Introduction to Disaster Management

Let’s begin with a simple thought:
When does a hazard become a disaster?
— An earthquake happens every day somewhere on Earth, yet not every earthquake is a disaster.
Why? Because a disaster occurs only when a hazard meets a vulnerable population.

What is Disaster Management?

Disaster Management means organizing and managing resources and responsibilities to handle all the humanitarian aspects of emergencies.
The goal is simple — to reduce the impact of disasters and ensure that the community can recover as quickly as possible.

Think of it as a complete cycle — it includes prevention, preparedness, response, and recovery.

Understanding Disasters

According to the United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNDRR):

“A disaster is a serious disruption to the functioning of a community or society, causing widespread human, material, economic, or environmental losses that exceed the community’s ability to cope using its own resources.”

So, a disaster is not just a big event — it is an event that overwhelms local capacity.

• It happens when hazards, vulnerabilities, and lack of capacity come together.
• The damage from a disaster is measured in physical units — for example, the number of houses destroyed, kilometers of road damaged, or hectares of crops affected.

Hazards, Vulnerability, and Risk — The Core Concepts

A. Hazard

A Hazard is simply a dangerous event or condition that has the potential to cause harm to life, property, or the environment.

Hazards can be of two types:

1. Natural Hazards

These are naturally occurring events.
They are categorized further as:

Type	Examples
Geophysical	Earthquakes, Landslides, Volcanic activity, Tsunamis
Hydrological	Floods, Avalanches
Climatological	Droughts, Wildfires, Extreme temperature
Meteorological	Cyclones, Storms, Wave surges
Biological	Epidemics, Plagues, Insect infestations

2. Anthropogenic Hazards

These are human-made hazards caused by human actions or negligence.
Examples — Pollution, Deforestation, Industrial accidents, Pesticide use, or Chemical spillages.

B. Vulnerability

Now, imagine two regions hit by the same flood — one recovers quickly, the other suffers heavily.
What made the difference?
👉 Vulnerability — the degree to which a community is susceptible to damage.

Definition:
Vulnerability refers to the conditions determined by physical, social, economic, and environmental factors which increase a community’s susceptibility to hazard impacts.

Let’s understand the types of vulnerabilities:

1. Economic Vulnerability:
   • Relates to how a disaster affects income and economic assets.
   • Poor families often live in high-risk zones (like floodplains or unstable slopes) because safer areas are costly.
   • So, poverty = higher vulnerability.
2. Physical Vulnerability:
   • Depends on where you live and what your physical structures are like.
   • For example, wooden houses may withstand earthquakes better but are more vulnerable to fire.
3. Social Vulnerability:
   • Some groups (elderly, disabled, children, pregnant women) face more difficulty during disasters — they can’t evacuate or protect themselves easily.
4. Environmental Vulnerability:
   • Linked to the sensitivity of ecosystems.
   • For instance, wetlands are vulnerable to pollution and salinity, harming biodiversity.
5. Attitudinal Vulnerability:
   • This is psychological and cultural.
   • If a community has a negative attitude, resists change, and depends entirely on external help, its vulnerability increases.

C. Risk

Now, let’s combine everything.

When a hazard (like a flood) interacts with a vulnerable population (say, people living on the floodplain), the result is disaster risk.

Risk = Probability of Hazard × Degree of Vulnerability

So, even a severe hazard might not cause much damage if the vulnerability is low (like Japan’s earthquake preparedness).
Conversely, a mild hazard can be disastrous if vulnerability is high.

Types of Risk Management Approaches:

1. Risk Acceptance:
   • A conscious decision to accept a certain level of risk.
   • Example: Living in a flood-prone area despite knowing the danger.
2. Risk Avoidance:
   • Avoiding the activity that leads to risk.
   • Example: Banning construction in coastal high-risk zones.
3. Risk Reduction:
   • Using technology and planning to minimize impact.
   • Example: Building flood embankments, earthquake-resistant structures.
4. Risk Transfer:
   • Shifting the burden of risk to another party.
   • Example: Taking insurance to cover disaster losses.

Classification of Disasters

Disasters can be classified on two bases:

A. On the Basis of Source

1. Natural Disasters:
   • Caused purely by natural phenomena — like earthquakes, cyclones, or volcanic eruptions.
   • Some are socio-natural, meaning natural + human factors both contribute — for example, floods made worse by blocked drains.
2. Anthropogenic (Man-made) Disasters:
   • Result from human negligence or technological failure — for instance, industrial accidents, toxic leaks, or wars.

B. On the Basis of Duration

1. Rapid Onset Disasters:
   • Sudden, short-term, and intense.
   • Examples: Earthquakes, Cyclones, Floods, Tsunamis.
   • These require emergency response and rescue operations.
2. Slow Onset Disasters:
   • Develop gradually over months or years.
   • Examples: Drought, Desertification, Climate change, Soil degradation.
   • Though slow, they silently reduce a society’s ability to sustain itself — hence, equally dangerous.

🧩 Conclusion

In short:

Disaster = Hazard × Vulnerability ÷ Capacity

The greater the vulnerability and the lesser the capacity to respond, the more devastating the disaster.