DISASTER RISK REDUCTION (MIDTERMS)

TOPIC: Basic Concept of Disaster and Disaster Risk (Group 1)

Disaster - According to R.A. 10121, it is a serious disruption of the function of a community or a society
involving widespread human material economic or environmental loses and impacts which exceed the ability of the
affected community or society to cope using its own resources.
R. A. 10121 or also known as Philippine Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Act of 2010

Disaster Risk - According to UNISDR 2017, it is potential loss of life, injured or destroyed, damaged assets
which could occurred to a system, society, or community in a specific period of time.
UNISDR or also known as United Nation International Strategy for Disaster Reduction

Hazard - A phenomenon or event that might post danger to human lives and may cause destruction of property and
the environment.

The Four Types of Disaster

1. Natural Disaster - It has immediate impact to human health and secondary impact for their causing death.
2. Environmental Emergencies - It includes technology or industrial accident. Usually involving the production
used or transporting hazardous materials which occur where those materials are produced, used or transported
and forest fire caused by human.
3. Complex Emergencies - Involve a breakdown of authority, looting and attacks on strategic installation
including conflict situation and war.
4. Pandemic Emergencies - Involve a sudden onset of contagious disease that affects health. Disrupt service
and business and bring economic and social cost.

Disaster Management - Defined as the organization and management of resources and responsibilities
in dealing with all humanitarian aspects of emergencies, particularly preparedness response and recovery in order to
lessen the impact of disaster.

The Four Disaster Management Phases

1.Mitigation - It minimizes the effects of disaster.

2. Preparedness - It plans how to respond to the disaster.

3. Response - It is the effort to minimize the hazards created by a disaster.

4. Recovery - It is returning of the community to normal.

Goals of Disaster Management

1. Reduce or avoid losses from hazards.
2. Assure prompt assistance to victims.
3. Achieve rapid and effective recovery.

Climate Change - It refers to a change in the state of the climate that can be identified (e.g., by using
statistical tests) by changes in the mean and/or the variability of its properties, and that persists for an extended period,
typically decades or longer.

Causes of Climate Change

According to Anthropogenic Global Warming Theory (AGWT)
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✢ Humans have caused more than 90% of global warming since 1900 and virtually 100% of the global warming
since 1970.

✢ The AGWT is currently advocated by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), which is the
leading body for the assessment of climate change established by the United Nations Environmental
Programme (UNEP) and the World Meteorological Organization (Scaffeta, 2010)
A Study by Stephenson and Crane 2013

✢ Growth in consumption exceeds growth population in developing and developed countries; therefore,
“consumers cause climate change”.

✢ Increase in fertility also increases land use, energy intensity, energy use, water use and carbon emissions.
Greenhouse Effect

✢ These greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide (CO2) absorb heat emitted from Earth’s surface. Increases in
the atmospheric concentrations of these gases cause Earth to warm by trapping more of this heat.

✢ Human activities, especially the burning of fossil fuels since the start of the Industrial Revolution, have
increased atmospheric CO2 concentrations by about 40%, with more than half of the increase occurring since
1970.

Effects of Climate Change

Global Warming

✢ It is expected to occur due to increased carbon dioxide concentration in the atmosphere (Jose & Cruz, 1999)

Solutions to Climate Change

✢ Reducing the use of fossil fuels

✢ Make use of renewable energy

✢ Use of biofuels such as fuels derived from biological materials which are the plants and animals

✢ Improving infrastructure to meet new energy and water needs.

Effects of Disaster
1. Displaced Population
2. Health Risks
3. Food Scarcity
4. Emotional Aftershocks

Human Factors and the Severity of Natural Disaster

✢ Wealth - People living in poverty cannot afford adequate housing or infrastructures. They are unable to
acquire resources needed before and after a disaster strikes.

✢ Education - It increases awareness about avoiding or reducing the impact of disasters. A better-educated
population will have more professionals trained to prepare for catastrophic natural events.

✢ Governance - Governments can set policies and establish infrastructure to reduce vulnerability to hazards.
Some governments have more resources available to dedicate to disaster risk reduction.

✢ Technology - It allows us to forecast weather, significantly reducing vulnerability.

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✢ Age - Children and elderly are more vulnerable because they have less physical strength and weaker immune
systems. Children and elderly are more dependent to others for survival but may not have anyone to depend
when disaster strikes.

✢ Gender - Women are more likely to be poorer and less educated than men, making them more vulnerable to
hazards.

TOPIC: VULNERABILITY AND EXPOSURE (GROUP 2)

Vulnerability - It refers to the inclination of exposed elements such as human beings, their livelihood and
assets to suffer adverse effects when affected by hazardous events.
- It is also the state of being capable of being harmed or damaged. It is a measure of one’s inability to face
natural disasters.

Human vulnerability - Humans are vulnerable to environmental extremes of temperature, pressure and
chemical exposures that can cause death, injury and illness.
- The most susceptible to any environmental stressor will be the very young, the very old and those with
weakened immune systems.

Agricultural Vulnerability - Agricultural plants and animals are vulnerable to environmental

extremes of temperature, pressure, chemicals, radiations and infectious agents.
- Agricultural vulnerability is more complex than human vulnerability because there is a greater number of
species to be assessed, each of which has its own characteristics response to each environmental stressor.

Structural Vulnerability - It arises when buildings are constructed using designs and materials that
are incapable of resisting extreme stresses or that which allow hazardous materials to infiltrate into the building.
- The construction of most building is governed by building codes intended to protect the life safety of
building occupants from structural collapsed.

Social Vulnerability - It is the capacity to anticipate, cope with, resist and recover from the impacts of a
natural hazard. Whereas people’s physical vulnerability refers to their susceptibility to biological changes, their social
vulnerability refers to their susceptibility to behavioral changes. It varies across communities and also across
households within communities.

Factors that affect vulnerability

• Age
• Gender
• Income or wealth and socio-economic status
• Education
• Governance

Natural Factors
 Design of the structure and the materials used
 Settlement location and spacing
 Philippines lies in the Pacific Ring of Fire
 The rapid urbanization of the Philippines has caused mass deforestation
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 Filipinos are more exposed to UV Rays which put them at higher risk for skin diseases.
 The air quality
 High population density
 Education lessen the vulnerabilities of individuals.
 Health may also influence the vulnerability of individuals in a population.

EXPOSURE - Pertains to elements in the environment which hazardous events may occur. Exposure is a
necessary component of risk but not sufficient enough to be a determinant of it.
- The attention given to the vulnerability of an object or place is vital due to the fact that the vulnerability is
the primary decision maker of the consequence that will be faced after the disaster.

TOPIC: BASIC CONCEPTS OF HAZARDS (group 3)

Hazards - are events or human activities that pose threats to life, property, economy and environment
(Makoka&Kaplan, 2005).

Biological hazards - simply biohazards, are agents that may cause potential harm to human health and
other organisms.
- they are comprised of microorganisms, pathogens, fungi and other substances that produce biological effects
(Driscoll et al., 2005: OSHA,2007)
- the sources that transmit biological hazards, known as biohazard vectors, can be classified into six groups :
bodily matters; living animals and their products that include meat either cooked or raw, eggs and milk; plant,
fungi, molds and plant products; microbiological culture; biohazard waste and sewerage (Safe Work Australia,
2011)

Radioactive hazards - define the risks produced upon exposed elements (living and non-living), may it
be for long term exposures or short contact in minute quantities.

Chemical hazards - According to Comcare (2016), health risk from chemical substances is an outcome
from direct contact with a particular chemical, through inhalation or consumption while physiochemical risks are
solely reliant on the physical and chemical properties of the substance or material.

Physical hazards - is a hazard originating from the operational, occupational or even material
characteristics of an insured property; or it may be a substance or any material for which there are valid evidences that
it is flammable, compressed, explosive, combustible, oxidizing, pyrophoric, self-reactive, self-heating, unstable or
reacts to moisture.

Noise - is considered a physical hazard for too much of it can have negative impacts to the physical body.

Temperature - sudden changes in temperature also have crucial effects on the human body.

Confined spaces - might contain or produce nasty air contaminants which might be harmful or life-
threatening.

Psychosocial hazards - type of occupational hazard that influences mental health of workers, including
their capability to partake in a work environment among other people.
There are 4 types of impacts of this hazard:
1. Psychological
2. Physiological
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3. Social
4. Behavioral or economic

Safety hazards - is the most common and will be current in uttermost work environments at one time or
another. They incorporate perilous states that may cause injury, illness and death.

Natural hazards - often used interchangeably with “natural disaster” and “natural phenomena”.

- is a naturally occurring physical event that is a threat to a society.

- classified as geological, hydrological, atmospheric or metrological, and climatological.

Geological hazards
SEISMIC HAZARDS - refers to hazards that are caused by shifting of the Earth’s crust due to the
movement of magma underneath it.
VOLCANIC ACTIVITY - which are ruptures in the earth’s crust, usually formed because of fault ruptures,
are vents that release lava gases and molten rocks from the magma chambers beneath the Earth’s crust.
LANDSLIDES - are triggered by natural force, usually earthquakes or a large amount of rainfall, or human
activities, like mining, deforestation, a construction of structures on the slopes.
HYDROLOGICAL - include tsunamis, flooding and other related events that may occur after the disaster
(landslides) and drought.

TOPIC: Volcanic Hazards (group 5)

VOLCANIC RELATED HAZARDS

Lakes - Destructive mudflow on the slope of a volcano

Ash fall - very small solid particles ejected from a volcano during eruption

Pyroclastic flow - fast moving current of hot gases and volcanic Figure 1
matter that flows down slope.

Ballistic projectile - are rocks that an erupting volcano may hurl

Figure 2 into the air Figure 3

Volcanic gases - gases given off by active volcanoes

LAVA FLOW - a mass of flowing or solidified lava
Figure 4

Volcanic Hazard Grid & Signs of Impending Volcanic Eruptions Figure 5

SIGNS OF IMPENDING VOLCANIC ERUPTION

 Increased evidences of volcanic quakes.

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 Due to accumulation of entrapped ashes.

 Crater blazed due to the presence of magma.

 Tilting, fissuring and inflation of the ground.

 Prevalence of dying flora within the perimeter of the volcano.

 Increase temperature of bodies of water near areas of volcano.

 Abnormal contractions of chemical compounds in bodies of water.

 Springs or wells around the volcano rapidly evaporate.

 New thermal areas, including old ones, augment thus leading to solfataras.

INTERPRETING VOLCANIC HAZARD MAPS

VOLCANIC HAZARD MAP
• A hazard map is a map that highlights areas that are affected by or are vulnerable to a particular hazard.
• The red markers represent the active volcanoes in our country. Some of the known active volcanoes are
Mayon Volcano, Mt, Pinatubo and Mt Hibok hibok
RISK TO VOLCANIC ERUPTIONS
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• Another map shows the frequency of volcanic eruptions that occur in the different areas of the Philippines.
The darker the shade of the color red is, the higher the risk to volcanic eruptions
MAYON VOLCANO ASHFALL HAZARD MAP
• The red circle indicates the 6 km permanent danger zone and the red broken lines is also a part of the danger
zone. The green area is the most susceptible to the ash fall during eruption while as it goes further having a
lighter color they are less susceptible to the ash fall.
LAHAR HAZARD MAP OF MAYON VOLCANO
• The areas with red shade will be the most affected by the lahar followed by the violet and lastly, the yellow
portion
• It indicates the potential areas prone to lava flow. It can be seen that almost whole of the 6 km permanent
danger zone will be engulfed by lava during the eruption of Mayon Volcano.
PYROCLASTIC HAZARD MAP OF MAYON VOLCANO
• The map indicates the radius that the pyroclastic flow can affect
• A pyroclastic flow is a fast-moving current of hot gas and volcanic matter that moves away from a volcano
TAAL VOLCANO BALLISTIC PROJECTILES HAZARD MAP
• The blue lines represent the lake around it while the purple shaded area is the potential area which might be
affected by ballistic projectiles
PYROCLASTIC AND LAHAR MAP OF MT. KANLAON

The pyroclastic flow reach is indicated by the purple area while the
lahar is indicated by the yellow area.

HOW TO REDUCE VOLCANIC HAZARD VULNERABILITY

1) Determination of all the active volcanoes in the country
2) Detailed volcano-geological mapping of identified active volcanoes and generation of volcanic hazard
maps.
3) Volcano monitoring and forecasting.
4) Issuance of warning.
5) Effective information dissemination on anticipated volcanic hazards before and during volcanic unrest.
6) Creating team spirit among responding agencies
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