DISASTER AND DISASTER RISK b.
Human-made Disasters – Occur due to
Disaster
 Defined as “a sudden, calamitous event,
bringing great damage, loss, destruction and
devastation to life and property” (Asian
Disaster Preparedness Center)
 Defined as “a serious disruption of the
functioning of society, causing widespread
human, material or environmental losses,
which exceed the ability of the affected
people to cope, using their human
resources” (Adelman)
 Its origin can be natural:
o Earthquakes, floods, and hurricanes
 Or of human origin:
o Explosions, nuclear accidents, and
terrorist acts
Disaster Risk
 Defined as “the probability that a
community’s structure or geographic area is
to be damaged or disrupted by the impact of
a particular hazard, on account of its nature,
construction and proximity to a hazardous
area”(ADPC,2012)
 Signifies the possibility of adverse effects in
the future.
 It is derived from the interaction of social
and environmental processes, from the
combination of physical hazards and the
vulnerability of exposed elements.
Nature of Disasters
 Two types of Disaster
a. Natural Disasters – These originate from
the “forces” of nature
o Agricultural diseases and pests,
storm surge, drought and water
shortage, earthquakes , disaster
storms, landslide and debris flow,
thunderstorm and lightning,
tornadoes, tsunamis, wildfire,
sinkholes, emergency diseases
people’s actions against human, material
and environment.
o Hazardous materials, cyber
attacks, power service disruption
and blackout, radiological
emergencies, explosion, nuclear
power plant and nuclear blast,
civil unrest, chemical treat and
biological weapons
Risk Factors Underlying Disasters
 Severity of Exposure
o The amount of exposure to the
disaster is highly related to risk of
future mental problems.
o Highest Risk: Those that go through
the disaster themselves
o Higher Risk: Those in close contact
with victims
o Lower Risk: Those who only had
indirect exposure, such as news of
the severe damage
 Gender and Family
o Women or girls suffer more negative
effects than do men or boys.
o Disaster recovery is more stressful
when children are present in the
home.
o Having family member who is
extremely distressed is related to
more stress for everyone.
o Lack of support in the home make it
harder to recover from disasters.
 Age
o Adults who are in the age range of
40-60 are likely to be more
distressed after disasters
o Children show more severe distress
after disasters than do adults.
 Other factors specific to the survivor
o Recovery is worse if survivors:
o Were not functioning well before the
o Have had no experience dealing with
disasters
o Must deal with other stressors after
the disaster
o Have poor self-esteem
o Think they are uncared for by others
 o Think they have little control over Exposed to Natural Hazards
what happens to them
o Lack the capacity to manage stress
 Other factors have also been found to
predict worse outcomes:
o Bereavement (death of someone
close)
o Injury to self or another family
member
o Life threat
o Panic, horror, or feelings like that
during the disaster
o Being separated from Exposed to Man-made Hazards
family(especially among youth)
o Great loss of property
o Displacement(being forced to leave
home)
 Developing Countries
o Have more severe mental health
impact than do disasters in
developed countries
 Low or Negative Social Support
o The support of others can be both a
risk and a resilience factor.
Disaster from Different Perspective

Effects of Natural Disasters on Human Life  Physical Perspective

o Disaster is defined as a phenomenon
 Displaced Populations that can cause damage to physical
 Health Risks elements such as buildings,
 Food Scarcity infrastructures, including people
 Emotional Aftershocks and their properties, e.g. houses and
environmental sources of living.
o Assessment of disaster is focused on
the following common questions:
How and When an Event Becomes a Disaster? 1. How many families are
 An event, either human-made or natural, affected?
becomes a disaster when it is sudden or 2. How many houses are
progressive, causing widespread human, damaged or washed out?
material or environmental losses. 3. How many buildings
collapsed or are damaged?
4. How many roads, bridges,
dams and other
infrastructures are damaged?
5. What is the extent of damage
in agricultural industry?
 Psychological Perspective
o Disaster is regarded as an
occurrence involving an expected or
uncontrollable event rather than a
long-term experience.
 o A disaster is something that could
happen within a hazard rather than
the hazard itself.
o Other Psychological effects:
1. Emotional effects
2. Cognitive effects
3. Physical effects
4. Interpersonal effects
 Socio-Cultural Perspective
o Disaster is analyzed based on how
people respond having a parameter
their social conditions and cultural
settings.
 Economic Perspective
o Natural disaster can be defined as a
natural event that causes a
perturbation to the functioning of
the economic system, with a
significant negative impact on assets,
production factors, output,
employment and consumption.
 Political Perspective
o Natural disasters are commonly
thought to be less politically
contentious than armed conflicts.
Yet, a closer look reveals that politics
are deeply wedded to both the
impact of a natural disaster and the
subsequent delivery of humanitarian
assistance.
o Government interventions should be
present in following phases of
Disaster Risk Reduction and
Management:
1. Prevention
2. Mitigation
3. Preparedness
4. Recovery
 Environmental Perspective
o Disasters are not random and do not
occur by accident. They are the
convergence of hazards and
vulnerable conditions.
o Disasters not only reveal underlying
social, economic, political, and
environmental problems, but
unfortunately contribute to
worsening them.