What is Disaster and Disaster Risk?

(Lesson 1)
DISASTER
- "a sudden, calamitous occurrence that causes great harm, injury, destruction, and devastation to life and
property.”
- It disrupts the usual course of life, causing both physical and emotional distress such as an intense feeling of
helplessness and hopelessness.

Republic Act 10121 (Act Strengthening the Philippine Disaster Risk Reduction and Management System)
- providing for the national disaster risk reduction and management plan, appropriating funds, therefore and
other purposes was passed and approved on May 27, 2010
RA 10121 Section 2
→ states that the state shall develop, promote, and implement a comprehensive that aims to strengthen
the capacity of the national government and the LGUs, together with partner stakeholders, to build the
disaster resilience of communities, and to institutionalize arrangements and measures for reducing
disaster risks, including projected climate risks, and enhancing disaster preparedness and response
capabilities at all levels

NATURAL DISASTERS
- a natural phenomenon is caused by natural forces, such as earthquakes, typhoon, volcanic eruptions, hurricanes,
fires, tornados, and extreme temperatures.
- can be classified as rapid onset disasters and those with progressive onset, such as droughts that lead to famine.
- These events, usually sudden, can have tremendous effects.

HAZARD
- A source or condition that has the potential to cause harm to humans in the form of injury or illness, property
damage, environmental damage, or a combination of these.
A. NATURAL HAZARD
→ occurs when an extreme natural event is destructive to human life and property.
→ This event could interfere with activities in a minor way such as when strong winds blow trees down, or
this event could completely disrupt activities like a large earthquake damaging your home, business or
school.
→ These natural events have been happening for thousands of years but they only become hazards when
humans are affected in some way.
B. HUMAN-MADE
→ induced hazards are caused by human activities.
→ Unlike natural hazards, human-made hazards can often be prevented.
1. TECHNOLOGICAL/INDUSTRIAL DISASTERS
− Unregulated industrialization and inadequate safety standards increase the risk for
industrial disasters.
− Examples: leaks of hazardous materials; accidental explosions; bridge or road collapses, or
vehicle collisions; Power cuts
2. TERRORISM/VIOLENCE
− the threat of terrorism has also increased due to the spread of technologies involving
nuclear, biological, and chemical agents used to develop weapons of mass destruction.
− Examples: bombs or explosions; release of chemical materials; release of biological agents;
release of radioactive agents; multiple or massive shootings; mutinies
 3. COMPLEX HUMANITARIAN EMERGENCIES
− the term complex emergency is usually used to describe the humanitarian emergency
resulting from an international or civil war.
− In such situations, large numbers of people are displaced from their homes due to the lack
of personal safety and the disruption of basic infrastructure including food distribution,
water, electricity, and sanitation, or communities are left stranded and isolated in their own
homes unable to access assistance.
− Examples: conflicts or wars and Genocide the deliberate killing of a large group of people,
especially those of a particular ethnic group or nation

RISK AND DISASTER RISK

RISK
- has various connotations within different disciplines.
- In general, risk is defined as the combination of the probability of an event and its negative consequences
(UNISDR, 2009)

DISASTER RISK
- refers to the potential (not actual and realized) disaster losses, in lives, health status, livelihoods, assets, and
services which could occur in a community or society over some specified future time period.
- Disaster risk is the product of the possible damage caused by a hazard due to the vulnerability within a
community. It should be noted that the effect of a hazard (of a particular magnitude) would affect communities
differently (Von Kotze, 1999:35)
- It can also be determined by the presence of three variables: hazards (natural or anthropogenic); vulnerability to
a hazard; and coping capacity linked to the reduction, mitigation, and resilience to the vulnerability of a
community.

AT RISK…
- Disaster can affect everyone.
- It does not discriminate between and among social classes, gender, creed, race, and nationality. But certain risk
factors put those affected in a position where they will have graver or longer-lasting post-disaster stress
reactions.

RISK FACTORS
1. EXPOSURE - the elements at risk from a natural or man-made hazard event (Quebral, 2016)
2. HAZARD- A potentially dangerous physical occurrence, phenomenon or human activity that may result in loss of
life or injury, property damage, social and economic disruption, or environmental degradation.
3. VULNERABILITY - the condition determined by physical, social, economic and environmental factors or
processes, which increase the susceptibility of a community to the impact of hazard (Food and Agriculture
Organization of the United nation, FAO 2008)

Reduction of the level of vulnerability and exposure is possible by keeping people and property as distant as possible
from hazards. We cannot avoid natural events from occurring, but we can concentrate on addressing the reduction of
risk and exposure by determining the factors causing disasters.

The following are also taken into consideration when risk factors underlying disaster are involved:
 ! SEVERITY OF EXPOSURE - which measures those who experience disaster first-hand which has the highest risk
of developing future mental problems, followed by those in contact with the victims such as rescue workers and
health care practitioners and the lowest risk are those most distant like those who have awareness of the
disaster only through news.
! GENDER AND FAMILY - the female gender suffers more adverse effects. This worsens when children are
present at home. Marital relationships are placed under strain.
! AGE - adults in the age range of 40-60 are more stressed after disasters but in general, children exhibit more
stress after disasters than adults do.

FACTORS WHICH UNDERLIE DISASTERS:

1. CLIMATE CHANGE - can increase disaster risk in a variety of ways – by altering the frequency and intensity of
hazards events, affecting vulnerability to hazards, and changing exposure patterns.
2. ENVIRONMENTAL DEGRADATION - changes to the environment can influence the frequency and intensity of
hazards, as well as our exposure and vulnerability to these hazards. For instance, deforestation of slopes
often leads to an increase in landslide hazard and removal of mangroves can increase the damage caused by
storm surges (UNISDR, 2009b).
3. GLOBALIZED ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT - It results in an increased polarization between the rich and poor
on a global scale. Currently increasing the exposure of assets in hazard prone areas, globalized economic
development provides an opportunity to build resilience if effectively managed. By participating in risk-sensitive
development strategies such as investing in protective infrastructure, environmental management, and
upgrading informal settlements, risk can be reduced. Dominance and increase of wealth in certain regions and
cities are expected to have increased hazard exposure (Gencer, 2013).
4. POVERTY AND INEQUALITY - Impoverished people are more likely to live in hazard-exposed areas and are less
able to invest in risk-reducing measures. The lack of access to insurance and social protection means that people
in poverty are often forced to use their already limited assets to buffer disaster losses, which drives them into
further poverty. Poverty is therefore both a cause and consequence of disaster risk (Wisner et al., 2004),
particularly extensive risk, with drought being the hazard most closely associated with poverty (Shepard et al.,
2013).
5. POORLY PLANNED AND MANAGED URBAN DEVELOPMENT - A new wave of urbanization is unfolding in
hazard-exposed countries and with it, new opportunities for resilient investment emerge. People, poverty, and
disaster risk are increasingly concentrated in cities. The growing rate of urbanization and the increase in
population density (in cities) can lead to creation of risk, especially when urbanization is rapid, poorly planned
and occurring in a context of widespread poverty. Growing concentrations of people and economic activities in
many cities are seen to overlap with areas of high-risk exposure.
6. WEAK GOVERNANCE - weak governance zones are investment environments in which public sector actors are
unable or unwilling to assume their roles and responsibilities in protecting rights, providing basic services and
public services. Disaster risk is disproportionately concentrated in lower-income countries with weak governance
(UNISDR, 2015a). Disaster risk governance refers to the specific arrangements that societies put in place to
manage their disaster risk (UNISDR, 2011a; UNDP, 2013a) within a broader context of risk governance (Renn,
2008 in UNISDR, 2015a).
7. GEOGRAPHICAL LOCATION - The Philippines is one of the most vulnerable countries in the world to natural
disasters. The country's location makes it vulnerable to storms that cause flooding, mudslides, and typhoons.
Furthermore, the Philippines is vulnerable to tsunamis due to the presence of offshore trenches such as the
Manila Trench. Regrettably, the list does not stop there. The Philippines also sits above the Ring of Fire, a path
that runs through the Pacific Ocean basin
Disasters from Different Perspectives (Lesson 2)
THE DIFFERENT PERSPECTIVES OF DISASTER
1. PHYSICAL PERSPECTIVE
- Calamities are phenomena that cause great physical damage in a community infrastructure, its people and
their properties, e.g. houses and environmental sources of living. These cited effects of a disaster can be
easily measured and the most common.
- Natural disasters generally affect the physical infrastructural facilities, agricultural productivity and even lead
to loss of life and cause damage to property. Various factors influence the effects of a disaster on a country
among them are the magnitude of the disaster, the geography of the area affected, and the recovery efforts
directed towards reducing the immediate effects of a disaster
- EFFECTS OF PHYSICAL DISASTERS
• Injuries
• Physical disabilities or illness
• Sanitation
• Damage in infrastructure
2. PSYCHOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVE
- Victims of disasters may suffer from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and other serious mental health
conditions, which are not being given much attention to by the authorities or even by the victims,
themselves.
- PSYCHOLOGICAL EFFECTS OF A DISASTER:
• distress
• hopelessness
• intrusion/avoidance
• emotional effects
• hatred/revenge
• cognitive effects
• dependence/insecurities
• physical Effects
• grief/withdrawn/isolation
• interpersonal effect
• guilt feeling helplessness
• lack of trust
3. SOCIO-CULTURAL PERSPECTIVE
- Filipinos are generally known as matiisin, resourceful, helpful, optimistic, and prayerful. These characteristics
are manifested in the country’s recent fight against COVID19. Due to the National Health Emergency,
Enhanced Community Quarantine (ECQ) prevailed in the whole country. These traits help a lot of Filipinos to
survive the challenge of COVID19 in the country.
- SOCIO-CULTURAL EFFECT OF DISASTERS
• change in individual roles
• disruption of social relationships and personal connections
4. ECONOMIC PERSPECTIVE
- Disasters affect the economic condition of a community because they reduce local and international trade. It
can also partially or totally paralyze a country’s transportation system, just like what happened in the
COVID19 pandemic. Implementation of a partial and total shut down of local business operations result to a
lot of people losing means of living.
- ECONOMIC EFFECTS OF DISASTERS
 • loss of life
• unemployment
• loss of property
• loss of household articles
• loss of crops
• loss of public infrastructure
5. Political Perspective
- Natural disasters are commonly thought to be less politically argumentative than armed conflicts, yet a
closer look shows that both the effects of a natural disaster and the resulting distribution of humanitarian
aid are profoundly linked to politics.
- POLITICAL EFFECTS OF A DISASTER
• People who have trust in political institution will assess the government’s risk assessments as
credible and accept their hazard policies (Johnson 1999)
• Low level of trust in public institutions therefore means that citizens may ignore the
recommendations and disregard the information provided by these institutions (McCaffey 2004).
• If individuals are confident that they will receive sufficient aid from the government when a disaster
occurs, they might not be motivated to take measures on their own (King and Kang 2000).
6. Biological Perspective
- The disturbing effects caused by a prevalent kind of disease or virus in an epidemic or pandemic level is
known as biological disaster.
a. Epidemic Level: Biological disaster affects large numbers of people within a given community or
area. Ex: Dengue.
b. Pandemic Level: Biological disaster affects a much large region, sometime spanning entire
continents or the globe. Ex. Swine Flue
- Biological disasters can wipe out an entire population at a short span of time.
- EFFECTS OF BIOLOGICAL DISASTERS
• loss of lives
• public demobilization
• negative economic effect
• unemployment
• hungerS