Disaster Management Introduction 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’ A disaster can be defined as “A serious disruption in the functioning of the community or a society causing wide spread material, economic, social or environmental losses which exceed the ability of the affected society to cope using its own resources” 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. 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. Introduction Definition of Disaster A disaster is a result of natural or man-made causes that leads to sudden disruption of normal life, causing severe damage to life and property to an extent that available social and economic protection mechanisms are inadequate to cope. Disasters proceed by cause-effect due to endogenous (inherent) and exogenous (external) factors, which combine to excite the phenomenon into a large-scale destructive event. Disasters are a result of vulnerabilities, which go on unabated/unchecked over time, which crystallises finally in a destructive event of great magnitude, which is a disaster. Disaster is disturbance of ‘equilibrium’ which can be restored/ remedied by proactive policy whereby disasters are understood as totalising events in which all dimensions of a social -structural formation involving organised human action in the environmental context in which it takes place is studied” Definition of Hazard The International Strategy for Disaster Reduction (ISDR) of the United Nations (U.N.) defines a hazard as “a potentially damaging physical event, phenomenon or human activity that may cause the loss of life or injury, property damage, social and economic disruption or environmental degradation. ” Hazards could be, natural (geological, hydrometeorological and biological) or induced by human processes (environmental degradation and technological hazards). Hazards can be single, sequential or combined in their origin and effects. Accordingly, Hazard Analysis entails the identification, study and monitoring of a hazard to determine its potential, origin and characteristics. What is disaster management ??? 🞇 “A disaster can be defined as any occurrence that cause damage, ecological disruption, loss of human life, deterioration of health and health services on a scale, sufficient to warrant an extraordinary response from outside the affected community or area ”. (W.H.O.) 🞇 “A disaster can be defined as an occurrence either nature or manmade that causes human suffering and creates human needs that victims cannot alleviate without assistance ” American Red Cross (ARC) ’ Hazard The word ‘hazard’ owes its origin to the word ‘ hasard ’ in old French and ‘ az-zahr ’ in Arabic meaning ‘chance’ or ‘luck’ Hazard may be defined as “a dangerous condition or event, that threat or have the potential for causing injury to life or damage to property or the environment. ” Hazards can be grouped into two broad categories: 1. Natural Hazard 2. Manmade Hazard Types of Hazards Natural hazards are hazards which are caused because of natural phenomena (hazards with meteorological, geological or even biological origin). Examples of natural hazards are cyclones, tsunamis, earthquake and volcanic eruption which are exclusively of natural origin. Landslides, floods, drought, fires are socio-natural hazards since their causes are both natural and manmade. For example flooding may be caused because of heavy rains, landslide or blocking of drains with human waste. Manmade hazards are hazards which are due to human negligence. Manmade hazards are associated with industries or energy generation facilities and include explosions, leakage of toxic waste, pollution, dam failure, wars or civil strife etc. Vulnerability Vulnerability is defined as “the extent to which a community, structure, service, or geographic area is likely to be damaged or disrupted by the impact of particular hazard, on account of their nature, construction and proximity to hazardous terrain or a disaster prone area” The concept of vulnerability therefore implies a measure of risk combined with the level of social and economic ability to cope with the resulting event in order to resist major disruption or loss. Vulnerabilities can be categorized into: 1. Physical vulnerability 2. Socio-economic vulnerability Physical Vulnerability: It includes notions of who 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 condition of the people also determines 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 lose their shelters whenever there is strong wind or cyclone. Because of their poverty they too are not able to rebuild their houses. 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 each 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. Important Events in Disaster Management In 1989 United Nations General Assembly first started or coined the Disaster Management term. From 1990-2000 was declared as Disaster Risk Reduction Decade. October 13 th is designated as International day for Disaster Risk Reduction to promote global culture towards risk awareness and disaster reduction, initiated in 1989 by UN General Assembly. 2019 Theme: Reduce disaster damage to critical infrastructure and disruption of basic services Some facts pertaining to India India’s 82.2% population are prone to disasters, means people in India are living in the areas where disasters may occur. As per the current seismic zone map of the country over 59% of India’s land area is under threat of moderate to severe seismic hazard. Infact, the entire Himalayan belt is considered prone to great earthquakes of magnitude exceeding 8.0 on Richter scale. In India out of the total geographical area of 329 million hectares (Mha) more than 40 Mha is flood prone. About 58.6% of Indian landmass is prone to earthquakes, 12% to floods and river erosion and 68% of cultivable areas are prone to landslides (especially in hilly areas) Ind ia’ s Vulnerability to Disasters 🞇 57%land is vulnerable to earthquakes. Of these, 12% is vulnerable to severe earthquakes. 🞇 68%land is vulnerable to drought. 🞇 12%land is vulnerable to floods. 🞇 8% land is vulnerable to cyclones. 🞇 Apart from natural disasters, some cities in India are also vulnerable to chemical and industrial disasters and man-made disasters. Types of Disasters Disasters can be classified into the following categories: • Water and Climate Disaster: Flood, hail storms, cloudburst, cyclones, heat waves, cold waves, droughts, hurricanes. Geological Disaster: Landslides, earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, tornadoes • Biological Disaster: Viral epidemics, pest attacks, cattle epidemic, and locust plagues • Industrial Disaster: Chemical and industrial accidents, mine shaft fires, oil spills, • Nuclear Disasters: Nuclear core meltdowns, radiation poisoning • Man-made disasters: Urban and forest fires, oil spill, the collapse of huge building structures Classification of Disasters Natural disaster Manmade / Anthropogenic and Technological disasters Natural Disaster: These are caused by the forces of nature and man has no role to play in such hazards. Natural Disasters 1. Geophysical 2. Hydrological 3. Biological 4. Meteorological 5. Climatological