GE8071 -DISASTER MANAGEMENT

UNIT I
INTRODUCTION TO DISASTERS
PART A
1. What is disaster?
Defines Disaster as "any occurrence that causes 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"

2. What is hazard?
A hazard is a situation that poses a level of threat to life, health, property, or environment. Most hazards are dormant
or potential, with only a theoretical risk of harm; however, once a hazard becomes "active", it can create an emergency
situation. A hazard does not exist when it is not happening. A hazardous situation that has come to pass is called an incident.
Hazard and vulnerability interact together to create risk.

3. Define Vulnerability?
Vulnerability refers to the inability to withstand the effects of a hostile environment. A window of vulnerability
(WoV) is a time frame within which defensive measures are reduced, compromised or lacking.
Types
Social vulnerability
Military vulnerability

4. Define landslides?
A landslide or landslip is a geological phenomenon which includes a wide range of ground movement, such as rock
falls, deep failure of slopes and shallow debris flows, which can occur in offshore, coastal and onshore environments.
Although the action of gravity is the primary driving force for a landslide to occur, there are other contributing factors
affecting the original slope stability

5. Discuss Define disaster management?

‘Disaster management can be defined as the organization and management of resources and responsibilities for
dealing with all humanitarian aspects of emergencies, in particular preparedness, response and recovery in order to lessen the
impact of disasters.’
Types of disasters
Disaster prevention
Disaster preparedness

6. How What is mitigation?

The elimination or reduction of the frequency, magnitude, or severity of exposure to risks, or minimization of the
potential impact of a threat or warning.

7. Mention the steps involved in disaster management cycle?

The steps involved in disaster management cycle are
Mitigation
Preparedness
Response
Recovery

8. What is drought?
Drought is a normal, recurrent feature of climate, although many erroneously consider it a rare and random event. It
occurs in virtually all areas, whatever their normal climate may be, and the characteristics of a drought may be very different
from one region to another. Technically, drought is a “temporary” condition, even though it may last for long periods of time.

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 9. What is manmade disaster?
A man-made disaster results from man-made hazards (threats having an element of human intent, negligence or
error, or involving a failure of a man-made system). They differ from natural disasters that result from natural hazards.

10. What are the types of drought?

Types:
Meteorological,
Hydrological,
Agricultural and
Socioeconomic

PART B

1. Draw the disaster management cycle and explain every stage in it (April/May 2018)

It is an ongoing process by which governments, civil (and military) society plan for and reduce the impact of disasters,
react during and immediately following a disaster, and take steps to recover after a disaster has occurred. There are
variations to the cycle but the most common version is the 4 phases of disaster cycle:

Mitigation: involves implementing measures for preventing future threat of disaster and/or minimizing their damaging
effects of unavoidable threat. It requires hazard risk analysis and the application of strategies to reduce the likelihood that
hazards will become disasters, such as flood-proofing homes or having flood/fire insurance, following safety standards of
building materials and appliances. This phase (and the whole cycle disaster management cycle), includes the shaping of
public policies and plans that either modify the causes of disasters or mitigate their effects on people, property, and
infrastructure.
Disaster preparedness: preparedness efforts include plans or preparations made in advance of an emergency that help
individuals and communities get ready to either respond or to recover. It aims to achieve a satisfactory level of readiness
to respond to any emergency situation through programs that strengthen the technical and managerial capacity of
governments, organizations, and communities. These measures can be described as logistical readiness to deal with
disasters and can be enhanced by having response mechanisms and procedures, rehearsals, developing long-term and
short-term strategies, public education and building early warning systems. The preparations may include the stocking of
reserve food and water, the gathering and screening of willing community volunteers, or citizen’s education & evacuation
plan, holding disaster drills, and installing smoke detectors, mutual aid agreements, development of hospital disaster
plans, emergency medical service plans, etc.
Disaster response: Disaster response work includes any actions taken in the midst of or immediately following an
emergency, including efforts to save lives and to prevent further property damage. Ideally, disaster response involves
putting already established disaster preparedness plans into motion. It’s what the public typically thinks of when
imagining a disaster: Flashing lights, evacuation, search and rescue, and sheltering victims. Healthcare and psychosocial
intervention response starts here. The focus in the response phase is on meeting the basic needs of the victims until
sustainable community has been achieved. This phase may still continue even when recovery phase can already be started.
Disaster recovery: Recovery involves restoring, rebuilding, and reshaping the impacted area. It starts after damages have
been assessed and adequate response effort is achieved and on-going. It involves actions to return the affected community
to its pre-disaster state or better. As the emergency is brought under control, the affected population is capable of
undertaking a growing number of activities aimed at restoring their lives and the infrastructure that supports them.
Recovery activities continue until all systems return to normal or better. These measures, both short and long term, aim to
return vital life-support systems to minimum operating standards; such as temporary housing, public information, health
and safety education; continued health monitor and care, reconstruction of vital facilities; counseling programs; grants,
and it may include economic impact studies.

2. What is to be done during and after Earthquake. (April/May 2018)

What to Do During an Earthquake

• Stay calm! If you're indoors, stay inside. If you're outside, stay outside.
• If you're indoors, stand against a wall near the center of the building, stand in a doorway, or crawl under heavy furniture (a
desk or table). Stay away from windows and outside doors.
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 • If you're outdoors, stay in the open away from power lines or anything that might fall. Stay away from buildings (stuff might
fall off the building or the building could fall on you).
• Don't use matches, candles, or any flame. Broken gas lines and fire don't mix.
• If you're in a car, stop the car and stay inside the car until the earthquake stops.
• Don't use elevators (they'll probably get stuck anyway).

What to Do After an Earthquake

• Check yourself and others for injuries. Provide first aid for anyone who needs it.
• Check water, gas, and electric lines for damage. If any are damaged, shut off the valves. Check for the smell of gas. If you
smell it, open all the windows and doors, leave immediately, and report it to the authorities (use someone else's phone).
• Turn on the radio. Don't use the phone unless it's an emergency.
• Stay out of damaged buildings.
• Be careful around broken glass and debris. Wear boots or sturdy shoes to keep from cutting your feet.
• Be careful of chimneys (they may fall on you).
• Stay away from beaches. Tsunamis and seiches sometimes hit after the ground has stopped shaking.
• Stay away from damaged areas.
• If you're at school or work, follow the emergency plan or the instructions of the person in charge.
• Expect aftershocks.

3. What are the types of disasters? Explain in detailed about manmade disaster and natural disaster? (April / May 2018)

A flood is an overflow of water that submerges land that is usually dry. In the sense of "flowing water", the word
may also be applied to the inflow of the tide. Floods are an area of study of the discipline hydrology and are of significant concern in
agriculture, civil engineering and public health.

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 In meteorology, a cyclone refers to any low pressure area with winds spiraling inwards. Cyclones rotate clockwise
in the Southern Hemisphere and anti-clockwise in the Northern Hemisphere. ... Cyclones are also referred to as hurricanes and
typhoons. They consist of the eye, eyewall and rain bands.

A drought or drouth is a natural disaster of below-average precipitation in a given region, resulting in prolonged
shortages in the water supply, whether atmospheric, surface water or ground water. A drought can last for months or years, or may be
declared after as few as 15 days

A sudden violent shaking of the ground, typically causing great destruction, as a result of movements within the
earth's crust or volcanic action.
An unusually large and rapid drop in temperature over a short period of time (such as 24 hours)

A thunderstorm, also known as an electrical storm or a lightning storm, is a storm characterized by the
presence of lightning and its acoustic effect on the Earth's atmosphere, known as thunder.

A heat wave is a period of excessively hot weather, which may be accompanied by high humidity, especially in
oceanic climate countries.
While definitions vary, a heat wave is usually measured relative to the usual weather in the area and relative to
normal temperatures for the season.

A mass of mud and other earthy material that is falling or has fallen down a hillside or other slope

A violent disturbance of the atmosphere with strong winds and usually rain, thunder, lightning, or snow.

Manmade causes- Fire is caused when a source of fire like naked flame, cigarette or bidi, electric spark or any
source of ignition comes into contact with inflammable material.
An epidemic is then unusual increase in the number of cases of an infectious disease which already exists in a certain region
or population. ... Epidemics may also attack animals, causing local economic disasters.

The action of clearing a wide area of trees.

The presence in or introduction into the environment of a substance which has harmful or poisonous effects.
War is defined as a conflict between to large groups of population, which involves physical force, violence and the
use of weapons.

An unfortunate incident that happens unexpectedly and unintentionally, typically resulting in damage or injury.

The deaths of John and Susan Cooper were revealed to be caused be e.coli, a bacteria which can cause food
poisoning symptoms. The deaths are the latest in a string of food poisoning disasters to have struck tourists visiting Egypt.

which are disasters caused by industrial companies, either by accident, negligence or incompetence. They are a form of
industrial accident where great damage, injury or loss of life are caused.

An environmental disaster or ecological disaster is a catastrophic event regarding the environment due to human
activity. This distinguishes it from the concept of a natural disaster. It is also distinct from intentional acts of war such as nuclear
bombings.

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4. Write down in detail about causes. Explain in detail about various factor of causes.

Causes

Disaster management and specific tools can be initiated by a number of emergency events. The Urban Earthquake Vulnerability
Reduction Project isolates five primary categories of emergency: water and climate-related (floods, tornadoes or hurricanes),
geologically-related (earthquakes and dam destruction), chemical/industrial/nuclear, accident-related and finally, biologically related.
Each of these requires its own specific approaches, organization, mitigation resources, strategies and tactics.

It has been estimated that rapidly growing modernization is leading to ignorance towards the environment. Today we are growing at a
rapid rate neglecting the harm that we are causing to our environment.

Environmental bylaws are being neglected for personal gains by few businessmen. The dual forces of global warming, as well as poor
human management in the field of land and water resources, combine to the cause of natural disasters.

Humans have created a situation where ordinary events like earthquakes and hurricanes become increasingly elevated to the level of
natural disasters which results in heavy losses in the terms of human life as well as property.

In one way or the other we are hampering our environment, the rapidly growing industrialization has led to a lot of air as well as water
pollution. Though there are environmental laws that these industries need to follow to treat the waste before disposing of into the
environment but most of the times the industry owners neglect these laws for their personal gain and even authorities are also quite
relaxed and do not take a prompt action against the culprits.

Rapid construction has led to large land areas being covered with cement, which means that the flow of water becomes very strong,
and the runoff from the water can't get absorbed by the soil anymore, so it keeps collecting and rushing down, getting heavier and
faster, which may ultimately lead to much bigger floods.

Factors of Causes in disasters

• Poverty
• Population growth
• Rapid urbanization
• Transitions in cultural practices
• Environmental degradation
• Lack of awareness and information
• War and civil strife

The causes of natural disasters are many. Human activities play a role in the frequency and severity of disasters. A natural disaster is a
disruption in the balance of the environment. The human factor raises the cost, in both property damage and loss of life.
Understanding the causes of natural disaster can provide clues to their prevention.

Poverty

The most important single influence on the impact of a disaster is poverty. All other factors could be lessened if the affected
population were not also limited by poverty. Virtually all disaster studies show that the wealthiest of the population either survive the
disaster unaffected or are able to recover quickly. Across the broad spectrum of disasters, poverty generally makes people vulnerable
to the impact of hazards.

Population growth

There is an obvious connection between the increase in losses from a disaster and the increase in population. If there are more people
and structures where a disaster strikes, then it is likely there will be more of an impact. The growth of population has been so

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spectacular that it is inevitable that more people will be affected by disasters because more will be forced to live and work in unsafe
areas.

Rapid urbanization

Rapid population growth and migration are related to the major phenomenon of rapid urbanization. This process is also accelerated in
developing countries. It is characterized by the rural poor or civilians in an area of conflict moving to metropolitan areas in search of
economic opportunities and security.

Transitions in cultural practices

Many of the inevitable changes that occur in all societies lead to an increase in the societies’ vulnerability to disasters. Obviously, all
societies are constantly changing and in a continual state of transition. These transitions are often extremely disruptive and uneven,
leaving gaps in social coping mechanisms and technology.

Environmental degradation

Many disasters are either caused or exacerbated by environmental degradation. Deforestation leads to rapid rain run off, which
contributes to flooding. The destruction of mangrove swamps decreases a coast line’s ability to resist tropical winds and storm surges.

Lack of awareness and information

Disasters can also happen because people vulnerable to them simply didn’t know how to get out of harm’s way or to take protective
measures. This ignorance may not necessarily be a function of poverty, but a lack of awareness of what measures can be taken to build
safe structures on safe locations.

War and civil strife

In this text war and civil strife are regarded as hazards, that is, extreme events that produce disasters. War and civil strife often result
in displaced people, a target population of this training programme. The causal factors of war and civil strife include competition for
scarce resources, religious or ethnic intolerance, and ideological differences. Many of these are also byproducts of the preceding six
causal factors of disasters.

PART C

5. Write down disaster impacts in terms of caste, class and gender. (April / May 2018) (April / May 2019)

Multiple disasters are defined as when two or more natural hazards affect a vulnerable population in the Same region, singly
or in combination or collaterally and at varying magnitudes, creating a complex crisis in
people’s lives.

Vulnerabilityreflects a lack of buffers against contingenciessuch as disasters, exploitation and so forth.

Vulnerability itself can be traced back to quite ‘remote’ roots and general causes, which include socio-economic processes and
political factors that are fundamental to understanding why environmental hazards affect people in varying ways and why people
experience disasters differently.

A hereditary, endogamous, usually localized group, having a traditional association with an occupation, and a particular position in the
local hierarchy of castes. Relations between castes are governed by the concepts of pollution and purity, and generally, maximum
commensality occurs within the caste

women’s subordination and vulnerability in India is grounded in Hindu caste practices and patriarchal kinship practices which put
women at a highly disadvantaged position in their everyday lives.

In times of disaster, this subordinate position increases the likelihood of women’s vulnerability to environmental hazards
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But little is known about how women’s vulnerabiities such as caste, class and gender influence their survival and coping strategies
during the most serious events such as multiple disasters.
The complexity of caste is further compounded when ‘ Jati ’ and ‘ Varna ’systems are both described as ‘caste’ in English
The Varna system is the ancient system of hereditary, endogamous and hierarchical groups: Brahmans(the priest and teachers),
Kshatriyas (warriors and royalty), Vaishyas (traders, businessmen) and Sudras and Ati Sudras (all manual jobs).
. The Jati system developed in line with the Varna system but they are not the same. It is a much more complex occupational structure
and contains more rules of living depending on place and context.
Jati and Varna are still valuable assets in India . Jati is more than a group or network of intermarrying descent
groups either compactly or sparsely distributing but infrequently straddling linguistic frontiers.

Currently there are about 2,000 to 3,000 jati’s in existence in India and arranging them in a linear structure for the definition of caste
inequality is a daunting task. Besides, the fluid nature of the Varna system over time complicates this further

On the other hand, ‘class is an economic concept; classes are not communities but exist where people share a specific component of
their “life chances”, especially as determined by their economic position’ . Class, in particular, plays a very important role in the
creation of social inequality and it can make the influence of other sources of disparity (such as gender) much sharper .

In fact the relationship between caste, class and gender in Indian society cannot be understood outside a consideration of their mutual
impact ; they are intertwined and interlinked, creating and reinforcing inequality

Class does not act alone in creating and reinforcing inequality, and yet no other source of inequality is fully independent of
class.Consider gender, South Asian countries have a terrible record in gender inequality unusual morbidity and mortality rates of
women At the same time, belonging to a privileged class can help women to over-come barriers that obstruct women from lessthriving
classes. Gender is certainly an additional contributor to societal inequality.

6. Explain in detail about global trends in disasters how disasters can cause tremendous impacts on societies, the environment and
economic wealth of the countries. (Nov / Dec 2014)

With growing population and infrastructures the world’s exposure to natural hazards is inevitably increasing. This is particularly true
as the strongest population growth is located in coastal areas (with greater exposure to floods, cyclones and tidal waves). To make
matters worse any land remaining available for urban growth is generally risk-prone, for instance flood plains or steep slopes subject
to landslides. The statistics in this graphic reveal an exponential increase in disasters. This raises several questions. Is the increase due
to a significant improvement in access to information? What part does population growth and infrastructure development play?
Finally, is climate change behind the increasing frequency of natural hazards.

Disaster trends are indicators. They provide us with clues about our risk and help emergency managers and others with decisions
related to emergency planning, analysis, and prioritization of mitigation and preparedness activities.

Disaster trends tell us what changers are happening with regards to disasters, and help us to determine why these changes might be
occurring.

Generally, trends indicate how disasters are changing with regards to their consequences or likelihoods for a certain geographic area,
population, or other grouping. They may also pertain to hazard types, spatial influence of hazards, or hazard interactions, to name a
few examples.

Increased accuracy in the reporting of disaster statistics has helped to provide both greater visualization and confirmation of something
many scientists and disaster managers have been warning of for decades — that the nature of disasters is rapidly changing.

These changes are generally regarded as resulting from human actions and development patterns. What is troubling is that these trends
indicate that more disasters are occurring each year, with greater intensity, and that a great many more people are affected by them in
some way, either indirectly or directly.

And while these disasters are becoming less deadly worldwide, they are causing a much greater financial impact on both affected and
unaffected nations. Finally, and what may be the most disturbing of these trends, is that the poor countries of the world and their
citizens are assuming a much greater proportion of the impacts of disasters.

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Natural disasters can have a life-altering impact on the individuals and families fortunate enough to survive them. But the effect of
natural disasters can be felt at the community, city and state level, or many times can impact an entire country.

Natural disasters can have huge environmental impacts as well, even when human communities are relatively unaffected. How well
the impact of a disaster event is absorbed has much to do with the intensity of the impact and the level of preparedness and resilience
of the subject impacted.

At the individual level, the impact can often be felt physically, mentally and emotionally. Natural disasters cause destruction of
property, loss of financial resources, and personal injury or illness. The loss of resources, security and access to shelter can lead to
massive population migrations in lesser-developed countries.

Communities that experience a natural disaster must also absorb the impacts of these destructive events. Many local communities lose
so much in economic resources that recovery becomes difficult, if not almost impossible.

Some communities find opportunity in the aftermath of a disaster to rebuild better and stronger communities than before.

Communities must often recognize population, demographic, and cultural shifts as a result of the impact of the natural disaster on their
individual citizens.

Just as a natural can change the landscape of our personal lives as well as aspects of our community, so too can different types of
disasters drastically alter the natural environment.

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