

Risk Factors- A number of factors make it more likely that someone will have more severe
or longer-lasting stress reactions after disasters.

a. Severity of Exposure

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• The amount of exposure to the disaster is highly related to risk of future

mental problems. The highest risks are those that have gone through the
disaster themselves.
• Next are those in close contact with victims.
• Injury and life threat are the factors that lead most often to mental health
problems. Studies show that at least half of survivors suffer from distress or
mental health problems that need clinical care.

b. Gender and Family

• Almost always, women or girls suffer from more negative effects than men
or boys. Disaster recovery is more stressful when children are present in the
home.
• Having a family member in the home, who is extremely distressed, is related
to more stress to 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.
c. Age
• Children show more severe distress after disasters rather than adults.
Higher stress in the parents is related to worse recovery of children.

d. Developing Countries
• Risk factors can be made worse if the disaster occurs in a developing
country. Disasters in developing countries have more severe mental health
impact than disasters in developed countries.

e. Low or Negative Support

• The support of others can be both a risk and a resilient factor. 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 live.

Effects of Disaster

a. Displaced Populations- When countries are ravaged by earthquakes or other

powerful forces of nature, many people have to abandon their homes and seek
shelter in other regions. A large influx of refugees can disrupt accessibility of health
care and education, as well as food supplies and clean water.
b. Health Risk- Severe flooding can result in stagnant water that allows breeding of
waterborne bacteria and malaria-carrying mosquitos. Without emergency relief
from international aid organizations and others, death tolls can rise even after the
immediate danger has passed.
c. Food Scarcity- After natural disasters, food often becomes scarce. Thousands of
people around the world go hungry as a result of destroyed crops and loss of
agricultural supplies. Food prices rise, reducing families’ purchasing power and
increasing the risk of severe malnutrition or worse. The impacts of hunger
following an earthquake, typhoon or hurricane can be tremendous, causing lifelong
damage to children’s development.

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d. Emotional Aftershocks- Natural disasters can be particularly traumatic for young

children. 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. Left untreated, children
suffering from PTSD can be prone to lasting psychological damage and emotional
distress.

Characteristics of Disasters
Disasters are inherently unexpected or come quickly with little or no warning. As a
result, disasters cause widespread death, injury, and property damage. This underscores the
need for timely warnings and quality hazard-related information issued by competent
monitoring and warning agencies.
Disasters cannot be managed through normal means. These requires immediate and
effective intervention of national government agencies (NGAs) and non-government
organizations (NGOs) to help meet the needs of the victims. Disasters create demands
beyond the capacity of a government. During a disaster, the situation is usually beyond the
capabilities of local government units (LGUs) or national government to respond and handle.

The following also characterize disasters:

• Knows no political boundary
• Requires restructured and new responding organizations
• Creates new tasks and requires more people as disaster responders.
• Exposes lack of disaster planning, response and coordination. Inexperienced
disaster organizations often fail to see what their proper roles are.

Impacts of Disasters
Disasters often result from the failure to anticipate the timing and enormity of natural
hazards. Disasters do not only result in deaths and destruction or damage to homes and
buildings but also in the destruction of crops and decreased quality or quantity of water.

Medical effects
The medical effects of disasters include
traumatic injuries, emotional stress, epidemic
diseases, and indigenous diseases.

Damage to critical facilities

Widespread disasters can destroy or damage
facilities that may be critical not only in
maintaining a safe environment and public
order, but also in responding to the disaster.
Among these are communication installations,
electrical generating and transmission
facilities, hospitals, water facilities (storage,

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purifications, and pumping), and other public and private buildings.

Disruption of transportation
During the initial stages of a disaster, almost all
surface means of transportation within a
community are disrupted by broken bridges and
roads and streets that are rendered impassable
by landslides or floods. The restricted mobility of
vehicles makes rescue and other emergency
operations doubly difficult.

Economic Impact
As a result of the destruction and damage to
critical facilities, especially to transportation
and communication facilities, disasters
disrupt economies as normal business
operations and other economic activities are
curtailed. People must also leave their jobs
and devote their time to disaster-related
activities, such as search and rescue, or to
caring for survivors.

Global environmental change

There is increasing evidence of global
climatic change broughtmabout by both
human activity and disasters. Although the
long-range consequences are hard to
predict, more severe cyclonic storms, an
increase in both flooding and drought, and
a trend towards desertification cannot be
ruled out. The changes could result in a
wide range of more hazards such as
wildfires and mudslides, reduced
productivity in the oceans, and weakened
immune systems of people and animals.

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FEU High School DISASTER READINESS AND RISK REDUCTION STEM 2nd Semester Class

Social and Political Impacts

As a large segment of the population in developing countries consists the poor, who are the
most vulnerable whenever a disaster strikes, these countries are the most affected. The poor
are the most prone to disasters like earthquakes and typhoons because of the structures they
live in which are reinforced and poorly built. These are also often located in marginal lands.
When disasters happen, social and political inequities are usually exposed, which may lead
to major political and social changes.

Refer to the following links for the video discussions:

1. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hD21vitTeO8
2. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JYlH6eSJQsg

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