Module

2
WEEK
Exposure and Vulnerability

Overview:

This module will give you an in-depth understanding of vulnerabilities.

Apart from being able to explain the meaning of vulnerability, you will
also be able to implement various scenarios and real-life circumstances.
Knowing the context of the term itself would encourage you to use your
expertise to resolve circumstances where risk has become the key
considerations of the community when it comes to exposure, avoidance,
mitigation and recovery from a specific danger.

TOPIC LEARNING OUTCOMES

After going through this module, you are expected to:

1. Cite different factors people are prone to hazards.

2. Elaborate the meaning of vulnerability.
3. Discuss some sectors of society are more susceptible to disaster than
others.
4. Identify the factors that are susceptible to a certain hazard
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ACTIVITY
ACTIVITY
Before you begin your journey in this module, let us try to evaluate what you know
about Disaster Risk Reduction and Management particularly Exposure and Vulnerability.
The result of the pretest will check your current knowledge and understanding about
the topic.

Accomplish the table below. Determine the different elements that are exposed to a
particular hazard and briefly state their vulnerabilities.

Write your answers here:

ELEMENTS HAZARDS VULNERABILITY
EXPOSED TO
HAZARDS
1. Human Beings Earthquake, Pandemic Physical Vulnerability
Covid19, Typhoon,
Flashflood.

2. Household & C Flashflood, Typhoon Social Vulnerability

3. Environmental Assets Typhoon, Volcanic Environmental and Economic

Activities, Flashflood, vulnerability.
Earthquake.

4. Agricultural and Commodities Flashflood, Pandemic, Economic Vulnerability

Typhoon.

5. Buildings Earthquake, Typhoon, Economic and Environmental

Flashflood. Vulnerability.

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 ANALYSIS

Processing question:
Based on the previous activity, answer the following questions comprehensively:

1. Who are vulnerable in times of disaster?

2. What are the possible impacts of disaster in a community or a country?
3. Who are exposed to disasters?
4. What are the factors why there are casualties after a disaster?
5. Why some are vulnerable to disaster?

Write your answers here:

1. When the disaster occurs the vulnerable one are those people with
disabilities, elderly person, people with language barriers, pregnant women
and children. These vulnerable people should be given priority in the event
of disaster.

2. The impact of disaster in the community can cause loss of life, economic
destruction, environmental degradation and humanitarian crisis.

3. when the disaster hit in particular place the one exposed to disaster is
the people , economics assets, facilities and other infrastructures.

4. The factors why there are casualties after the disaster event is due to the
poor construction of buildings and facilities, lack of building codes and
safety regulations that’s why when disaster hit a lot of infrastructures are
easily to destruct.

5. The aspects why some are vulnerable to hazards is due to poverty,

impoverished people live in the hazard or dangerous areas and expanding
city areas that exposed to hazard leads to critical infrastructure , potential
water crises and spread diseases.

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 ABSTRACTION
Definition of Health
- WHO – “The State of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the
absence of disease or infirmity

Exposure defines as the "elements at risk" from a natural or human-made hazard

event.

Elements at risk are the following:

1. Human beings.
2. Dwellings or households and communities.
3. Buildings and structures.
4. Public facilities and infrastructure assets.
5. Public and transport system.
6. Agricultural commodities and
7. Environmental assets.

Vulnerability defines “the degree of loss to each element should a hazard of a given
severity occur". (United Nations Development Program-UNDP)

Reasons why some sectors of society are more vulnerable to disaster than others:
1. Demographic factors (Population density, age of the population, distribution of
the population)
2. Socio-economic factors (Wealth, education, nature of society, understanding
the area)
3. Community preparedness (Building codes, scientific monitoring, and early
warning systems, communication networks, emergency planning)
4. Dealing with the after-effects (Insurance cover, emergency personnel, and aid
request)

There are many aspects of vulnerability that may arise from various physical, social,
economic, and environmental factors. Examples may include:
1. Poor planning and construction of buildings and other infrastructures.
2. Inadequate protective measures of assets.
3. Lack of information and awareness to the general public.
4. Limited recognition of risks and preparedness measure, and
5. Disregard for environmental management (ADPC, 2012)

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According to UNISDR, there are four types of vulnerability:
1. Physical vulnerability
2. Social vulnerability.
3. Economic vulnerability.
4. Environmental vulnerability.

Philippine Vulnerabilities to natural disasters

According to Climate Change Primer Manuscript, 2014, these are the statements why
the Philippines is vulnerable to natural disasters, most particular in climate change:
1. The Philippines lies in the Pacific typhoon belt are being visited by an average of
20 typhoons per year.
2. The Philippines is an archipelagic country with many small islands.
3. One of the longest shorelines in the world at 32,400 kilometers, many areas are
susceptible to storm surge.
4. Most of the location is also at or below sea level, and this makes us vulnerable
to flooding, and worst, inundation with rising sea level.
5. The Philippines is still a primarily agricultural and fishing economy. Disruptions
in agricultural and fishery production and destruction of our ecosystems will
have devastating effects on our economy and food security.
6. Natural hazard risk is one of the problems in the Philippines by a lack of
institutional and societal capacity to manage, respond, and recover from natural
hazard events.
7. Aside from being at risk to typhoons, the Philippines is also at risk of volcanic
eruptions, quakes, and floods.

Now you have learned a lot. You can always read back this part to grasp deeply the
topic!

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 APPLICATION

A. Explain the following comprehensively.

1. Cite the elements exposed to hazards.

2. What are the various sectors that are prone to Hazards?
3. What is the difference between Hazard, exposure, and
vulnerability?

Write your answers here:

1. The elements that being exposed to hazard is the human

beings, building and structures, agricultural commodities, public
facilities and other infrastructure.

2. Many people go out for work to supply their daily needs.

However, there are some fields where people work in
hazardous place that face real danger just to earn money. The
first sector that are prone to hazard is Construction Cite were
other people are not following the precautionary measure and
regulations that leads to accidents and injuries. Other sector
that prone to hazards with same cases is the Manufacturing,
Mining and Road hazards.

3. The variation between the three help us to know the aspects

or the possible cause and effect of disaster first is hazard
defined as a dangerous event that may cause loss of life,
injuries, destruction of facilities and environmental assets while
Exposure is refers to the people and properties that may
destroyed by the natural or human – made hazards.

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 ASSESSMENT

Create a reaction paper pertaining to the Philippine trench

and how does it affect our country when the mentioned trench is
moving.
ANSWER :

The Philippines has been experienced different calamities for

the reason that we are belong to the pacific ring of fire were the
tectonic plates of the setting of the Philippines is complex.

If we look at the map you will see the trenches we have in our
country that brings another threat in our life, once it moves it
makes an impact in the surface that brings another casualty.
Expect the unexpected occurrence because anytime the things the
we did not expect to happen can be happen to us, that’s why we
should keep aware alarm.

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 REFLECTION

The MODULE 2 that title of ‘’Exposure and Vulnerability’’ contains different

Possible aspect and causes of disaster, this topic of ours has given me

Knowledge on how I able to implement various scenarios and real-life

circumstances.

Always keep in mind that disaster is unavoidable enemy of human, so to

avoid destruction of facilities, we should rebuild our properties by using durable

resources, because if there is an occurrence of disaster it will not easily to

destroyed. Let’s warn ourselves that wherever we go accidents and hazard things

is everywhere that’s why this topic remind us to be extra careful and be critical

in the surroundings we are in.

A lot of things happened in this year 2020 especially in now situation, we

Still have this covid19 Pandemic and recently part of Luzon has been experienced

a series of typhoon. The best thing I can do is to pray for those who keep

fighting covid19 virus and to those people who hit the recent typhoon.
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