NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY, INC

Laoag City, Ilocos Norte

MODULE 1

THE PHILIPPINE DISASTER RISK PROFILE

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 NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY, INC
Laoag City, Ilocos Norte

INTRODUCTION

The Philippines is considered to be among the world’s most disaster-prone countries. Commonly
occurring hazards include floods, droughts, typhoons, landslides and mudslides, earthquakes, and
volcanic eruptions. Recent decades have witnessed an increase in damaging extreme events, such as
heavy rainfall and tropical cyclone activity, and this trend is expected to continue under a changing
climate.

The precise geographical location of the Philippines using the coordinate system is between 5° to
21° north latitude and 114° to 127° east longitude. This is the absolute location of the Philippines on
the world map.
A place's absolute location is its exact place on Earth and was measured in terms of latitude and
longitude. Longitude is the site of a place on the Earth east to west, measured in degrees. Latitude is
the spot of a place on the Earth north to south, measured in degrees

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 NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY, INC
Laoag City, Ilocos Norte

COUNTRY OVERVIEW

The Philippines is an archipelago comprised of 7,107 islands (1,000 of which are inhabitable),
with a humid climate and a topography characterized by mountainous terrain bordered by narrow
coastal plains. Considered one of the most biologically rich and diverse countries in the world, the
Philippines also has one of the world’s longest coastlines, and its marine and coastal resources yield
US$3.5 billion annually in goods and services.

The country’s mineral, oil, gas, and geothermal potential are also significant. The Philippines’
main economic sectors are agriculture and industry, with agriculture contributing 14% of gross
domestic product and employing over a third of the population.

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 NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY, INC
Laoag City, Ilocos Norte

Climate Baseline Overview

The Philippines has a humid equatorial climate characterized by high temperatures and heavy
rainfall. Average annual rainfall is approximately 2,348 millimeters (mm), but this varies
geographically, from 960 mm in southeast Mindanao to over 4,050 mm in central Luzon.
Temperatures are generally high, particularly in the valleys and plains, averaging 27°C throughout the
year. Humidity levels are high, averaging around 82% due to the warm moist trade winds that flow
through the archipelago, as well as sea surface temperatures, a rich and vibrant vegetative cover and
abundant rainfall.

Rainfall is governed by the southwest monsoons in the summer months, and by the northeast
monsoon and tropical cyclones in the winter. Convective rainfall is common due to the country’s
mountainous terrain, interspersed with narrow coastal plains.

The Philippines also experiences strong periodic droughts that are linked to the El Niño Southern
Oscillation (ENSO).1 Shown in Figure 2, the Philippines’ hottest months are April and May, with the
coldest months experienced during December, January and February, across the latest climatology,
1991–2020.

The mean annual temperature is 27.1°C, with a relatively low seasonal temperature variation of
approximately 3°C. There is minimal spatial variation in temperatures across the country. Where
temperature differences do exist, such as in Baguio City where the daily mean temperature is 19.6°C,
where elevation is a significant factor.

There is geographical variation in the distribution of precipitation: during June to September heavy
rainfall is concentrated to the west of the country, whereas between October and March, heavy rainfall
is predominantly found in the country’s eastern regions.

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 NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY, INC
Laoag City, Ilocos Norte

CLIMATE MAP OF THE PHILIPPINES

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 NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY, INC
Laoag City, Ilocos Norte

TEMPERATURE

Based on the average of all weather stations in the Philippines, excluding Baguio, the mean annual
temperature is 26.6o C. The coolest months fall in January with a mean temperature of 25.5oC while
the warmest month occurs in May with a mean temperature of 28.3oC. Latitude is an insignificant
factor in the variation of temperature while altitude shows greater contrast in temperature.
Thus, the mean annual temperature of Baguio with an elevation of 1,500 meters is 18.3oC. This
makes the temperature of Baguio comparable with those in the temperate climate and because of this,
it is known as the summer capital of the Philippines.
The difference between the mean annual temperature of the southernmost station in Zamboanga
and that of the northermost station in Laoag is insignificant. In other words, there is essentially no
difference in the mean annual temperature of places in Luzon, Visayas or Mindanao measured at or
near sea level.

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 NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY, INC
Laoag City, Ilocos Norte

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IJSWvgWMnh4

Watch this short video by following the link above.

** For your first activity, you are required to make a reaction paper about the video you have
viewed using at least 150 words to be passed on Canvas.

A. CONCEPT AND TYPES OF DISASTER

Disasters occur every day somewhere in the world with dramatic impact on individuals, families and
communities. Whether the disaster is a singlefamily house fire or a tsunami that devastates a community,
the quality of life is threatened.

Developing nations are particularly vulnerable due to the lack of funding for disaster preparedness and
the impact of disasters on the health care, economic and social infrastructure of the affected region and
subsequently, the country.

Disasters can change the face of a developing nation in seconds, wiping out years of development.
Nations with greater resources are usually able to move more quickly to restore the infrastructure and
economy. However, no matter where the disaster happens, the impact on the population and community
can be devastating, leaving no nation, region or community immune.

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 NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY, INC
Laoag City, Ilocos Norte

DEFINING THE TERM DISASTER

There is no single agreed-upon definition of disaster and multiple definitions of disaster are found in
the literature. Governments, humanitarian groups and other organizations tend to define a disaster as it
reflects the mission, organization and needs of the entity.

But regardless of the specific definition, all definitions address the concepts of widespread
destruction of the environment, the economic, social and health care infrastructure, as well as loss of life,
overwhelming the ability of individuals and the community to respond using their own resources.

“A serious disruption of the functioning of a community or a society causing widespread human,

material, economic or environmental losses which exceed the ability of the affected community or
society to cope using its own resources”(ISDR, 2004, p. 9; World Health Organization, 2007, page 7).

“A sudden, calamitous event that seriously disrupts the functioning of a community or society and
causes human, material, and economic or environmental losses that exceed the community’s or society’s
ability to cope using its own resources. Though often caused by nature, disasters can have human origins”
(International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, 2005, p. 1).

1. NATURAL VS TECHNOLOGICAL DISASTER

Disasters are classified as “natural” and “technological” (i.e. manmade). Natural disasters include
storms, such as hurricanes and cyclones, floods, earthquakes, extreme heat and cold emergencies,
tsunamis, volcanic eruptions, pandemics and famine. Technological disasters include transportation
chemical, biological and radiological accidents as well as acts of terrorism. Disasters complicated by
war or internal conflict that have lead to a breakdown of social, political and economic structures are
classified as complex emergencies or complex disasters.

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 NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY, INC
Laoag City, Ilocos Norte

There has been a noticeable increase in complex disasters over the last decade. When coupled with
natural or technological disasters, complex disasters make the needs of the survivors and the work of
those helping more challenging.

2. INTERNAL VS EXTERNAL DISASTER

An external disaster is an event that impacts a facility when demand for services go beyond available
resources. An internal disaster is an event that happens within the facility that poses a threat to interrupt
the environment of care.

External disasters occur at locations separate from the hospital such as transportation incidents or
industrial accidents. Disasters can be both internal and external disasters concomitantly, such as
natural disasters that cause mass casualties as well as damage hospital structure. Disasters can be acute
or ongoing.

Acute disasters have a general time of onset of the time of an event occurring. Acute disasters have a
typical patient flow, which produces numerous low acuity patients presenting to the hospital,
overwhelming the surge capacity, or the number of patients the facility can care for presenting at a
single time.

This surge event is followed by the majority of patients presenting by personal transport and later
EMS or prehospital transport of the critically ill. Peak volumes in acute disasters are expected at two to
three hours post-event.

Evolving disasters such as infectious pandemics have a gradual progression to critical populations,
but volumes and resource strain remain for extended periods. Disaster types can further subdivide into
categories such as natural disasters, chemical disasters, and bioterrorism; each subdivision produces a
specific injury or exposure profile and individual strain on resources that can guide emergency
preparedness planning and response.

B. NATURAL DISASTERS

1. GEOPHYSICAL : Geophysical disasters are disasters that are brought about by tectonic and seismic
activity below the Earth's surface.

2.METEOROLOGICAL : Meteorological disasters are caused by extreme weather,

e.g. rain, drought, snow, extreme heat or cold, ice, or wind. Examples of weather disasters
include blizzards, cyclones, droughts, hailstorms, heat waves, hurricanes, floods (caused by rain)
and tornadoes.

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 NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY, INC
Laoag City, Ilocos Norte

3. HYDROLOGICAL : Water on Earth if it experiences sudden and significant changes in quality,

distribution and movement patterns can cause major natural disasters. Natural disasters caused by these
conditions are usually referred to as hydrological disasters.

4. CLIMATOLOGICAL:
Any natural disaster caused by climatologic disturbances, which may be linked to global phenomena
e.g., El Niño, La Niña—which impact on local weather
Examples Floods, earthquakes and storms, often land-based tornadoes or water-base
cyclones, hurricanes, typhoons.

5. BIOLOGICAL: natural scenarios involving disease, disability or death on a large scale among
humans, animals and plants due to micro-organisms like bacteria, or virus or toxins.

C. MAN-MADE DISASTERS

1. Terrorism
2. Technological
3. Transitional Human Shelters

Try to answer the following questions by recalling previous lessons.

1. How does the Equator affect the climate or weather?

2. Why is there no universal definition of disaster?
3. Is there a relationship between naturaland man-made disasters? If so justify your answer by giving
some examples.

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 NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY, INC
Laoag City, Ilocos Norte

D. TRENDS AND PATTERNS OF DISASTERS

Phases of a Disaster

1. Pre Disaster phase

There are essentially four environmental management tools that can be used to understand and reduce
disaster risks:

1. Environmental Risk Assessment (ERA)

2. Environmental Management Systems (EMS)
3. Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA)
4. Environmental Vulnerability/Hazard Mapping

A. Environmental Risk Assessment (ERA):

ERA is a systematic analysis of the likelihood that the environment will experience a specified level
of harm as a result of a natural disaster or a planned human activity.
All decisions and actions have environmental consequences - Risk is the likelihood that a harmful
consequence will occur as a result of an action , including those from natural or man-made disasters.
ERA determines the potential impact of an action on ecosystems, habitats and other ecological resources,
and on human health and well being.
It includes both risk management and risk communication. The use of ERA in environmental
planning and management is fast becoming a standard practice, either as a stand alone procedure or as a
support or complement to an EIA.
Appropriate use of ERA will identify situations of potential environmental concern and allow
decision makers to select management options with the least, and still acceptable level of risk

B. Environmental Management Systems (EMS):

EMS is a problem-identification and problem-solving tool, based on the concept of continual

improvement, that can be implemented in an urban area in many different ways.
An EMS is a systematic way to ensure environmental issues are managed consistently and
systematically. Effectively applied, an EMS can help integrate environmental considerations within a
larger disaster management plan.
It sets out environmental policies, objectives and targets for the implementing organization, with pre-
determined indicators that provide measurable goals, and a means of determining if the performance
level has been reached. Often these are the same performance indicators that are chosen for strategic
reasons.

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Laoag City, Ilocos Norte

C. Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA):

SEA is a process to ensure that significant environmental effects arising from disasters are identified,
assessed, mitigated, communicated to decision-makers, monitored and that public involvement is
ensured.
SEA is a systematic process for evaluating the environmental consequences of policies, plans,
programmes or proposals, to ensure that they are addressed early in the decision making process and on
par with economic and social considerations .
Applied to disaster management, it also helps in understanding the environmental consequences of
pre- and post-disaster activities. Undertaking strategic environmental assessments can also contribute to
sustainable development goals, promote accountability and credibility among the general public and
specific stakeholders, and lead to broader policy coherence.

D. Environmental Vulnerability/Hazard Mapping:

Eco and hazard mapping is a simple visual tool that creates an inventory of environmental assets of an
urban area, and the vulnerabilities and risks it faces.
Eco-mapping is a systematic but simple method of conducting an on-site environmental review by
collecting information which shows the current situation using pictures. It covers a range of issues,
including information on the current situation, problems areas, water, sewage, soil, air, energy, waste,
etc.
It also includes geo-hydrological risks and hazards faced by the urban area. Eco mapping has been an
effective, systematic means of inventorying environmental practices and problems, communicating
environmental issues to urban residents, engaging them in environmental practices, and implementing
action at the local level.

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 NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY, INC
Laoag City, Ilocos Norte

2. Warning Phase

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 NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY, INC
Laoag City, Ilocos Norte

3. Physical / Social Impact of disaster

Risk Factors

A number of factors make it more likely that someone will have more severe or longer- lasting stress
reactions after disasters:
Severity of exposure

The amount of exposure to the disaster is highly related to risk of future mental problems. At highest
risk are those that go through the disaster themselves. Next are those in close contact with victims.

At lower risk of lasting impact are those who only had indirect exposure, such as news of the severe
damage. Injury and life threat are the factors that lead most often to mental health problems.

Gender and family

Almost always, women or girls suffer more negative effects than do men or boys. Disaster recovery is
more stressful when children are present in the home. Women with spouses also experience more
distress during recovery.
Having a family member in the home who is extremely distressed is related to more stress for
everyone. Marital stress has been found to increase after disasters. Also, conflicts between family
members or lack of support in the home make it harder to recover from disasters.

Age

Adults who are in the age range of 40-60 are likely to be more distressed after disasters. The thinking is
that if you are in that age range, you have more demands from job and family.
Research on how children react to natural disasters is limited. In general, children show more severe
distress after disasters than do adults. Higher stress in the parents is related to worse recovery in children.

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 NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY, INC
Laoag City, Ilocos Norte

Developing countries

These risk factors can be made worse if the disaster occurs in a developing country. Disasters in
developing countries have more severe mental health impact than do disasters in developed countries.
This is true even with less serious disasters.
For example, natural disasters are generally thought to be less serious than human-caused. In
developing countries, though, natural disasters have more severe effects than do human-caused disasters
in developed countries.

Low or negative social support

The support of others can be both a risk and a resilience factor. Social support can weaken after
disasters. This may be due to stress and the need for members of the support network to get on with their
own lives. Sometimes the responses from others you rely on for support are negative. For example,
someone may play down your problems, needs, or pain, or expect you to recover more quickly than is
realistic. This is strongly linked to long-term distress in trauma survivors.

After a mass trauma, social conflicts, even those that have been resolved, may again be seen. Racial,
religious, ethnic, social, and tribal divisions may recur as people try to gain access to much-needed
resources. In families, conflicts may arise if family members went through different things in the
disaster. This sets up different courses of recovery that often are not well understood among family
members. Family members may also serve as distressing reminders to each other of the disaster.

Keep in mind that while millions of people have been directly affected by disasters, most of them do
recover. Human nature is resilient, and most people have the ability to come back from a disaster. Plus,
people sometimes report positive changes after disaster. They may re-think what is truly important and
come to appreciate what they value most in life.

Resilience Factors
Human resilience dictates that a large number of survivors will naturally recover from disasters over
time. They will move on without having severe, long-lasting mental health issues. Certain factors
increase resilience after disasters:

Social support
Social support is one of the keys to recovery after any trauma, including disaster. Social support
increases well-being and limits distress after mass trauma. Being connected to others makes it easier to
obtain knowledge needed for disaster recovery.

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Laoag City, Ilocos Norte

4. Emergency

Four Phases of Emergency Management

The premise behind the four phases of emergency management is to reduce the impact of emergencies
on individuals and communities through appropriate preparation and response.
Governments, schools and other agencies are adopting emergency management plans that encompass
these four phases and ensure that they have comprehensive plans to address the impact of emergency
situations

Phase 1 - Prevention/Mitigation
This describes activities designed to reduce or eliminate to probability of a disaster and to reduce the
vulnerability of people and communities to the negative impacts of a disaster. Mitigation and Prevention
seek to reduce the cycle of disaster damage and generally are intended for long-term sustained effects.

Phase 2 - Preparedness
This is the process of identifying the personnel, training, and equipment needed for a wide range of
potential incidents, and developing jurisdiction-specific plans for delivering capabilities when needed
for an incident. This phase represents a continuous process involving efforts at all levels of government
and between government and private-sector and nongovernmental organizations to identify threats,
determine vulnerabilities, and identify resources.

Phase 3 - Response
Response activities follow an emergency or disaster and are generally designed to provide emergency
assistance for casualties (for example, search and rescue, emergency shelter, medical care, mass feeding).
Response activities are focused on the short-term need, but also seek to reduce the probability of
secondary damage resulting from the emergency situation(for example, shutting off contaminated water
supply resources or patrolling an area with high risk for looting or community violence).

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Laoag City, Ilocos Norte

Phase 4 - Recovery
These activities constitute a comprehensive approach to restore the environment by addressing the
social, environmental, political and economic aspects of the community. These activities initiate
immediately following the response phase, or concurrently with the final aspects of that phase.

They entail two levels of activities:

(1) short-term recovery to return vital life support systems to minimum operating standards and
(2) long-term recovery activities that may continue for several years following a disaster and seek to
restore life to improved or functional levels.

Other related concepts:

5. Isolation

6. Rescue

7. Remedy

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