DISASTER READINESS AND

RISK REDUCTION
RISK FACTORS UNDERLYING DISASTERS
KIT I. LUYAS
TEACHER II
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. These aggravating factors contribute to evident
differences in the stress reactions of certain individuals with
certain characteristics.
 ACTIVITY
NEWS ARTICLE
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).
The following are also taken into consideration when
risk factors underlying disaster are involved:
Severity of exposure - which measures those who experience
disaster firsthand 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.
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.
Economic status of country - evidence indicates that severe
mental problems resulting from disasters are more prevalent
in developing countries like the Philippines. Furthermore, it
has been observed that natural disasters tend to have more
adverse effects in developing countries than do man caused
disasters in developed countries.
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. For
most people, the expression “climate change” means the
alteration of the world’s climate that we humans are causing
such as burning of fossil fuels, deforestation and other
practices that increase the carbon footprint and concentration
of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere.
this is in line with the official definition by the united nations
framework convention on climate change (unfccc) that
climate change is the change that can be attributed “directly
or indirectly to human activity that alters the composition of
the global atmosphere and which is in addition to natural
climate variability observed over comparable time periods”
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).
it is both a driver and consequence of disasters, reducing the
capacity of the environment to meet social and ecological
needs. Over consumption of natural resources results in
environmental degradation, reducing the effectiveness of
essential ecosystem services, such as the mitigation of floods
and landslides. This leads to increased risk from disasters, and
in turn, natural hazards can further degrade the environment.
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). The
impact of disasters on the poor can, in addition to loss of life, injury
and damage, cause a total loss of livelihoods, displacement, poor
health, food insecurity, among other consequences. Vulnerability is not
simply about poverty, but extensive research over the past 30 years has
revealed that it is generally the poor who tend to suffer worst from
disasters (dfid, 2004; twigg, 2004; wisner et al., 2004; unisdr, 2009b).
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.
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).
Certain factors are related to a survivor’s background and
recovery is hampered if survivors: were not functioning well
before the disaster; have no experience dealing with disasters;
must deal with other stressors after the disaster; have low self-
esteem; feel uncared for by others; think they exercise little
control over what happens to them; and unable to manage
stress
………