SOCIAL SCIENCE PROJECT

DISASTER MANAGEMENT

What is a Disaster?A disaster is a natural or man-made (or

technological) hazard resulting in an event of substantial extent causing significant physical damage or destruction, loss of life, or drastic change to the environment. A disaster can be ostensively defined as any tragic event stemming from events such as earthquakes, floods, catastrophic accidents, fires, or explosions. It is a phenomenon that disasters can cause damage to life, property and destroy the economic, social and cultural life of people.

Types of Disasters

There are four types of disasters-Natural disastersEnvironmental emergencies. Complex emergencies Pandemic emergencies.  

Natural disasters

These disasters include floods, hurricanes, earthquakes and volcano eruptions that can have immediate impacts on human health, as well as secondary impacts causing further death and suffering from floods causing landslides, earthquakes resulting in fires, tsunamis causing widespread flooding and typhoons sinking ferries

Environmental emergencies

. These emergencies include technological or industrial accidents, usually involving hazardous material, and occur where these materials are produced, used or transported. Large forest fires are generally included in this definition because they tend to be caused by humans

Complex emergenciesThese emergencies involve a break-down of

authority, looting and attacks on strategic installations. Complex emergencies include conflict situations and war.

Pandemic emergencies 

These emergencies involve a sudden onset of a contagious disease that affects health but also disrupts services and businesses, bringing economic and social costs.

What is Vulnerability?Vulnerability refers to the inability to

withstand the effects of a hostile environmentIn relation to hazards and disasters,

vulnerability is a concept that links the relationship that people have with their environment to social forces and institutions and the cultural values that sustain and contest them.

It's also the extent to which changes could harm a system, or to which a community can be affected by the impact of a hazard.

What is a Risk ?Risk is the potential that a chosen action or activity will lead to a loss. The notion implies that a choice having an influence on the outcome exists. Potential losses themselves may also be called "risks". Almost any human endeavour carries some risk, but some are much more risky than others.

Disaster managementDisaster 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.

Mitigation StrategiesA Local Mitigation Strategy (LMS) is a local government 

plan in the United States, typically at county level that is designed to reduce or eliminate risks to people and property from natural and man-made hazards. Mitigation strategies are supported by state government and federal programs, in line with the Disaster Mitigation Act.

 The advantages of developing a LMS program are numerous including guidance in developing pre and post mitigation plans; identifying priority projects and programs for funding; and increasing the likelihood of State and Federal funding for pre- and post-hazard mitigation projects.

Structural and Non-Structural MitigationStructural mitigation:-

refers to any physical construction to reduceor avoid possible impacts of hazards, which includeengineering measures and construction ofhazard-resistant and protective structures andinfrastructure.

Non-structural mitigation:- refersto policies, awareness, knowledge development, public commitment, and methods and operatingpractices, including participatory mechanisms and the provision of information, which canreduce risk with related impacts.

Structural MitigationStructural damage, collapse of buildings or

infrastructure are common consequences of disasters, including earthquakes, floods, and landslides. Structural mitigation aims to reduce this damage and eventually save lives. Structural mitigation is a science that requires the expertise of civil engineers. It includes both the design of new buildings, roads, canals, dams, and other infrastructure and the strengthening and retrofitting of old structures. An example is seen where riverbeds are not cleaned of trees and logs: during a flood, such debris may pile up against a bridge and consequently break it, thus damaging the neighbouring construction which would not normally have been affected by the flood.

Non-Structural MitigationMany kinds of non-structural mitigation

measures can be very cost-effective in reducing risk. For example, flood barriers and avalanche warning signs can temporarily restrict people from entering areas when the risk is above an admissible level. Land-use plans define where human settlements and activities can be located. In addition to regulations and planning requirements, non-structural mitigation also refers to training people to reduce hazards, such as the risk of heavy objects falling during an earthquake.

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