Natural
Hazards
and
Disasters
Disasters
Dr. Renato U. Solidum Jr., current head of the Department of Science
and Technology (DOST), associates disaster with several elements
such as hazards, risks, the people or community, and vulnerability.
Hazard (H) or the physical impact of the disturbance, either man-
made or natural, is heightened by the amount of risk (R) to the people
and community. Moreover, the degree of vulnerability (V) of all
involved further fuels the magnitude of a disaster (Solidum, 2019).
Disaster Management
Disaster management is important in dealing with
man-made and natural disasters. Natural disasters
are inevitable. However, with modern technology,
communities can prepare and minimize the damage
to lives and properties.
According to the United Nations Disaster Relief
Office (UNDRO), there is an increasing number of
people who are affected by disasters all over the
world
There are five reasons for this situation:
1. Rapid population growth
2. Concentration of population in high-risk areas, such as
floodplains, landslide-prone slopes, and seismic zones.
3. Destruction of marshes by real estate developers
4. Man-made destruction (e.g., deforestation, which has lessened
the ecosystems' resilience to disaster)
5. Increasing poverty that leads to substandard housing (i.e., not
typhoon-resistant)
Natural Hazards
A natural hazard is characterized by an element of human
involvement. A physical event that does not affect people, for
example, a volcanic eruption, is a natural phenomenon, not a
natural hazard. A natural phenomenon becomes a hazardous
event if it occurs in a populated area. Furthermore, a
hazardous event that causes a great number of fatalities and
damage to property is considered a natural disaster.
Hazard Management
Hazard management is a process of
preparing a plan of action that consists
of policies and projects used to guide
economic, social, and spatial
development over time. These activities
are designed to reduce the loss of life
and destruction of property caused by
natural hazards.
Disaster
Mitigation
An accurate and timely prediction of a hazardous
event saves human lives, but does little to reduce
economic losses or social disruption. The impact
of disasters can be reduced or avoided if they are
anticipated during development planning.
Mitigating disasters typically involve reducing the
vulnerability of the elements at risk, and
modifying the hazard-proneness of a site or
changing its function.
Natural Hazard
Prediction
Scientific studies allow for the
prediction of natural hazards
by investigating their causes
and establishing the
probability of their next
occurrence with regard to
time, place, and severity.
Emergency Preparedness
There are two levels of preparedness,
namely, public safety information and
hazard awareness planning. The first
involves the efforts done to increase the
amount of information disseminated to
the public and the promotion of
cooperation between the public and the
designated agencies when the
emergency occurs.
Disaster Prevention and
Mitigation
To minimize the loss and destruction of lives and
properties, proper measures need to be established
and implemented. These include formulating and
implementing long-range policies and programs to
prevent or eliminate disasters based on risk analyses.
Disaster prevention and mitigation involve legislation
and regulatory measures in the fields of physical and
urban planning, public works, and construction
Key Players
in Disaster
Management
Disaster risk management includes
administrative decisions and operational
activities that involve prevention,
mitigation, preparedness, response,
recovery, and rehabilitation. All levels of
the government are involved in disaster
management
Role of Government Agencies
During calamity operations, the NDRRMC provides all the facilities and
expertise that are needed for the effective implementation of the mission. The
active members of the NDRRMC and their tasks are as follows (Philippine
Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Act, 2010
DSWD Secretary DOH Secretary DOLE Secretary DepEd Secretary
provides assistance in
provides organizes health provides employment
public education and
opportunities for
relief services during calamity victims,
campaign about
disaster preparedness,
emergencies, implements industrial
assistance prevention, and
and reaction and civil defense
mitigation; allocates
and social teams in programs and school buildings as
measures, and
services to hospitals, clinics, provides training for
evacuation centers;
and provides training
the calamity and health disaster control for disaster control
centers groups in factories groups in schools and
victims and institutions educational institutions
Role of Government Agencies
During calamity operations, the NDRRMC provides all the facilities and
expertise that are needed for the effective implementation of the mission. The
active members of the NDRRMC and their tasks are as follows (Philippine
Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Act, 2010
AFP Chief of
DPWH Secretary DOLE Secretary
Staff
repairs damaged provides security in provides employment
public structures disaster areas; opportunities for
through measures, assists in the repair calamity victims,
such as flood control, of roads and public implements industrial
waterworks, and structures; and and civil defense
restorations of roads, provides modes of programs and
bridges, and other measures, and
transportation to aid
facilities; and provides provides training for
the movement of
equipment for rescue, disaster control
relief supplies and
recovery, and relief groups in factories
personnel and
operations and institutions
evacuation
Contribution in Disaster
Management
All young Filipinos should involve themselves in civic action in their
communities, and they should be ready to render their assistance at any
time and place. In times of natural calamities or man-made disasters, the
youth must be willing and ready to extend direct assistance to calamity
victims through the following means
1. Sorting, loading, and distribution of relief goods
2. Administering first-aid treatment to victims
3. Comforting and assisting in the rehabilitation of evacuees
4. Disseminating information to concerned individuals
5. Surveying of affected families and areas Civic
6. Monitoring and liaising work
A hazard profile is an account,
report, and analysis of a particular
type of calamity or risk. It describes
the said hazard with the purpose of
analyzing and planning for disaster
management in the future (Hazard
Profile - California Hazard Profile &
Mitigation Plan Critique, 2020).
Hydrological and meteorological
hazards (or hydrometeorological
hazards)
As the terms connote, they are
powerful phenomena that
originate from atmospheric,
hydrologic, and oceanographic
elements. Common examples of
these hazards include
thunderstorms, typhoons, and
tropical cyclones.
Geological hazards
Originate from movements of Earth's crust. The most common examples of
these are earthquakes, tsunamis, volcanic eruptions, and landslides.
Earthquakes are characterized by shaking of Earth's surface due to seismic
waves. They may cause violent ground shaking, ground rupturing, and
liquefaction.
The term "tsunami" is a Japanese word for harbor wave. Most tsunamis
originate from undersea or coastal seismic activities. Volcanic eruption is
another powerful natural phenomenon characterized by
the emission of dangerous lava flows, pyroclastic
flows, volcanic ash, water vapor, and gases.
Landslides are the movements of masses of rocks or
soil from a slope, resulting in rock falls and shallow
debris flows.
Human-induced hazards
are caused by varied human activities. For one, red
tide refers to the reddish discoloration of bodies of
water caused by algal blooms and increasing water
pollution, arms of envia pollution and damages to
Mother Natures.
Hazard an unsafe event, object, human action, or status that may
Key
cause injury, death, damage to property, loss of sources of income,
social and economic disturbance, or damage to the environment
Points
Risk when a dangerous event and its
hazardous consequences are combined
Hazard profile a record of the data on a base map of
the different types of hazards and risks present in a
particular locale
Natural hazards include biological, geophysical or
geological, climatological, hydrological, and
meteorological hazards
Human induced hazards include nuclear,
technological, and chemical hazards
WHAT IS A DISASTER?
A disaster is a critical disturbance in the
daily operations of a community or a
society that may involve damages to
physical, material, and economic
resources. It may also involve widespread
death or injuries of persons (IFRC, 2020).
Moreover, it may result to environmental
degradation like destruction of ecosystems
and decrease in wildlife (Tyagi, Garg, &
Paudel, 2014).
Some of the terms to be familiar with when discussing disaster risk
reduction and management as also stipulated in RA 10121 are as follows:
Disaster Preparedness the knowledge and capacity of the government and other concerned
agencies to predict, react to, and promote recovery from the effects of a hazardous event
(PreventionWeb, n.d.)
Hazard - a source of possible danger or destruction
Risk the chances that a person or an area will be harmed or injured (Hazard and Risk, 2020)
Vulnerability - the trait of a community that makes it exposed to a higher chance of being
harmed or damaged (Vulnerability, 2020)
The National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management
Council (NDRRMC) is in charge of monitoring disasters
and attending to all disaster-related concerns here in our
country. The council, together with some other key
agencies of the government, monitors earthquake
information, tsunamis, volcanic eruptions, rainfalls,
floodings, gales, and other severe weather disturbances
that appear as threats in any part of the country.
The National Disaster Coordinating Council (NDCC),
made possible by Presidential Decree 1566, established
the highest national policy-making body concerning
disaster management. , Republic Act 10121 or the
Philippine Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Act
of 2010 was passed. Additionally, Executive Order 888, or
"Strengthening Disaster Risk Reduction in the Philippines:
Strategic National Action Plan (SNAP) 2009-2019," was
released to formally announce the concrete strategy
taken by the government to respond to disasters, risks,
hazards, and vulnerabilities.
The Philippine DRRM Act of 2010 is the primary law on disaster
management that guides all DRRM-related decisions and activities from the
national up to the barangay levels.
Local Disaster Risk Reduction Management Councils (LDRRMCS) headed
by the local chief executives are supervised by the Regional Disaster Risk
Reduction and Management Councils (RDRRMCs) regional directors as
designated by the Office of Civil Defense.
The Barangay Disaster Risk Reduction Management Committee is
headed by the Punong Barangay or the Barangay Chairperson, who will
facilitate at least two CSO representatives and an active community-based
people's organization. The Sangguniang Kabataan (SK) Council encourages
the youth to participate in disaster risk reduction and management
activities as stipulated in RA 10121.
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listening