Disaster Preparedness & Planning Management Riyaz Mohammed

UNIT -I

Introduction: Concepts and Definitions: Disaster, Hazard, Vulnerability,

Resilience, Risks severity, Capacity, Prevention, Mitigation.

1.1-Disaster:
Definition: An event, natural or human made sudden or progressive, which
impacts with such severity that the affected community has to respond by taking
exceptional measures!

Or
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".

or
The Disaster Management Act, 2005 defines disaster as "a catastrophe, mishap,
calamity or grave occumence in any area, aising from nabural or manmade
causes, or by accident or negligence which results in substantial loss of life or
human suffering or damage to, and destruction of, property or damage to, or
degradation of, environment, and is of such a nature or magnitude as to be
beyond the coping capacity of the community of the affected area".
Or

The United Nations defines disaster as "the occurrence of sudden or major

misfortune which disnupts the basic fabric and nomal functioning of the society
or community".

Disaster Background: Disasters are as old as human history but the dramatic
increase and the damage caused by them in the recent past have become a cause
of national and intemational concem. Over thee past decade, the number of
natural and man-made disasters has climbed inexorably. From 1994 to 1998,
reported disasters average was 428 per year but fom 1999 to 2003, this figure
went up to an average of 707 disaster events per year showing an increase of
about 60 per cent over the previous years.

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The biggest rise was in countries of low human development, which suffered an
increase of 142 per cent. Disasters are not new to mankind. They have been the
constant, though inconvenient, companions of the human beings since time
immemorial. Disasters can be natural or human-made.

Earthquake, cyclone, hailstorm, cloud-burst, landslide, soil erosion, snow

avalanche, flood etc. are the examples of natural disasters while fire, epidemics,
oad, air, rail accidents and leakages of chemicals/nuclear installations etc. fall
under the category of human-made disasters.
Relationship: Hazard x Vulnerability = Disaster

Clasification: Disaster can classified as:

1. Natural (Resulting from Natural Forces).

2. Man-made (Resulting from Human Decision).
3. Hybrid (resulting from both natural and man made)
1. Natural Disaster classified in to:

Resulting from phenomenon beneath the earth surface (E.g. Earthquake,

tsunami, Volcano) Atthe earth surface -landslide &Avalanche.
ii. Resulting from meteorological/hydrological phenomenon (e.g. Wind
stom, cyclones, hurmicane, typhoon, tomados, flood, drought, heat wave).
ii. Biological phenomenon (E.g. epidemics, infestation).
2. Man-made Disaster classified in to:

Socio-technical disaster.
ii. Warfare Disaster.

i. Socdo technical disaster can occur in following situation:

Technological (e.g. gas leakage, fire during industrial activity).

Transport failure (e.g. Air crash, Road/rail accidents).
Stadia and public place failure (fire, struchural, collapse, crushing).
ii Warfare Disaster classified in Interstate conflict and intemational conflict,
which can further include- chemical, biological, nuclearwars.
3. Hybrid Disaster are esult of natural forces and human action (e.g. excessive
deforestation).

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India Disaster Scenario: India due to its geo-climatic and socio-economic

condition is prone to vañous disasters. During the last thirty years' time span
the country has been hit by 431 major disasters resulting into enormous loss to
life and property. A ccording to the Prevention Web statistics, 143039 people
were killed and about 150 crore were affected by various disasters in the
country dunng these three decades. The disastes caused huge loss to prwperty
and other infrastructures costing more than US $ 4800 crore. The most severe
disasters in the country and their impact in tem of people affected, lives lost
and economic damage is given in the In India, the cyclone which occured on
25th November, 1839 had a death toll of three lakh people.

The Bhuj earthquake of 2001 in Gujarat and the Super Cyclone of Orissa on 29th
October, 1999 are still fresh in the memory of most Indians. The most recent
natural disaster of a cloud burst esulting in flash floods and mudflow in Leh
and sumunding areas in the early hours of 6h August, 2010, caused severe
damage in tems of human lives as well as property. There was a reported death
toll of 196 persons, 65 missing persons, 3,661 damaged houses and 27,350
hectares of affected crop area. Floods, earthquakes, cyclones, hailstoms, etc.
are the most frequently occuming disasters in India.

Economic
Year Type of Disasters People affected Life lost damage
(USDx1000)
1980 Flood 30,000,023
1982 Drought 100,000,000

Flood 33,500,000
1984 Epidemic 3290
1987 Drought 300,000,000
|1988 Epidemic 3000
Storm
1990 2,200,000
1993 Flood 128,000,000 7,000,000
Earthquake" 9,748
Flood 2001
1994
1995 Flood 32,704,000
1996 Storm 1,500,300

1998 Storm 2871

EXtreme Temp. 2541
Flood
1811

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1999 Storm 9,843 2,500,000

2000 Drought 50,000,000
2001 Earthquake 20,005 2,623,000
2002 Drought 300,000,000
Flood
42,000,000
2004 Flood 3,000,000 2,500,000
Earthquake 16,389
2005 Flood
3,330,000
Flood
2006 ood
2,300,000
3,390,000
2009 Flood 2,150,000

Disasters Global Scenario: Disasters natural or human-made are common

throughout the wordd. Disasters continue to occur without waming and are
perceived to be on an increase in their magnitude, complexity, frequency and
economic impact Hazards pose threats to people and assume serious
proportions in the under developed countries with dense population. During the
second half of the 20th century, more than 200 worst natural disasters occumed
in the different parts of the wodd and claimed lives of around 1.4 million
people. Losses due to nalural disasters are 20 times greater (as % of GDP) in the
developing countries than in industrialized one. A sia tops the list of casualties
due to natural disasters. Figure shows the Regional distribution of disasters by
type, as prepared by Centre for Research on Epidemiology of Disaster.

World distribution of disasters by type

1991 2005
atpbe Tue

Wnd Stom

atrene empesature

Wdie

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Regional dstribution of disasters by TYpe

199 2005
Lrope

Ame Re
Africa

Oca

Drought Epdomc
n Side
Exremo tomporaure
EarthquoKe & tsunam
Wind stom ocanc Irsoct infestaton Wild fre

There have been several natural, as well as, man-made disasters. Records of
natural disasters can be traced way back to 430 B.C. when the Typhus epidemic
was reported in A thens. Ten deadliest natural disasters recorded in the world are
dated back to 1556 when an earthquake in Shaanxi province of China occured
on 23rd January, 1556 and 8,30,000 casualties were recorded. List of ten
deadliest disasters which have occumed across the wondd and in India in the
known histoy and in the last century may be seen from he respectively.

World Disaster
S.No Name of Event_ Year Country &Region Fatalities
1. Earthquake 1556 China, Shaanxi 830000

2. Earthquake 1731 China 100,000

India, Calcutta 300000
Cyclone 1737
Yellow River flood 1887 China
900,000-2,000,000
Messina 123000
1908 Italy
Earthquake

Earthquake 1920 China, Gansu 235000

Great Kanto
1923 Japan 142,000
Earthquake
Great Chinese 1958-
China 15,000,00043,000,000
Famine 1961
West Bengal, India & East
Bhola Cyclone 1970 s00,000
Pakistan (nowBangladesh)
10.
Tangshan 1976 China 242,419
Earthquake

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inLast Century
S.No Name of Event Year
Country &Region Fatalities
1. China Floods, 1931 China 1,000,000-2,500,000
2. Floods 1954 China 40,000

1970 Bangladesh, Chittagong, 300,000

Cyclone
Khulna
4.Bangladesh Cyclone, 991 Bangladesh 139,000
1999 17,000
5 Earthquake Turkey
Indonesia, Sri Lanka, India,

6. Tsunami 2004 Malaysia, 230,210

Somalia,Bangladesh,Thalland
7. Hurricane Katrina 2005 United States of America 1,836
87476 deaths including
8. Sichuan Earthquake 2008 China
SSing
More than 138000
2008 Myanmar
9.Cyclonenargis deaths
10. Haiti Earthquake 2010 Haiti 31600

Indian Disasters
S.No Name ofEvent Year
State &Area Fatalities
1556 China, Shaanx 830000
1. |Earthquake
2. Earthquake 1731 China 100,000
3. Cyclone 1737 India, Calcutta 300000
West Bengal, India & East
9 Bhola Cyclone 1970 S00,000
Pakistan (now Bangladesh)
10. Tangshan Earthquake 1976 China 242,419
10000 deaths hundreds
of thousands homeless
-ycione 1977 Andhra Pradesh 40000cattele deaths.
Destroyed 40% of India's
food grains8&
13.| Latur Earthquake 1993 Latur, Marthawada | 7928 died 30000 were
injured
14.
Orissa Super Cyclone 1999 Orissa 10000
Bhuj, Bachau, Anjar, 25000 deaths 6.3 million
5 Gujarat Earthquake 2001 Ahmedabad, surat Gujarat people affected

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| 10749 deaths 5640

Coastline of TamilNadu, persons missing 2.79
Kerala, AP, Pandicherry, as million people affected
16. Tsunami 2004
well as the Andaman and 11827 hectares of crops
Nicobar Islands of India damaged 300000 fisher

fioklost their livehood

2005, 1094 deaths 167 Injured
17. Maharshrta floods MP state
July 54 Missing
18. Kashmir Earthquake 2005 Kashmir
8600 deaths
527 deaths 19323 Live
stock 222754
Kosi Floods 2008 North Bihar Houses damaged
3329423 persons
affected
204 deaths 800 million
20. Cyclone Nisha 2008 Tamil Nadu
worth damages
21. Cyclone Laila 2010 Srilanka and India
65 Deaths
22. Cyclone Lehar 2013 India None

23. Cyclone Hud-Hud 2014 124 Deaths

India/Nepal
24. Cyclone Komen 2015
W.B/8ihear-Odisha None

25. Cyclone Roanu 2016 Bangladesh, India, Myanmar 227 Deaths

26. Kerala floods 2018 Kerala

Cyclone Titli 2018 Andhra Pradesh & Odisha

27. 89

Impact of Disasters:

1. Loss of lives.
2. Loss to Property and infrastructure.
3. Damage to livelihood.
4. Economic Loss.
5. Environmental Damage- Flora & Fauna.
6. Sociological & Psychological after effects.

12-Hazard:
Definition: "Hazards are defined as physical phenomena that pose a threat to
the people, structures or economic assets and which may cause a disaster."
Earthquake, floods, tsunami etc are all hazards and we can prevent them from
becoming disasters.

Or

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

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environment." The word "hazard' owes its origin to the word 'hasard' in old
French and 'az-zahr' in Arabic meaning "chance' or luck'.

Types/C lassification: Hazards can be grouped into two broad categories

namely:
1. Natural hazards.
2. Manmade hazards.
1. Natural hazards ae 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 orngin. 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.
2. 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. The list of hazards is very long. Many occur frequentdy while
others take place occasionally.

Hazards can be grouped as,

1. Earthquake 2. Tsunami 3. Volcanic eruption 4. Landslide

Geological Hazards
5.Damburst 6.MineFire
1. Tropical Cyclone 2. Tornado and Hurricane 3. Floods 4.
Drought 5. Hailstorm 6. Cloudburst 7. Landslide 8. Heat &
Water&Climatic Hazards
Cold wave

9. Snow Avalanche 10. Sea erosion

1. Environmental pollutions 2. Deforestation 3.
Environmental Hazards:
Desertification 4. PestInfection
1. Human/ Animal Epidemics 2. Pest attacks 3. Food
Biological Hazards:
poisoning 4. Weapons of Mass Destruction
Chemical, Industrial and Nuclear 1. Chemical disasters 2. Industrial disasters 3. Oil
Accldents spills/Fires 4, Nuclear
1. Boat/Road/ Train accidents/air crash Rural/Urban
fires Bomb /serial bomb blasts 2. Forest fires 3. Building
Accident related:
collapse 4. Electric Accidents 5. Festival related disasters
6.Mineflooding

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13-Vulnerability:
Definition: Vulnerability may be defined as "The extent to which a community,
stucture, services or geographic area is likely to be damaged or disrupted by the
impact of particular hazard, on account of their nabure, construction and
proximity to hazardous terains or a disaster prone area." It is the likely extent
of damage due to a hazard.

Key Concept of Vulnerability:

Vulnerability = Exposure + Resistance + Resilience

Exposure: at risk property and population

Resistance: Measures taken to prevent, avoid or reduce loss

Resilience: Ability to recover prior state or achieve desired post-dis aster state

Capacity to cope
High Low
Low
High
Exposure to Vulnerability
Hazard
Low
low Low

Types of Vulnerability: Vulnerabilities can be categorized into:

1. Physical vulnerability.
2. Socio-economic vulnerability.

1. 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. The settlements which
are located in hazardous slopes.

Figure below shows the settlements which are located in hazardous slopes.
Many landslide and flooding disasters are linked to what you see in the figure

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below. Unchecked growth of setlements in unsafe areas exposes the people to

the hazard. In case of an earthquake or landslide the ground may fail and the
houses on the top may topple or slide and affect the settlements at the lower
level even if they are designed well for earthquake forces.

Unstable slope

.
River
Site
River

Fig: Site after pressures from population growth and urbanization

2. 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 socio- economic conditions. The socioeconomic condition of the
people also detemines 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 ebuild their
houses.

Vulaerability DISASTER Hazard

Underlying
Causes
Dynamic Un
Conditions
Earthquse"eVent

Pressure
Lack
Tsunamis
Limited Dangerou loods
access lo

sources inine
Dungerous yclones
buildings Volcanic enuption
A es
skills Low incone Drought
Population lcve Landslide
verty expansion War
Urbanization Technokogical accident
Evronnental pollution
Unconirolled ************************

ironmental
degradation

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14-Resilience
"Resilire" (Latin word) - to bounce back.

Engineering resilience: The time taken by a system to bounce-back from

shocks.
Ecological resilience: The extent of dishurbance a system can take without
undergoing structural change.

Disaster Resilience is the ability of individuals, communities, oryanizations and

states to adapt to and recover from hazards, shocks or stresses without
compromising long-term prospects for development.

According to the Hyogo Framework for Action (UNISDR, 2005), disaster

resilience is detemined by the degree to which individuals, communities and
public and pivate organizations are capable of organizing themselves to leam
from past disasters and reduce their risks to future ones, at intemational,
regional, national and local levels.
Disaster resilience is part of the broader concept of resilience - the ability of

individuals, communities and states and their institutions to absorb and recover
from shocks, whilst positively adapting and transfoming their structures and
means for living in the face of long-tem changes and uncertainty.

Elements of a resilience framework: In practice, DFID's framework (DFID,

201la, 6-7; diagram below) depicts the core elements of disaster resilience as
follows:
1. Context: Whose resilience is being built - such as a social group,

socio-economic or political system, environmental context or institution.

2. Disturbance: What shocks (sudden events like conflict or disasters) and/or

stresses (long-tem trends like resource degradation, urbanization, or climate
change) the group aims to be resilient to.

3. Capacity to respond: The ability of a system or process to deal with a shock

or stress depends on exposure (the magnitude of the shock or stress), sensitivity
(the degree to which a system will be affected by, or will respond to, a given
shock or stress), and adaptive capacity (how well it can adjust to a dishurbance
or moderate damage, take advantage of opportunities and cope with the
consequences of a transfomation).

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4. Reaction: A range of esponses are possible, including: bounce back better,
where capacities are enhanced, exposures are reduced, and the system is more
able to deal with future shocks and stresses; bounce back, where pre-existing
conditions prevail; or recover, but worse than before, meaning capacities are
reduced. In the worst-case scenario, the system collapses, leading to a
catastrophic reduction in capacity to cope with the future.

The four elements of a resilience framework

1. Context 2. Disturbance 3. Capacityy 4. Reaction to

c.30CialEroup. natural to deal with disturbancee

FBOn, s t Ruton
hazard, conflict, disturbance 8 Survive, cope,
insecurity, food recover, lcorn,
shortage, hgh tue
transform
prices.

Bounce
back

Exposure better
Shocks

Bounce

Systen back
or
Sensitivity
Process Recover
but

Stresses
worse
than
Adaptive before

capacity
Collapse

Resilience of Resilience to
what? what?

1.5-Risk:
Definition: The probability of hamful consequences or expected losses
resulting from interaction between natural or human induced hazards and
vulnerable conditions.

Or

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.""

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Level of risk: The level of risk depends upon:

1. Nature of the hazard.

2. Vunerability of the elements which are affected.
3. Economic value of hose 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.

Key concept: Hazard* Vulnerability/Capacity = Risk.

Hazard Vulnerability
Disaster Risk
Capacity

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DISASTER RISK

HAZARD EXPOSURE VULNERABILITY API

MEASURES

Probability Structures Physical Physical planning

Population Social
Severity Social capacity
Economy Economic Economic capacity
Environmental Management

Risk Disaster Index (R) = (H +V+ E)-C d

H=Hazard Index
V=Vulnerability Index
E=Exposure Index y
C=Capacity & Measure Index

1. Preparedness: This potective process embraces measures which enable

govemments, communities and individuals to respond rapidly to disaster
situations to cope with them effectively. Preparedness includes the formulation
of viable emengency plans, the development of waming systems, the
maintenance of inventones and the training of personnel. It may also embrace
search and rescue measures as well as evacuation plans for areas that may be at
isk from a recuring disaster.

Preparedness therefore encompasses those measures taken before a disaster

event which are aimed at minimizing loss of life, disnuption of critical services,
and damage when the disaster occurs.

2. Mitigation: Mitigation embraces measures talken to reduce both the effect of

the hazard and the vulnerable conditions to it in order to reduce the scale of a
future disaster. Therefore mitigation activities can be focused on the hazard
itself or the elements exposed to the threat. Examples of mitigation measures
which are hazard specific include water management in drought prone areas,
relocating people away from the hazard prone areas and by strengthening
structures to reduce damage whena hazard occurs.

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In addition to these physical measures, mitigation should also aim at reducing

the economic and social vulnerabilities of potential disasters.

Elements at Risk: Persons, buildings, crops or other such like societal

components exposed to known hazard, which are likely to be adversely affected
by the impact of the hazard.

1.6-Capacity
Definition: Capacity is the resources of individuals, households and
communities to cope with a threat or resist the impact of a hazard.

Or

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:

1. 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 fams. Some family members have skills, which enable them to
find employment if they migrate, either temporarily or pemanently.

2. Socio-economie 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 ae built with stronger materials.
However, even when everything is destroyed they have the capacity to cope up
with it
Hazards ae always prevalent, but the hazard becomes a disaster only when
there is greater vulnerability and less of capacity to cope with it. In other words
the frequency or likelihood of a hazard and the vulnerability of the community
increases the risk of being severely affected.

Capacity =1/Vulnerability

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Hazard Vulnerability/Capacity =Risk.

Physical phenomena that pose a threat to the people * Extent to which the

community, stnucture can get damaged -

Available and potential resourtes =

Risk (Probability of disaster occumence).

1.7-Prevention:
Definition: Activites to avoid the adverse impact of hazards and means to
check from tuming into disasters
Examples: Avoiding construction in seismically active areas, landslide prone
areas and flood planes.

1.8-Mitigation:
Introduction:
Mitigation means measures aimed at reducing the risk, impact oreffects
of a disaster or threatening disaster situation Measures taken in advance
of a disaster aimed at reducing its impact on society and the environment.
Leaming from the past disaster.
Incorporating the learming in presentscenario.
Building back better to reduce the impact of future disasters.

COMMUNITE
BUSINESS TRAINING
RESOURCES
GLANNING
EDUCATO
NFORMATO OTFICATIO

IMGATOD

INGATIOKTRE
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Mitigation Measures:
1. Structural Measures
i. Multi-hazard resistant buildings.
. Shelters.
ii. Retrofitüing.
iv. Modemizing eardy waming system.
2. Non-structural Measures:
i. Awareness generation.
i1. Training and capacity building.
ii. Policy and regulations.
iv. Mock drills and demos.
. Effective dissemination of early waming.
vi. Development of state, district village plans.
vii. Building byelaws Revision.

******

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