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DISASTER MANAGEMENT CYCLE – A THEORETICAL
APPROACH
Professor PhD Himayatullah KHAN
Institute of Information Technology, Abbottabad, Pakistan
Associate professor PhD Laura Giurca VASILESCU
University of Craiova, Romania
Associate professor PhD Asmatullah KHAN
University of Science and Technology, Bannu, Pakistan
Abstract: The present study explains the various concepts used in disaster management. The concepts explained include: Disaster, Hazard, Vulnerability, Capacity, Risk and Disaster Management Cycle. In addition to the terminologies, the study also seeks to explain various types of disasters.
Keywords: natural hazards, disaster management, risk management
Introduction
Disaster is a sudden adverse or unfortunate extreme event which causes great damage to human beings as well as plants and animals. Disasters occur rapidly, instantaneously and indiscriminately. These extreme events either natural or man-induced exceed the tolerable magnitude within or beyond certain time limits, make adjustment difficult, result in catastrophic losses of property and income and life is paralyzed. These events which occur aggravate natural environmental processes to cause disasters to human society such as sudden tectonic movements leading to earthquake and volcanic eruptions, continued dry conditions leading to prolonged droughts, floods, atmospheric disturbances, collision of celestial bodies, etc. (Joshi, 2008). Disasters have always co-existed with civilizations. With technological advancement, development initiatives resulted in the creation of a lot of infrastructure and permanent assets. Gradually material development detached man from nature on one hand, and increased vulnerability of the human population, on the other. The progressive increase in loss of life,
property and deleterious effect on environment due to disasters moved the international community to look at disaster management in a new perspective, which transcends international barriers, anticipates possible threats and enables tackling of disasters from the pre-stage. The last decade (990-1999) was observed by the International Community as the “International Decade for natural disaster reduction“, a decade dedicated to promoting solutions to reduce risks from natural hazards. The international dimension of disasters was realized and a protocol sought to be established so that when it comes to suffering of humanity, help from the International community flow in right earnest. Almost everyday, newspapers, radio and television channels carry reports on disaster striking several parts of the world. But what is a disaster? The term disaster owes its origin to the French word “Desastre” which is a combination of two words ‘des’ meaning bad and ‘aster’ meaning star. Thus the term refers to ‘Bad or Evil star’. The United Nations defined Disasters as ‘A serious disruption of the functioning of a community or a society causing widespread human, material, economic
and environmental losses which exceed the ability of the affected community/society to cope using its own resources’ (UNDP, nd). A disaster is a result from the combination of hazard, vulnerability and insufficient capacity or measures to
reduce the potential chances of risk. A disaster happens when a hazard impacts on the vulnerable population and causes damage, casualties and disruption. Figure 1 gives a better illustration of what a disaster is.
Figure 1. What is a disaster?
Any hazard – flood, earthquake or cyclone which is a triggering event along with greater vulnerability (inadequate access to resources, sick and old people, lack of awareness etc) would lead to disaster causing greater loss to life and property. For example; an earthquake in an uninhabited desert cannot be considered a disaster, no matter how strong the intensities produced. An earthquake is disastrous only when it affects people, their
properties and activities. Thus, disaster occurs only when hazards and vulnerability meet. But it is also to be noted that with greater capacity of the individual/community and environment to face these disasters, the impact of a hazard reduces. Therefore, we need to understand the three major components namely hazard, vulnerability and capacity with suitable examples to have a basic understanding of disaster management.
Vulnerability Disaster Hazard
Underlying Dynamic Unsafe
Causes Pressure Conditions
Limited access Lack of: Dangerous to resources Institutions location Illness and Education Dangerous Disabilities Training buildings Age/Sex Skills Low Income level Poverty Population Others explosion Urbanization Uncontrolled development Environmental degradation
Trigger Events
Earthquake Tsunamis Floods Cyclones Volcanic eruptions Drought Landslide War Technological accident Environmental pollution
includes notions of whom and what may be damaged or destroyed by natural hazard such as earthquakes or floods. It is based on the physical condition of people and elements at risk, such as buildings, infrastructure etc; and their proximity, location and nature of the hazard. It also relates to the technical capability of building and structures to resist the forces acting upon them during a hazard event.
Socio-economic Vulnerability The degree to which a population is affected by a hazard will not merely lie in the physical components of vulnerability but also on the socioeconomic conditions. The socio- economic conditions of the people also determine the intensity of the impact. For example, people who are poor and living in the sea coast don’t have the money to construct strong concrete houses. They are generally at risk and loose their shelters when ever there is strong wind or cyclone. Because of their poverty they too are not able to rebuild their houses.
What is Capacity? Capacity can be defined as “resources, means and strengths which exist in households and communities and which enable them to cope with, withstand, prepare for, prevent, mitigate or quickly recover from a disaster”. People’s capacity can also be taken into account. Capacities could be classified into physical and socio-economic capacities. Physical Capacity: People whose houses have been destroyed by the cyclone or crops have been destroyed by the flood can salvage things from their homes and from their farms. Some family members have skills, which enable them to find employment if they migrate, either temporarily or permanently. Socio-economic Capacity: In most of the disasters, people suffer their greatest losses in the physical and
material realm. Rich people have the capacity to recover soon because of their wealth. In fact, they are seldom hit by disasters because they live in safe areas and their houses are built with stronger materials. However, even when everything is destroyed they have the capacity to cope up with it. Hazards are always prevalent, but the hazard becomes a disaster only when the frequency or likelihood of a hazard and the vulnerability of the community increases the risk of being severely affected.
What is Risk? Risk is a “measure of the expected losses due to a hazard event occurring in a given area over a specific time period. Risk is a function of the probability of particular hazardous event and the losses it would cause.” The level of risk depends upon:
- Nature of the hazard;
- Vulnerability of the elements which are affected;
- Economic value of those elements. A community/locality is said to be at ‘risk’ when it is exposed to hazards and is likely to be adversely affected by its impact. Whenever we discuss ‘disaster management’ it is basically ‘disaster risk management’. Disaster risk management includes all measures which reduce disaster related losses of life, property or assets by either reducing the hazard or vulnerability of the elements at risk.
Disaster Management Cycle
Disaster Risk Management includes sum total of all activities, programmes and measures which can be taken up before, during and after a disaster with the purpose to avoid a disaster, reduce its impact or recover from its losses. The three key stages of activities that are taken up within disaster risk management are as follows (See Figure 2):
Figure 2. Disaster Management
- Before a disaster (pre-disaster). Pre-disaster activities those which are taken to reduce human and property losses caused by a potential hazard. For example, carrying out awareness campaigns, strengthening the existing weak structures, preparation of the disaster management plans at household and community level, etc. Such risk reduction measures taken under this stage are termed as mitigation and preparedness activities.
- During a disaster (disaster occurrence). These include initiatives taken to ensure that the needs and provisions of victims are met and suffering is minimized. Activities taken under this stage are called emergency response activities.
- After a disaster (post-disaster). There are initiatives taken in response to a disaster with a purpose to achieve early recovery and rehabilitation of affected communities, immediately after a disaster strikes. These are called as response and recovery activities. The Disaster risk management cycle diagram (DRMC) highlights the range of initiatives which normally occur during both the Emergency response and Recovery stages of a disaster. Some of these cut across both stages (such things as coordination and the provision of ongoing assistance); whilst other activities are unique to each stage (e.g. Early Warning and Evacuation during Emergency Response; and Reconstruction and Economic and
Figure 3. Disaster M anagement Cycle
Drought and famine have proved to be the deadliest disasters globally (45%), followed by floods (16%), technological disaster (14%), earthquake (12%), windstorm (10%),
extreme temperature and others (3%). Global economic loss related to disaster events average around US $880 billion per year (CBSE, 2006).
45%
16%
14%
12%
10%
3%
DroughtFamine Floods Technological Earthquake Windstorm Miscellaneous
R I S K M A N A G E M E N T
Figure 4. Reported Deaths from all Disasters: World Scenario (1992-2001)
Conclusions
There has been a dramatic increase in disasters and the damages caused by them in the recent past. Over the past decade, the number of natural and manmade disasters has climbed inexorably. Accordingly to the statistics, the number of disasters per year increased with 60% in the period 1999- 2001 in comparison with the previous period, 1994 -1998. The highest increase was in the countries of low human development, which registered an increase of 142%. In these countries, the responsible institutions should play an important role but, in general, the disaster management policy responses are influenced by methods and tools for cost-effective and sustainable interventions. There are no long-term, inclusive and coherent institutional arrangements to address disaster issues with a long- term vision. Disasters are viewed in isolation from the processes of
mainstream development and poverty alleviation planning. For example, disaster management, development planning and environmental management institutions operate in isolation and integrated planning between these sectors is almost lacking. Absence of a central authority for integrated disaster management and lack of coordination within and between disaster related organizations is responsible for effective and efficient disaster management. State-level disaster preparedness and mitigation measures are heavily tilted towards structural aspects and undermine non- structural elements such as the knowledge and capacities of local people, and the related livelihood protection issues. In conclusion, with a greater capacity of the individual/community and environment to face the disasters, the impact of a hazard would be reduced.
REFERENCES
[1] Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE), Natural Hazards and Disaster Management. Delhi: Preet Vihar, 2006.
[2] International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, World Disasters Report, Geneva, 2003.
[3] Joshi, S.R. , Natural Disasters in North-East Region and its Management: An Essay, Centre for Science Education, North Eastern Hill University Bijni Complex, Laitumkhrah, Shillong – 793 003, Meghalaya, 2008.
[4] National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA), Draft National Disaster Management Framework , pp 14-17, 2006.
[5] United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), Disaster Management- Preparedness Methodology In Assam. http://data.undp.org.in/dmweb/Article- DRM%20Assam.pdf (accessed on March 25, 2008), 2008.
[6] Warfield, C., The Disaster Management Cycle, 2008.
http://www.gdrc.org/uem/disasters/1-dm_cycle.html (accessed on March 25, 2008).
[7] WCDR, A R e v i e w o f Disaster Management Policies and Systems in Pakistan, Islamabad, January 2005.
