Disaster Management

Unit 2: Disaster Management Cycle – Phase I: Mitigation

Lecturer: Abdulkadir Mohamed Nur
(Molla)
Certified Project Manager
Unit outcomes:
Upon completion of this unit you will be able to:
Define the various phases of the disaster management cycle.
Explain the importance of disaster mitigation.
Describe how disaster management can be integrated into public
policy.
Explain how planning and design of infrastructure should take into
account the vulnerability of the communities.
Introduction

• Disaster management is an enormous task. They are not confined to

any particular location, neither do they disappear as quickly as they
appear.
• Therefore, it is imperative that there is proper management to
optimize efficiency of planning and response.
• Due to limited resources, collaborative efforts at the governmental,
private and community levels are necessary.
• This level of collaboration requires a coordinated and organized effort
to mitigate against, prepare for, respond to, and recover from
emergencies and their effects in the shortest possible time.
Disaster Management Cycle

• Disaster management is a cyclical process; the end of one phase is the

beginning of another although one phase of the cycle does not
necessarily have to be completed in order for the next to take place.
Often several phases are taking place concurrently.
• Timely decision making during each phase results in greater
preparedness, better warnings, reduced vulnerability and/or the
prevention of future disasters.
• The complete disaster management cycle includes the shaping of
public policies and plans that either addresses the causes of disasters
or mitigates their effects on people, property, and infrastructure.
Disaster Management Cycle
Disaster Management Cycle
• Mitigation: Measures put in place to minimize the results from a disaster.
Examples: building codes and zoning; vulnerability analyses; public
education.
• Preparedness: Planning how to respond. Examples: preparedness plans;
emergency exercises/training; warning systems.
• Response: Initial actions taken as the event takes place. It involves efforts
to minimize the hazards created by a disaster. Examples: evacuation; search
and rescue; emergency relief.
• Recovery: Returning the community to normal. Ideally, the affected area
should be put in a condition equal to or better than it was before the
disaster took place. Examples: temporary housing; grants; medical care.
Disaster Mitigation

• Mitigation refers to all actions taken before a disaster to

reduce its impacts, including preparedness and long-term
risk reduction measures. Mitigation activities fall broadly into
two categories:
1. Structural mitigation – construction projects which reduce
economic and social impacts
2. Non-structural activities – policies and practices which
raise awareness of hazards or encourage developments to
reduce the impact of disasters.
World Development Report, 1998
• Mitigation includes reviewing building codes; vulnerability analysis
updates; zoning and land-use management and planning; reviewing of
building use regulations and safety codes; and implementing
preventative health measures.
• Mitigation can also involve educating businesses and the public on
simple measures they can take to reduce loss or injury, for instance
fastening bookshelves, water heaters, and filing cabinets to walls to
keep them from falling during earthquakes.
• Ideally, these preventative measures and public education
programmes will occur before the disaster.
Cont…..
The primary focus of disaster management is to prevent disasters
wherever possible or to mitigate those which are inevitable.
Four sets of tools that could be used to prevent or mitigate disasters
include:
a. Hazard management and vulnerability reduction
b. Economic diversification
c. Political intervention and commitment
d. Public awareness
Hazard identification and vulnerability analysis

• A hazard can cause the full range of natural disasters, major man-made
incidents, and resource crises that become the concern of the entire
community.
• The ideal is for communities to be prepared at all times for all types of
hazards. In practical terms however, this is not possible.
• Preparedness for one hazard or disaster may increase your risk to another.
• For example, structures designed to withstand hurricane force winds may
incur or cause greater damage if there is an earthquake.
• The more logical solution would be to adapt best practices as much as
possible for the most likely scenario.
Hazard identification and vulnerability
analysis
• The most critical part of implementing a mitigation strategy is a full
understanding of the nature of the threat as the hazards faced vary
between locations and from hazard to hazard.
• Some countries are prone to floods and drought; others have histories of
tropical storm damage; and others are at risk from earthquakes.
• Most countries are prone to at least some combination of hazards and all
face the possibility of technological disasters as industrial development
progresses.
• The effects these hazards are likely to have and their potential damage is
dependent on the risks, the people, their livelihoods and the existing
infrastructure.
Mitigation strategies or measures
1. Adjusting normal development programmes to reduce losses.
For instance, varieties of crops that are more wind, flood or
drought resistant can often be introduced in areas prone to
floods, drought and cyclones.
2. Economic diversification. In areas where the principal or sole
source of the income may be threatened, attempts should be
made to diversify the economy and introduce the economic
activities that are less vulnerable. Diversification is extremely
important where economies are dependent on a single cash
crop.
Mitigation strategies or measures
3. Developing disaster resistant economic activities. Some
economic activities are relatively unaffected by disasters.
• For instance, situating warehouses in flood plains may be more
appropriate than manufacturing plants in the same location.
• Coconut palms could be more suitable than other fruit trees in
cyclone-prone coastal areas.
Disaster Mitigation and Infrastructure

• Investment in infrastructure for the management of hydrological

hazards – such as cyclones and floods – has significantly reduced
the loss of life from an annual average of 100,000 persons during
the past 50 years to 41,000 persons during the past 15 years.
Investment in disaster management infrastructure falls into two
categories:
• 1 Investment in infrastructure to support sustainable
socioeconomic development; and
• 2 Investment in infrastructure for reconstruction and
recovery.
Disaster Mitigation and Infrastructure

Considerations
a. Operations
• To maintain operations during a disaster, ensure that a backup
generator is available in case of power failure and that a battery-
operated radio is at hand as well as a back-up supply of critical
goods/needs – a continuous supply if at all possible.
b. Critical Information and Communication
• Ensure that there is a backup copy of all critical information – namely
employee data, customer list, production formulas, a list of software
and hardware and logon and passwords – in an accessible yet safe
place; regularly update the backup copy of all files.
Disaster Mitigation and Infrastructure
c. Insurance
Ensure that all critical assets, including business interruption are
insured and be aware of the content of the insurance policy.
d. Infrastructure planning
• For most infrastructure projects, natural hazard mitigation should be
addressed during the conceptual development of the project.
• The preliminary design should take into consideration the prevalent
hazards and methods to avoid or to minimize the effects of the
extreme natural events. These factors include:
Disaster Mitigation and Infrastructure
• Situating the facility to avoid flooding, soil erosion,
exposure to high winds and unstable soils, and to
minimize exposure to storm surge and high waves for
harbors, docking facilities and coastal buildings;
• Designing the shape of the buildings and structural
systems to minimize effects of high winds and
earthquake effects, tornados, and, in the case of
protection works, to avoid unwanted effects such as
beach erosion
Disaster and Development

• Disasters and development are closely linked in that disasters can both destroy
development initiatives and create development opportunities and that
development schemes can both increase and decrease vulnerability.
• The prevailing attitude has been that disasters, especially natural ones, were an
act of nature and as such were beyond human control; accepting death and
damage to property was part of the costs.
• With such an attitude, most development plans were designed without
consideration for the effect disasters would have on community plans and vice
versa.
• When a disaster did occur, the response was directed at meeting emergency
needs and cleaning up. Now it is realized that much more can and need to be
done to reduce the severity of hazards and disasters.
Disaster and Development
A growing body of knowledge on the relationships between disasters
and development indicates four basic themes as follows:
1. Disasters set back development programming, destroying years of
development initiatives.
2. Rebuilding after a disaster provides significant opportunities to
initiate development programmes.
3. Development programmes can increase an area’s susceptibility to
disasters.
4. Development programmes can be designed to decrease the
susceptibility to disasters and their negative consequences.
The impact of disasters on development programmes

• Disasters can significantly impede the effectiveness of development

resource allocation.
• Switching of crucial resources to other, shorter-term needs as
disasters often change the political, economic and social conditions
within a country.
• Shortage of development and sustainable programs in such areas
• Disappearance of small businesses that are incapable of reorganizing
after disaster.
• Decrease of national development programs in this area
Vulnerabilities caused by development

• Urban development often leads to an influx of low-income

groups such as large-scale settlements on marginal land or in
high densities with poor quality housing.
• Buildings may be situated on earthquake faults, in flash-flood
zones, or on slopes prone to landslides.
• Investment in poorly controlled hazardous industries may
lead to concentrations of population around the plant;
increases in air and water pollution; and exposure to hazards
from both chronic and catastrophic release of toxic
materials.
Development programmes can decrease
vulnerability
• The term mitigation is increasingly applied to measures which reduce
economic losses, as well as those which reduce death and injury. The
distinction between the two types of mitigation is as follows:
1. Structural mitigation includes measures to reduce the economic and social
impact of hazardous agents and involve construction programmes,
especially dams, windbreaks, terracing and hazard resistant buildings.
2. Non-structural mitigation is most commonly used to refer to policies and
practices, including land-use policies, zoning, crop diversification, building
codes, and procedures for forecasting and warning. In a broader context,
non-structural mitigation can also include education, awareness,
environmental understanding, community organization, and empowerment
strategies.
 Developing a draft country-level disaster and
development policy

• Outlined below is a policy framework for bilateral foreign aid based on

an example from USAID. The framework highlights three areas of
concern for development initiatives for countries faced with disasters.
These areas are as follows:
a. Partnership:
• Development cannot be unilaterally mandated and implemented. The
success of development initiatives requires close collaboration among
donors, governments, communities, nongovernmental organizations, the
private sector, and universities.
• Partnerships build ownership and capacity and achieve significant results
Cont…..
b. Flexibility:
• Local conditions for development vary widely and can change rapidly – for better or
worse. Development agencies must be efficient and flexible; adaptable to local
environments and capable of adjusting to changing conditions and seizing opportunities
when they arise.
c. Selectivity:
• Development resources are limited relative to the world’s needs. They are a public asset
that must be invested prudently to achieve maximum impact.
• Assistance allocations among countries should be based on three criteria: need; the
foreign policy interests of the country supplying the aid (e.g., the United States); and the
commitment of a country and its leadership to reform.
• At the country level, resources should be invested where they have maximum impact in
achieving priority strategic objectives.
End of the unit
Thank you