Disaster Management

Module 2
Topics

 Hazard types and hazard mapping;

 Vulnerability types and their assessment- physical, social,
economic and environmental vulnerability.
 Disaster risk assessment -approaches, procedures
 Hazard

 The word ‘hazard’ owes its origin to the word ‘hasard’ in old French
and ‘az-zahr’ in Arabic meaning ‘chance’ or ‘luck’.
 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 environment.”
 Hazards can be grouped into two broad categories:
1. Natural Hazard
2. Manmade Hazard
Examples of Hazards

 Absence/ Abundance of Rain

Both absence and abundance of rain can cause hazards of
unpredictable dimensions.
Absence of rain can cause drought conditions.Recurring drugs
could have cascading effects leading to crop failures and the
resultant conflicts and mass migration.
Abundance of rain could result in floods that can cause large-scale
devastation to property and human life
Examples of Hazards

 Incorrect agricultural practices and methods.

A number of incorrect agricultural practices could lead to hazards that can cause
untold misery for generations.
The indiscriminate aerial spraying of the dreaded pesticide Endosulfan by the
state-run plantation corporation of Kerala on its cashews plantations in the
Northern part of Kerala resulted in a number of death and diseases to the local
population
The water bodies in the locality also get severely contaminated the situation is so
grave that ladies in the area are afraid of conceiving due to the high level of
malformed foetus.
Examples of Hazards

 factories involved in hazardous operations never near settlements

✓ Those chemical plants involved in the hazardous operations that are situated
near settlements can lead to hazards of untold proportions
✓ The accident that occurred in the union carbide factory in Bhopal is a
classical example of such a hazard. The memory of the Bhopal gas tragedy is
still ripe in everyone's memory though it occurred over a quarter of a century
back
 Natural Hazards

 Natural hazards are hazards which are caused because of natural

phenomena (hazards with meteorological, geological or even
biological origin).
 Examples of natural hazards are cyclones, tsunamis, earthquakes,
and volcanic eruptions which are exclusive of natural origin.
 Landslides, floods, drought, and fires are socio-natural hazards since
their causes are both natural and manmade.
 For example flooding may be caused because of heavy rains,
landslides, or the blocking of drains with human waste.
Manmade hazards

 Manmade hazards are hazards that 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.
 Human-induced hazards are changes in natural processes within the
earth’s system caused by human activities which accelerate or aggravate
damaging events.
 Oil spills, atmospheric pollution, and major armed conflicts are some of
such hazards.
 Technological hazards are dangers caused by
technological or industrial accidents, infrastructure
failures, or certain human activities.
 Nuclear activities and radioactivity, dam failures,
transport, and industrial or technological accidents
(explosions, fires, spills) are some of the technological
hazards.
 Hazards can be single (such as volcanoes and earthquakes), sequential
(such as a flood), or combined (such as earthquakes accompanied by the
tsunami) and, as a result, cause a flood or torrential rains leading to
landslides in their origin.
 Each hazard is categorized by its location, intensity, occurrence, probability,
duration, distance, speed of onset, spatial dispersion, and temporal spacing.
Types of Hazards

 1. Geophysical Hazard
 2. Hydrological Hazard
 3. Meteorological Hazard
 4. Climatological Hazard
 5. Biological Hazard
 6. Extra-terrestrial Hazard
 Geophysical hazard

 Hazard originating from the earth. This term can be used

interchangeably with the term geological hazard.

✓ Earthquake
✓ Volcano
✓ Landslide
✓ Rock fall

CHINA: CASCADING DOWN

THE MOUNTAIN
Hydrological hazard

 A hazard caused by the occurrence, movement, and

distribution of the surface and subsurface freshwater and
saltwater.

✓ Tsunami
✓ Floods
✓ Hailstorm
✓ Landslide
✓ Rockfall
Meteorological hazard

 A hazard caused by short-lived, micro- to mesoscale

extreme weather and atmospheric conditions that last
from minutes to days.

✓ Local Storm
✓ Tropical and Extratropical cyclones
✓ Tornadoes
Which one of the following is a
Meteorological hazard ?
 Flood
 Landslide
 Avalanche
 Cloud burst
Cloud burst

Extreme amounts of precipitation in a shorter period of time,

accompanied by hail and thunder which is capable of creating
flood conditions.
Climatological hazard

 A hazard caused by long-lived, mesa- to macro-scale atmospheric

processes ranging from intra-seasonal to multi-decadal climate variability.

✓ Forest Fire
✓ Drought
✓ Cold Wave
✓ Heat Wave
Biological hazard

 A hazard caused by the exposure to living organisms and/or

the toxic substances or vector-borne diseases that they may
carry.

✓ Epidemic
✓ Infectious Disease
✓ Insect bites
Extraterrestrial hazard

 A hazard caused by asteroids, meteoroids, and comets as

they pass near earth, enter the earth's atmosphere, and/or
strike the earth, or change in interplanetary conditions that
affect the earth's
Case Study

 Do a case study on any one of the types of hazard and how to

take preventive actions before it becomes a disaster.
Hazard Mapping

 Hazard mapping involves a graphical representation of the

location, magnitude, and temporal characteristics of hazards
on 2 or 3-dimensional surfaces.
 The objective of this is to represent the spatial and temporal
characteristics of the hazard as well as its magnitude using
graphical symbols.
Data Requirements of Hazard Mapping

 Spatial characteristics such as location, distribution, and dimension;

temporal (duration and speed of onset) and magnitude are the
major data requirements for hazard mapping.
 Such information can be obtained through the following sources:
❖ Base Maps
❖ Remotely sensed Images
❖ Field Data
❖ Cartographic Representation of Hazard
Base Map

 Base maps represent topographic layers of data such as

elevation, roads, water bodies, cultural features, and utilities.
 It must be a plan metric, ie a representation of information on
a plane in a true geographic relationship and with measurable
horizontal distances.
 It must orient the user to the location of the hazard.
Remotely sensed images

 Satellite images are sources of readily available information

on locations on the earth’s surface compared to conventional
ground survey methods of mapping that are labor-intensive
and time-consuming.
 Depending on the sensor type or capabilities (spatial
resolution, spectral resolution, radiometric resolution, and
temporal resolution), different images may be obtained from
different service providers to feed into the information
extraction process.
Field data

 Ground surveying methods using electronic survey systems

like Total Station, global positioning systems (GPS), and
Laser Scanners, have all greatly increased opportunities for
data capture in the field.
Cartographic Representation of Hazard

 Maps are the most operative way to convey actual and

relative locations.
 Hazard maps not to just convey the existence of natural
hazards, but also note their location, severity, and the
likelihood of occurrence in an accurate, clear, and convenient
way.
 The application of cartography in hazard mapping will eventually lead to
the creation of:
 Base map which contains sufficient geographic reference information to
orient the user to the location of the hazard.
 Scale and coverage which draw the relationship between a linear
measurement on the map and the actual dimension on the ground.
 Small-scale maps show less detail for a large area and are applicable for
regional development planning. Large-scale maps reveal more detail for a
small area and are more suitable for local or community-level development
planning.
 The choice of scale for a hazard map may consider the
following issues:
✓ Number of hazards to be displayed at a go;
✓ The hazard elements necessary to be displayed;
✓ Range of relative severity of hazards to be shown;
✓ The area of interest to cover;
✓ The use of the map with other planning documents;
✓ The function of the map
Types of symbols

❑ Symbols are used to represent reality

❑ Symbols are selected for their legibility and clarity and/or map production
characteristics.
❑ Location can be depicted using one of these basic geometric symbols –
point, line or an area.
❑ Points are more preferred for displaying volcanoes, while areas have been
used for showing flooding
Hazard mapping using GIS

✓ GIS provides an excellent basis for processing and presenting

hazard information in the form of maps.
✓ GIS is very useful in arranging a high volume of data
necessary to produce a hazard map.
✓ The three-dimensional representation available in modern
GIS offers an opportunity to model hazards.
✓ The flowchart represents the general procedure for the
mapping of hazards in GIS.
 Hazard identification and Data
acquisition

Hazard Frequency of Occurrence

Data Processing and Database

creation

Data manipulation, analysis and

storage

Data Exporting and product

generation

Review ,Finalization and Publication

Participatory mapping

 Participatory mapping is a technique that allows for the

integration of local-level participation and knowledge in the
map production and decision taken process.
 It is an interactive process that draws on local people’s
knowledge and allows them to create visual and nonvisual
data to explore social problems, opportunities and questions.
 In participatory mapping, the main objectives are to:
 collect evidence assets of the study area and issues during
the mapping process;
 interpret the study area mapping experience and related
experience to answer questions that have been developed
about the study area;
 develop a presentation that synthesizes the participatory
mapping experience and presents the conclusion and
possible questions for further investigation.
How to Conduct Participatory Mapping

 Outlines the nature and essence of activities to be done.

 Organize the activities of participatory mapping in two blocks – preparation
and implementation.
 The preparation involves ‘scouting’ and ‘designing survey instruments,
materials, and directions.
 The implementation may be organized into sessions- preparation of
participants; undertaking participatory mapping field trips; make
presentations and carrying out debriefing exercises.
Applications of Hazard Maps

 • Hazard maps have various applications that may be broadly

captured as in;
 ➢ Spatial planning
 ➢ Risk reduction measures
 ➢ Instruments used in emergency planning
 ➢ Raising awareness among the population.
Spatial planning
Hazard maps provide a
basis for communal and
district spatial planning
processes

Land use map of Shama district, Ghana

Risk reduction measures
Hazard maps assist in the localisation and
dimensioning of hazard protection measures.

Flood risk map of Inchaban and surrounding settlements

 Instruments used in emergency planning
Hazard maps indicate where the biggest risks arise and the events most likely to
occur. This information can be used as a source of orientation in emergency
planning.

A hazard map used for emergency planning

Raising awareness among the population
It helps to demonstrate potential risks to the population and to increase
awareness of eventual protective measures.

Flood warning time map of Inchaban and surrounding settlements

Vulnerability
 It denotes the characteristics and circumstances of an individual,
community or area that could be subjected to harm from a hazardous
situation.
 vulnerability comes from many factors – physical, social, economic and
environmental.
 vulnerability is also time-based and does not remain constant over long
periods of time.
 In a disaster situation the vulnerable population includes the poor, women
and children, and the disabled. In general, they are the most affected.
 The vulnerable areas are those which are very close to the disaster site. In
the case of a bomb explosion Assets and people living or present near the
site of the blast are the most seriously affected than people far from the
area
Vulnerability may be due to factors like

 Poorly designed and maintained infrastructure

 Inadequate safety awareness and safety measures for assets.
 Lack of awareness and adequate information about hazard
and risk
 Inappropriate management of risks identified and lack of
preparedness to face hazards.
 Lack of proper management of resources and environment.
Physical Vulnerability

 This refers to the potential losses to physical infrastructure

such as roads, bridges, railways, radio and
telecommunication
 Also includes impacts on the human population in terms of
injuries or deaths.

Example:- Wooden homes are less likely to collapse in an earthquake,

but are more vulnerable to fire.
Social Vulnerability

 It offers to the inability of people, organizations, and societies to withstand

adverse impacts of hazards due to characteristics inherent in social
interactions, Institutions, and systems of Cultural values.
 It is linked to the level of well-being of individuals communities and
Society.
 It includes aspects related to levels of literacy and education the
acceptance of peace and security access to basic Human Rights systems
of good governance social equity positive traditional values customs and
ideological beliefs and overall collective organizational systems.
 For example when floods occur some citizens such as children, the
elderly, and the differently abled may be unable to protect themselves or
evacuate if necessary
Economic Vulnerability

 The level of vulnerability is highly dependent upon the economic status of

individuals, communities, and Nations
 The poor are usually more vulnerable to disasters because they lack the
resources to build sturdy structures in their homes and put other
engineering measures in place to protect themselves from being
negatively impacted by disasters
 Example - poor families may live in low-lying slum areas because they
cannot afford to live in safer areas or more expensive areas. they are more
vulnerable when a flood occurs and their belongings or even their homes
get washed away
Environmental Vulnerability

 natural resource depletion and resource degradation are key

aspects of environmental vulnerability.
 People living in hilly areas become vulnerable because of
environmental degradation. Their habitats have to necessarily
be on Hill slopes due to the Terrain features deforestation and
cutting of trees on Hill slopes make them vulnerable to
hazards from landslides.
 Vulnerability can be an important factor for individuals and communities to
anticipate, respond and cope with and recover from disasters.
 One factor that is considered to make people vulnerable is poverty. Risk
exposure is dependent on many factors like social and economic status age,
gender, ethnicity etc. Age and gender are important factors in many situations.
 women children and the elderly are found to be most affected and find it
difficult to cope with the disastrous situation.
 Economic status is an important factor in vulnerability because higher
monetary resources and Secure status provide resilience for people to cope
with disasters and recover fast.
 Knowing hazard and vulnerability, the risk involved can be found from this
formula
𝐻𝑎𝑧𝑎𝑟𝑑 × 𝑉𝑢𝑙𝑛𝑒𝑟𝑎𝑏𝑖𝑙𝑖𝑡𝑦
𝑅𝑖𝑠𝑘 =
𝐶𝑎𝑝𝑎𝑐𝑖𝑡𝑦
 VULNERABILITY DISASTER HAZARD

Trigger
Underlying Dynamic Unsafe Events
Causes Pressure Conditions
Earthquake
Limited access Lack of Dangerous
to resources Institutions Location
Tsunamis

Illness and Lack of Dangerous Floods

disabilities Education buildings

Cyclones
Lack of Low income
Age/Sex
training level
Volcanic eruption

Population
Poverty Drought
expansion

Landslide
Environmental
degradation

War

Uncontrolled
development Technological
Accident
VULNERABILITY ASSESSMENT

• This refers to the quantification of the degree of loss or susceptibility

to an element at risk.
• The assessment is essential when conducting a risk assessment.
• In recent times, they have become indispensable due to the
recognition that disasters occur as a result of interactions between
hazards and elements.
Method of quantification of vulnerability based on the
following:
✓Type of vulnerability being measured, that is, it is physical, social,
economic, or ecological.
✓The scale at which vulnerability is being measured, whether at the
individual, household, or community level.
✓The type of hazard. Different hazard types call for different methods
of quantification as not all methods of vulnerability quantification are
used for the different hazard types.
Data needed for vulnerability assessment and their usefulness

✓Historical data on the magnitude of a hazard and the level of damage it caused
to specific elements such as buildings built from concrete or wood.
✓Socio-economic data such as level of education, access to pipe-borne water,
access to secure shelter, social networks, sanitation, income level, access to
credit, access to land, access to technology, etc. The emphasis here is on the
level of access that an individual, household, or community has to various
assets.
✓Level of exposure to hazardous conditions.
✓ Data on policies, institutions, and processes that influence the capacity of
individuals, households, and communities.
Approaches to Physical Vulnerability Assessment

There are a wide variety of ways to measure physical vulnerability. Two main
methods are

Analytical Methods Computer software Based

Empirical Methods Experts Opinion Based

Methods of measuring physical vulnerability
Methods of Measuring Socio-economic Vulnerability

Socio-economic vulnerability is
indicator-based and can be
assessed by analyzing the level
of exposure and coping
mechanisms of individuals,
households, and communities.
 Methods of Representing Vulnerability
Vulnerability indices:
✓ Based on indicators of vulnerability;
✓ mostly no direct relation with the different hazard intensities.
✓ These are mostly used for expressing social, economic and environmental vulnerability.

Vulnerability table:
✓ The relation between hazard intensity and degree of damage can also, be given in a table.
Vulnerability curves
✓ These are constructed on the basis of the relationship between hazard intensities and
damage data.

Relative curves: They show the percentage of

property value as the damaged share of the total
value to hazard intensity.
Absolute curves: Show the absolute amount of
damage depending on the hazard intensity; i.e.,
the value of the asset is already integrated into
the damage function
Fragility curves: Provide the probability for a
particular group of elements at risk to be in or
exceeding a certain damage state under a given
hazard intensity.
DISASTER RISK ASSESSMENT

Concept Of
Disaster Risk
Disaster risk
✓Disaster risk is defined as the likelihood/probability of serious
damage, deaths, and injuries occurring as a result of a potentially
damaging hazard interacting with vulnerable elements such as people
and properties.
✓Thus, disaster risk arises out of an interaction between a hazardous
condition and vulnerable elements.
DISASTER RISK ASSESSMENT
Risk assessment is defined and regarded as a methodology to
determine the likelihood and the magnitude of damage or other
consequences by analyzing potential hazards and evaluating
existing conditions of vulnerability that jointly could likely harm
exposed people, properties, services, livelihoods, and the
environment they depend on.
Components of Risk Assessment
There are two main components:

Risk analysis: The use of available information to estimate the risk caused by
hazards to individuals or populations, property or the environment. Risk
analyses generally contain the following steps: Hazard identification, hazard
assessment, elements at risk/exposure, vulnerability assessment and risk
estimation.

Risk evaluation: This is the stage at which values and judgment enter the
decision process by including the importance of the risk and associated social,
environmental, and economic consequences, in order to identify a range of
alternatives for managing the risk.
Approaches to risk assessments

Multi-hazard:
✓The same area may be threatened by different types of hazards.
✓Each of the hazard scenarios also might have different magnitudes.

Multi-sectoral: Hazards will impact different types of elements at risk.

Multi-level:
✓Risk assessment can be carried out at different levels.
✓Depending on the objectives of the risk study, it is possible to differentiate
between national, regional, district and local policies, plans, and activities
Approaches to risk assessments
• Multi-stakeholder: Risk assessment should involve the relevant
stakeholders, which can be individuals, businesses, organizations, and
authorities.
• Multi-phase: Risk assessment should consider actions for the
response, recovery, mitigation, and preparedness.
Qualitative methods
✓This involves qualitative descriptions or characterization of risk in terms of
high, moderate, and low.
✓These are used when the hazard information does not allow us to express
the probability of occurrence, or it is not possible to estimate the
magnitude.
✓This approach has widespread application in the profiling of vulnerability
using participatory methodologies.
✓Risk matrices can be constructed to show qualitative risk.
✓A risk matrix shows on its y-the axis the probability of an event occurring,
while on the x-axis potential loss.
✓The probability is described categorically as low, medium and high, while
the potential loss is also described similarly.
 A B C D E

HAZARDS HAZARD LIKELIHOOD IMPACT SEVERITY RISK SCORE PRIORITY

[0 IS LOW-5 IS HIGH] (vulnerabilities/resources) [B*C]
[0 IS LOW-5 IS HIGH]

Flood 3 3 9 LEVEL 2
MEDIUM
Semi-Quantitative Methods
✓These techniques express risk in terms of risk indices.
✓These are numerical values, often ranging between 0 and 1. They do not have a
direct meaning of expected losses; they are merely relative indications of risk. In
this case, the risk is expressed in a relative sense.
✓The main difference between qualitative and semi-quantitative approaches is the
assignment of weights under certain criteria which provide numbers as outcomes
instead of qualitative classes.
✓The semi-quantitative estimation for risk assessment is found useful in the
following situations:
❖As an initial screening process to identify hazards and risks
❖When the level of risk (pre-assumed) does not justify the time and effort
❖Where the possibility of obtaining numerical data is limited
𝐻𝑎𝑧𝑎𝑟𝑑 × 𝑉𝑢𝑙𝑛𝑒𝑟𝑎𝑏𝑖𝑙𝑖𝑡𝑦
𝑅𝑖𝑠𝑘 =
𝐶𝑎𝑝𝑎𝑐𝑖𝑡𝑦
Quantitative methods
✓This aims at estimating the spatial and temporal probability of risk and its magnitude.
✓In this method, the combined effects, in terms of losses for all possible scenarios that might
occur, are calculated.
✓There are several approaches; they express the risk in quantitative terms either as
probabilities, or expected losses. In this approach, the risk is perceived as follows:
✓Risk = Hazard * Vulnerability * Amount of elements-at- risk
✓The equation given above is not only a conceptual one but can also be actually calculated with
spatial data in a GIS to quantify risk from hazards.
✓The way in which the amount of elements-at-risk is characterized (e.g. the number of
buildings, number of people, economic value, or the area of qualitative classes of importance)
also defines the way in which the risk is presented.
✓ The hazard component in the equation actually refers to the probability of occurrence of a
hazardous phenomenon with a given intensity within a specified period of time (e.g. annual
probability).
Population Risk

❑Population risk can be expressed as individual risk or societal risk.

❑Individual risk is the risk of fatality or injury to any identifiable (named) individual
who lives within the zone impacted by a hazard or follows a particular pattern of life
that might subject him or her to the consequences of a hazard.
Individual risk can be calculated as the total risk divided by the population at risk.
❑For example, if a region with a population of one million people experiences on
average 5 deaths from flooding per year, the individual risk of being killed by a flood
in that region is 5/1,000,000, usually expressed in orders of magnitude as 5×10-6.
Societal risk is the risk of multiple fatalities or injuries in the society as a
whole, and where society would have to carry the burden of a hazard
causing a number of deaths, injuries, financial, environmental, and
other losses.
Do a Study on……

• Applications of Hazard Mapping.

• Types of Vulnerabilities and the approaches to assess them.
• Participatory Hazard mapping
• Concept of Disaster Risk.