DISASTER RISK, VULNERABILITY AND REDUCTION

Presentation Topic
DISASTER RISK, VULNERABILITY AND
REDUCTION:
AN IMPACT ON SOCIOLOGY
COURSE TITLE: Sociology of Disaster
COURSE NO.: Soc 4107

Presented By
Group- G
Dipak Kumar Das- 121603
Uma Golder- 121619
Abdullah Al Mamun- 121628
Satabdi Roy- 121633
Joyous Chakma- 121650

Presentation Outline
Introduction
Conceptual Issues
Objectives
Major Hazards and Disasters in Bangladesh
Defining Determinants of Risk: Hazard, Exposure, and Vulnerability
Risk Identification and Assessment
Development, Mitigation and Preparedness
Conclusion

Introduction
Bangladesh is a 3rd world country and is one of the most disaster-prone
countries in the world. Bangladesh is the most vulnerable to various natural
and man-made disasters and is a known cause of distress among its people.
The major disasters concerned here are the occurrences of flood, cyclone and
storm surge, flash flood, drought, tornado, riverbank erosion, and landslide.
In recent years, man-made disasters have become common news in
Bangladesh. Though fire is a common occurrence in many countries, the
number of casualties is higher in Bangladesh than in any other country.
Insufficient emergency exits, inadequate training on the how to use the fire
extinguishers, no emergency alarm system, inaccessible or locked main gate,
irregular safety drills, and lack of awareness of the owners and workers alike
worsen the situation.

Conceptual Issues
Disaster
• A disaster is a serious disruption of the functioning of a community or a society involving
widespread human, material, economic or environmental losses and impacts, which
exceeds the ability of the affected community or society to cope using its own resources.
Sociology
• Sociology is, very simply, the scientific study of social behavior and human groups.
Sociology as the science of social phenomena, “subject to natural and invariable laws, the
discovery of which is the object of investigation”.
Risk
• The word “risk” has two distinctive connotations: in popular usage the emphasis is
usually placed on the concept of chance or possibility, such as in “the risk of an accident”;
in terms of “potential losses” for some particular cause, place and period. It can be noted
that people do not necessarily share the same perceptions of the significance and
underlying causes of different risks.
Disaster Risk
• Every year, disasters related to meteorological, hydrological and climate hazards cause
significant loss of life, and set back economic and social development by years, if not
decades. Disaster risk refers to the risk of affecting human being, losses of wealth and
life, and affecting the surroundings.

Conceptual Issues(cont..)
Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR)
• Disaster risk reduction (DRR) is a systematic approach to identifying, assessing and
reducing the risks of disaster. Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) aims to reduce the damage
caused by natural hazards like earthquakes, floods, droughts and cyclones, through an
ethic of prevention.
Hazard
• A dangerous phenomenon, substance, human activity or condition that may cause loss of
life, injury or other health impacts, property damage, loss of livelihoods and services,
social and economic disruption, or environmental damage.
Vulnerability
• The characteristics and circumstances of a community, system or asset that make it
susceptible to the damaging effects of a hazard. Vulnerability varies significantly within a
community and over time. This definition identifies vulnerability as a characteristic of the
element of interest (community, system or asset) which is independent of its exposure.

Objectives
• To identify the disasters (both natural and man-made)
• To explore how these disasters effect on human being
• To identify the disaster risks
• To clarify Disaster risk reduction (DRR)

Major Hazards and Disasters in Bangladesh
Bangladesh is prone to floods and cyclones, and the risk of other disasters such as
drought, earthquakes, landslides and tornados is increasing. The impacts are
becoming more visible at the local level, with greater impacts on poor and
vulnerable communities.
Cyclones and Storm Surges
The coastal regions of Bangladesh are subject to damaging cyclones almost every
year. They generally occur in early summer (April-May) or late rainy season
(October-November). Cyclones originate from low atmospheric pressures over the
Bay of Bengal.
Flood
In Bangladesh, flood is a recurring problem because of its flat and riverine feature.
Almost every year some parts of India and Bangladesh experience flood with
considerable damage. The floods of 1954, 1955, 1974, 1987, 1988 all caused
enormous damage to properties and considerable loss of life.

Major Hazards and Disasters in Bangladesh(cont..)
Landslide
Landslide is an inveterate problem for south eastern part of Bangladesh and Chittagong city is
particularly highly vulnerable to this hazard with an increasing trend of frequency and demand.
Earthquake
Bangladesh is located in the north eastern part of the Indian subcontinent at the head of the Bay of
Bengal. The Geographical location of Bangladesh makes it susceptible to earthquakes. The country‘s
position adjacent to the very active Himalayan front and on-going deformation in nearby parts of
south-east Asia expose it to strong shaking from a variety of earthquake sources that can produce
tremors of magnitude 8 or greater.
Tornado
The two transitional periods between southwest and northeast monsoons over the Indian sub-
continent are characterized by local severe storms. The transitional periods are usually referred to as
pre-monsoon (March-May), and post-monsoon (October- November). It is the pre-monsoon period
when most of the abnormal rainfall or drought conditions frequently occur in different parts of
Bangladesh. Also there are severe local seasonal storms, popularly known as nor’westers
(kalbaishakhi).

River Bank Erosion
• Riverbank Erosion is an endemic and recurrent natural hazard in Bangladesh.
When rivers enter the mature stage (as in the case with the three mighty rivers,
Ganges, Brahmaputra and Meghna) they become sluggish and meander or braid.
Drought
• Drought a prolonged, continuous period of dry weather along with abnormal
insufficient rainfall. It occurs when evaporation and transpiration exceed the
amount of precipitation for a reasonable period.
Arsenic Contamination
• At present, arsenic contamination is considered to be a dangerous environmental
threat and a serious health risk. It is identified as a public health emergency in
Bangladesh. There is no specific treatment for chronic Arsenicosis other than
ceasing further intake of arsenic contaminated water and raising awareness of the
population about the problem.

Salinity Intrusion
• Saline water intrusion is mostly seasonal in Bangladesh; in winter months the saline front begins to
penetrate inland, and the affected areas rise sharply from 10 percent in the monsoon to over 40
percent in the dry season. Coastal districts such as Satkhira, Khulna, Bagerhat, Barguna, Pataskala,
Barisal are the victims of salinity intrusion. Agricultural production, fisheries, livestock, and
mangrove forests are affected by higher salinity in the dry season. (Assignment Point, 2016)
Tsunami
• Underwater strong earthquakes, volcanic eruption or other submarine landslide usually causes
tsunamis. When earthquake occur offshore at seduction zones (places where a tectonic plate that
carries an ocean is gradually slipping under a continental plate). Some tsunamis can be very large.
In coastal areas their height can be as great as 30 feet or more (100 feet in extreme cases), and they
can move inland several hundred feet.
Man-made Disaster in Bangladesh
• Though fire is a common occurrence in many countries, the number of casualties is higher in
Bangladesh than in any other country. The main reason for so death is suffocation during the blaze.
Insufficient emergency exits, inadequate training on the how to use the fire extinguishers, no
emergency alarm system, inaccessible or locked main gate, irregular safety drills, and lack of
awareness of the owners and workers alike worsen the situation

Defining Determinants of Risk: Hazard, Exposure, and Vulnerability
Disaster Risk
• Disaster risk signifies the possibility of adverse effects in the future. It derives from the interaction
of social and environmental processes, from the combination of physical hazards and the
vulnerabilities of exposed elements. Disaster risk is not fixed but is a continuum in constant
evolution.
The Factors of Risk
• As detailed, hazard refers to the possible, future occurrence of natural or human-induced physical
events that may have adverse effects on vulnerable and exposed elements. Although, at times,
hazard has been ascribed the same meaning as risk, currently it is widely accepted that it is a
component of risk and not risk itself.
Environmental Dimensions
• Potentially vulnerable natural systems (such as low-lying islands, coastal zones, mountain regions,
dry lands, and Small Island Developing States)
• Impacts on systems (e.g., flooding of coastal cities and agricultural lands, or forced migration)
• The mechanisms causing impacts (e.g., disintegration of particular ice sheets)
• Responses or adaptations to environmental conditions

Defining Determinants of Risk: Hazard, Exposure, and Vulnerability (cont..)
Social Dimensions
Demography
• Certain population groups may be more vulnerable than others to climate variability and extremes. For
example, the very young and old are more vulnerable to heat extremes than other population groups. A rapidly
aging population at the community to country scale bears implications for health, social isolation, economic
growth, family composition, and mobility, all of which are social determinants of vulnerability.
Migration and Displacement
• Trends in migration, as a component of changing population dynamics, have the potential to rise because of
alterations in extreme climate event frequency. The United Nations Office for the Coordination of
Humanitarian Affairs and the Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre have estimated that around 20 million
people were displaced in 2008 because of rapid onset climate-related disasters.
Social Groups
• Particular groups and conditions have been identified as having differential exposure or vulnerability to
extreme events, for example race/ethnicity, socioeconomic class and caste, gender, age (both the elderly and
children), migration, and housing tenure (whether renter or owner), as among the most common social
vulnerability characteristics, extends and refines this list to include residents of group living facilities; ethnic
minorities (by language); recent migrants (including immigrants); tourists and transients; physically or
mentally disabled; large households; renters; large concentrations of children and youth; poor households; the
homeless; and women-headed households.

Risk Identification and Assessment
Risk Identification
• Understanding risk factors and communicating risks due to climate change to decision
makers and the general public are key challenges. These challenges include developing an
improved understanding of underlying vulnerabilities, and societal coping and response
capacities.
Vulnerability and Risk Assessment
• The development of modern risk analysis and assessments were closely linked to the
establishment of scientific methodologies for identifying causal links between adverse
health effects and different types of hazardous events and the mathematical theories of
probability.
Risk Communication
• Risk communication is a complex cross-disciplinary field that involves reaching different
audiences to make risk comprehensible, understanding and respecting audience values,
predicting the audience’s response to the communication, and improving awareness and
collective and individual decision-making

Risk Identification and Assessment (cont..)
Risk Management
• Risk management is the process of minimizing or mitigating the risk. It starts with the
identification and evaluation of risk followed by optimal use of resources to monitor and
minimize the same. Risk generally results from uncertainty. In organizations this risk can
come from uncertainty in the market place (demand, supply and Stock market), failure of
projects, accidents, natural disasters etc.

Development, Mitigation and Preparedness
Mitigation
• The lessening or limitation of the adverse impacts of hazards and related disasters. The
adverse impacts of hazards often cannot be prevented fully, but their scale or severity can
be substantially lessened by various strategies and actions. Mitigation measures
encompass engineering techniques and hazard-resistant construction as well as improved
environmental policies and public awareness.
Preparedness
• Preparedness action is carried out within the context of disaster risk management and
aims to build the capacities needed to efficiently manage all types of emergencies and
achieve orderly transitions from response through to sustained recovery.
Prevention
• The outright avoidance of adverse impacts of hazards and related disasters. Prevention
(i.e. disaster prevention) expresses the concept and intention to completely avoid potential
adverse impacts through action taken in advance.

Development, Mitigation and Preparedness (cont..)
Response
• The provision of emergency services and public assistance during or immediately after a
disaster in order to save lives, reduce health impacts, ensure public safety and meet the
basic subsistence needs of the people affected. Disaster response is predominantly
focused on immediate and short-term needs and is sometimes called “disaster relief”.
Recovery
• The recovery task of rehabilitation and reconstruction begins soon after the emergency
phase has ended, and should be based on pre-existing strategies and policies that facilitate
clear institutional responsibilities for recovery action and enable public participation.
Resilience
• The ability of a system, community or society exposed to hazards to resist, absorb,
accommodate to and recover from the effects of a hazard in a timely and efficient manner,
including through the preservation and restoration of its essential basic structures and
functions. Resilience means the ability to “resile from” or “spring back from” a shock.

Conclusion
Disaster risk is not an autonomous or externally generated circumstance to which society
reacts, adapts, or responds, but rather the result of the interaction of society and the natural
or built environment. Thus disasters are often the product of parallel developments that
sometimes reach a tipping point, where the cumulative effect of these parallel processes
results in disaster. Disaster effect our society inversely and the sum of sufferings are lot. It
effect the human beings as well as the scientific study of them; which can be called
sociology. After that point, recovery may be slowed by conflict between processes and goals
of reconstruction. We saw that after a disaster the sociological framework were being broke
down; theft, robbery, mugging etc. crimes were increased in an alarming rate. Norms,
values, folkways, mores were being disrupted. In addition, there is often strong pressure to
restore the status quo as soon as possible after a disaster has happened, even if that status
quo means continued high levels of disaster risk. Sometimes, however, disasters themselves
can be a window of opportunity for addressing the determinants of disaster risk.

References
• Abel, N. D., Cumming, and Anderies, J. 2006. Collapse and Reorganization in Social
Ecological Systems: Questions, Some Ideas, and Policy Implications. Ecology and
Society, 11(1): 17-42.
• Arafin, K. S. 2013. Man-made disaster: Policy and practice. The Daily Star, published on
May 18, 2013.
• Assignment Point, 2016. Reducing Risk through Disaster Resilient Housing in
Bangladesh. Accessed on January 26, 2016. Retrieved from
[http://www.assignmentpoint.com/other/reducing_risk_through_disaster_resilient_housin
g_in_bangladesh.html]
• Banglapedia, 2016. Natural Hazard. Accessed on January 26, 2016. Retrieved from
[http://en.banglapedia.org/index.php?title=Natural_Hazard]
• Cardona, O.D., M.K. van Aalst, J. Birkmann, M. Fordham, G. McGregor, R. Perez, R.S.
Pulwarty, E.L.F. Schipper, and B.T. Sinh, 2012: Determinants of risk: exposure and
vulnerability. In: Managing the Risks of Extreme Events and Disasters to Advance
Climate Change Adaptation [Field, C.B., V. Barros, T.F. Stocker, D. Qin, D.J. Dokken,
K.L. Ebi, M.D. Mastrandrea, K.J. Mach, G.-K. Plattner, S.K. Allen, M. Tignor, and P.M.
Midgley (Eds.)]. A Special Report of Working Groups I and II of the Intergovernmental
Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK, and New
York, NY, USA, pp. 65-108.

References(cont..)
• Energybangla, 2016. Manmade disaster in Bangladesh. Accessed on January 26,
2016. Retrieved from
[http://energybangla.com/Bangladesh_able_deal_natural_manmade_disasterpm/]
• Haque, S. M. 2012. Draft Disaster Risk Reduction Action Plan for Department of
Women Affairs. Ministry of Disaster Management and Relief, 3(3): 131–135
• Red Cross and Red Crescent, 2016. What is Disaster? Accessed on January 28,
2016. Retrieved from
[http://www.ifrc.org/en/what_we_do/disaster_management/about_disasters/what_i
s_a_disaster/]
• Wikipedia, 2016. Disaster. Accessed on January 26, 2016. Retrieved from
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disaster]
• Zimmerman, M., Glombitza, K. F. and Rothenberger, B. 2012. Disaster Risk
Reduction Programme for Bangladesh. Swiss Agency for Development and
Cooperation (SDC), 12(2): 300-303

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