Concepts in disaster management

INTRODUCTION TO DISASTERS
CONCEPTS AND DEFINITIONS
Megha Bedi
Assistant Professor
Civil Engineering Department

TERMINOLOGIES
DISASTER
“… A SERIOUS DISRUPTION OF THE
FUNCTIONING OF A SOCIETY, CAUSING
WIDESPREAD HUMAN, MATERIAL, OR
ENVIRONMENTAL LOSSES WHICH EXCEED
THE ABILITY OF THE AFFECTED SOCIETY TO
COPE USING ITS OWN RESOURCES.”
2

Contd..
• The United Nations defines Disaster as “THE
OCCURRENCE OF A SUDDEN OR MAJOR
MISFORTUNE WHICH DISRUPTS THE BASIC
FAFRIC AND NORMAL FUNCTIONING OR A
SOCIETY (COMMUNITY).”

4
TYPES OF DISASTERS
SUB GROUP I
WATER &
CLIMATE
RELATED
DISASTERS
FLOODS & DRAINAGE MGT.,
CYCLONES, TORNADOES &
HURRICANES, HAILSTORM,
CLOUD BURST, HEAT WAVE &
COLD WAVE, SNOW
AVALANCHES, DROUGHTS,
SEA EROSION AND
THUNDER & LIGHTNING.
SUB GROUP II
GEOLOGICALLY
RELATED
DISASTERS
LANDSLIDES, MUDFLOWS,
EARTHQUAKES, DAM
FAILURES / DAM BURSTS
AND MINE FIRES.
SUB GROUP III
CHEMICAL,
INDUS., &
NUCLEAR
RELATED
DISASTER
THE CHEMICAL AND
INDUSTRIAL & NUCLEAR
DISASTERS HAVE BEEN
INCLUDED.

Contd…
SUB GROUP IV ACCIDENT RELATED
DISASTERS
FOREST / URBAN
FIRES, MINE
FLOODING, OIL
SPILL, MAJOR BLDG.
COLLAPSE, SERIAL
BOMB BLASTS ETC.
SUB GROUP V BIOLOGICALLY
RELATED DISASTERS
BIOLOGICAL
DISASTER &
EPIDEMICS, PEST
ATTACKS, CATTLE
EPIDEMICS & FOOD
POISONING ETC.
5

HAZARD
• A Hazard is a physical or human-made event
that can potentially trigger a disaster.
• A rare or extreme natural or human- made event
that threatens to adversely affect human life,
property to the extent of causing a disaster.

7
H
A
Z
A
R
D
S
VIOLENCE BASED
War, Armed
Conflict, Physical
Assaults etc.
NATURE BASED
Earthquakes,
Droughts, Floods,
Cyclones etc.
FAILING
INDUSTRIALLIZE
D SOCIETY
BASED
Fire, Gas leakage,
Transport
Collisions etc.
DETERIORATION
BASED
Environmental
Degradation,
Declining Health,
Education & other
Social services.

RISKS
• Risk is the measure of the expected losses due to
a hazard event of a particular magnitude
occurring in a given area over a specific time
period.
• The level of risk depends upon:
– Nature of the hazard
– Vulnerability of the affected elements
– Economic value of affected elements

VULNERABILITY
• Vulnerability is the
‘Susceptibility to harm’
of those at risk.
• Vulnerability may be:
– Physical
– Social
– Economic
– Political

RESILIENCE
• Resilience is the capacity to prevent, mitigate,
prepare for, respond to and recover from the
impacts of disasters.
• It is the ability of individuals, communities,
organizations and states to adapt to and
recover from hazards, shocks or stresses
without compromising long-term prospects
for development.

Core Elements of Disaster Resilience
• Context: Whose resilience is being built – such as a social group, socio-economic or
political system, environmental context or institution.
• Disturbance: What shocks (sudden events like conflict or disasters) and/or stresses
(long-term trends like resource degradation, urbanisation, or climate change) the group
aims to be resilient to.
• 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 disturbance or moderate damage, take
advantage of opportunities and cope with the consequences of a transformation).
• Reaction: A range of responses 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.

Concepts in disaster management

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