1. Disaster, Hazards, Vulnerability, Capacity & Disaster Risk

2. What is a DISASTER?
A serious disruption of the functioning of a community or a society causing widespread human, material, economic, or environmental losses, which exceed the ability of the affected community or society to cope, using its own resources
The United Nations International Strategy for Disaster Reduction (UNISDR, 2004)
Impacts may include loss of lives, injuries, diseases, and other negative effects on human physical, mental, and social well-being, together with damage to properties, destruction of assets, loss of services, social and economic disruption, and environmental degradation

3. What is a DISASTER?
Any occurrence that causes damage, ecological disruption, loss of human life, deterioration of health and health services, on a scale sufficient to warrant an extraordinary response from outside the affected community or area.
World Health Organization (WHO, 2002)

4. DISASTER
Sudden, catastrophic event bringing great damage, destruction, and devastation to life and property. The damage caused by disaster is immeasurable and varies with the geographical location, climate, and the type of earth surface/degree of vulnerability.
Influences the mental, socioeconomic, political, and cultural state of the affected area
Disrupts the person’s normal day-to-day life such as school life, business activities, and government services.
Brings to a condition which overpowers local capacity

5. Elements of a Disaster Disruption of the functioning of a community
Causing widespread human, material/properties, economic and environmental losses
Exceeding the ability of the community to cope
Inadequate community resources

6. Activity #3

8. Picture my Story … What is your Story?
For each picture, the group is to tell their story in the first person as “Picture my Story … What’s your Story.”
Discuss: What are the various needs and situations during a disaster?
Identify the disasters in the story
What are the causes of disasters?

9. Basic Concepts in Understanding a Disaster
Disasters are frequently described as a result of the combination of
The exposure to a hazard
The conditions of vulnerability that are present
Insufficient capacity or measures to reduce or cope with the potential negative consequences

10. Hazards
A situation or an occurrence with capacity to bring damages to lives, properties, and the environment
A dangerous phenomenon or a human activity or condition that may also cause loss of livelihoods and services as well as social and economical disruption

11. Types of Hazards Natural Hazards
Natural phenomena that pose threats or cause a negative impact to man and property
Typhoon, storm surge, flood/flashflood, earthquake, tsunami, volcanic eruption, lahar flows, drought, red tide, pestilence, and fire

12. Types of Hazards Human-Made Hazards
Civil conflict, displacement due to development projects, environmental degradation, industrial technological hazards like leakage of toxic waste, oil spill, fish kills, nuclear, gaseous, chemical contamination, famine, drought, fires and floods

13. Types of Hazards Combination or Socionatural Hazards
Most events are combinations or interplay of both natural and human-made factors
Flooding and drought
If due to illegal logging

14. Types of Hazards
Natural hazards in general can’t be prevented but can be anticipated
Human-made hazards can frequently be prevented and anticipated
But worst effects for both may be reduced or mitigated

15. Vulnerability
Vulnerability arise from various social, economic, physical and environmental factors
Poor design and construction of buildings
Inadequate protection of assets and lack of public awareness
Limited official recognition of risks and preparedness measures
Disregard for wise environmental management

16. Vulnerability
A Set of prevailing or consequential conditions, which adversely affect the community’s ability to prevent, mitigate, prepare for and respond to hazardous events.
Factors affect a household or community’s ability to absorb losses after disaster and to recover from damage

17. Vulnerability
Present in the community or society even before a disaster happens
It precedes disaster
Contribute to its severity, impede disaster response, and may continue to exist long after a disaster has struck

18. Who are the so-called MOST VULNERABLE SECTORS?
They are the community members whose capacities are low and not sufficient to withstand and overcome the damaging and adverse effects of disasters
They are composed of farmers, urban poor, laborers, indigenous people, persons with disabilities, women, and children
They are the so-called abused sector and at the low level of society

19. Who are the so-called LESS VULNERABLE SECTORS?
They are the community members whose capacities start from their own ability to acquire material resources, skills and trainings; and position in society
Their capacities are higher than those in the vulnerable sector to overcome the adverse effects of disasters
They are composed of professionals, small entrepreneurs, and others similar to those who belong to the high level of society
Their role in disaster management activities is to extend assistance and support to vulnerable sectors

20. Who are the so-called NOT VULNERABLE SECTORS?
Sector in the society having high position in the community
Most of the time, they are the targets of the vulnerable and less vulnerable sectors in advocacy work in relating disaster issue on the structure and policies implemented by the government that are the root cause of vulnerability of the community

21. Categories of Vulnerabilities
Three Areas of Vulnerability according to Anderson and Woodrow
Physical/Material Vulnerability
Social/Organizational Vulnerability
Attitudinal/Motivational Vulnerability

22. Physical/Material Vulnerability
Location and type of housing/building materials
Land, water, animals, capital, other means of production
Infrastructure and services: roads, health facilities, schools, electricity, communications, transport, housing
Human capital: population, mortality, diseases, nutritional status, literacy, numeracy, poverty levels
Environmental factors: forestation, soil quality, and erosion

23. Social/Organizational Vulnerability
Family structure (weak/strong)
Leadership qualities and structure
Legislation
Administrative structure and institutional arrangements
Decision-making structures (who is left out, who is in, effectiveness)
Participation level
Divisions and conflicts: ethnic, class, caste, religion, ideology, political groups, language groups, and structures for mediating conflicts

24. Social/Organizational Vulnerability
Degree of justice, equality, access to political processes
Community organizations: formal, informal, traditional, governmental, progressive
Relationship to government, administrative structures
Isolation or connectedness

25. Attitudinal/Motivational Vulnerability
Attitude towards change
Sense of ability to affect their world, environment, get things done
Initiative
Faith, determination, fighting spirit
Religious beliefs, ideology
Fatalism, hopelessness, despondency, discouragement
Dependent/independent (self-reliant)
Consciousness, awareness
Cohesiveness, unity, solidarity, cooperation
Orientation toward past, present, and future

26. Capacity
All the strengths, attributes, and resources available within a community, organization, or society that can be used to achieve an agreed goal

27. Capacity Development
The process through which individuals, organizations, and societies obtain, strengthen, and maintain the capabilities to set and achieve their own development objectives over time

28. Capacity Development
Assumptions in developing sustainable DRR capacities include
Essential to the success of any DRR initiative is also ensuring locally generated, owned, and sustainable capacities
Rather than on any single agency, professional disciple, or stakeholder group; development of DRR capacity is the concern of the entire society

29. Capacity Development
Assumptions in developing sustainable DRR capacities include
The development of technical capacities associated with professional disciplines or functions – such as environmental management or land-use management – needs to be combined with other types of capacity development that include the promotion of leadership and other managerial capacities and performance-enhancing measures

30. Capacity Development
Assumptions in developing sustainable DRR capacities include
An enabling environment – i.e. strong political ownership and commitment at the highest levels of authority, extensive participation, transparency, and clear public accountability – is essential for translating capacity into performance

31. Coping Capacity
Ability of people, organizations and systems, using available skills and resources, to face and manage adverse conditions, emergencies or disasters
Ability to cope entails sustained situation assessment, awareness building, and resource mobilization and management

32. Capacity Examples
Ownership of land and safe location and construction of home
Adequate income
Savings
Adequate food sources
Local knowledge
Family and community support in times of crises
Responsive local government
Enabling legislation
Strong community organization

33. Community members and groups have different vulnerabilities and capacities
Different individuals, families, and groups in the community have different vulnerabilities and capacities
These are determined by age, gender, class, social class, ethnicity, language, religion, and physical location

34. Capacity Assessment
Process to determine how people cope in times of crisis to reduce the damaging effects of hazards
The community’s coping strategies and resources, which are available, for disaster preparedness, mitigation, and prevention are identified

35. Capacity Assessment Key Components
Understanding people’s previous experiences with hazards and the coping strategies that they have developed
Analyzing resources that are available and used by the community to reduce disaster risk

36. Tools used to Ensure the Community’s Participation in Capacity Assessment
Historical profiles and time lines
Reveals how people cope with adverse events in the past
Seasonal calendar
Visual presentation of economic activities, coping strategies, availability of money and time, etc
Gender resource mapping and gendered benefit analysis
Shows differences in access to and control over resources between men and women in households and in the community

37. Tools used to Ensure the Community’s Participation in Capacity Assessment
Livelihood analysis
Insights on the coping strategies of individual households
Institutional and social network analysis
Formal and informal service structures for delivery of community services

38. Tools used to Ensure the Community’s Participation in Capacity Assessment
Preference of service delivery institutions, banking organizations, human resources, status of media, and availability of disaster preparedness equipment will reflect the capacity of a community or district
An inventory of various equipment and human resources in the communities and district can be prepared

39. Connections of Hazards, Vulnerability, and Capacity with Disaster
Mathematical computation on disaster
D (disaster) = High V (vulnerability) × Low C (Capacity) × High Exposure to H (Hazards)
Disaster occurs when a hazards strikes a vulnerable population or community whose capacity is inadequate to withstand or cope with its adverse effects which include damages, losses, and disruptions in community/society functioning

40. Links Between Hazard, Vulnerability, and Capacity
Understanding is important in formulating and implementing disaster responses with developmental impacts

41. HVCA
Involves a participatory analysis of past patterns of hazards and present threats at the community level (hazard assessment), combined with an understanding of the underlying causes of why hazards become disasters (vulnerability assessment), and of the available resources an affected community uses to cope with the adverse effects (capacity assessment)

42. HVCA Goals
Identify elements at risk in the community and to prioritize those elements that need to be protected
Identify appropriate disaster preparedness and mitigation responses which the community will include in their counter disaster plan
Raise the community’s awareness about potential disaster risk and what they can do about it
Provide disaster specific information, which can be integrated in baseline studies for disaster mitigation and development programs

43. HVCA Goals
Results can be used during emergency periods to identify emergency relief needs and to draft appeals
Repeating the HVCA after some time provides indicators to measure changes in people’s vulnerability

44. Hazard Assessment Hazard type Warning signs Forewarnings
Speed of onset: Rapidity of arrival and impact
Frequency
When
Duration

45. Vulnerability Assessment
Extent
Elements at risk and why
People at risk
Location of people at risk

46. Disaster risk and Elements at Risk

47. Disaster
The serious disruption of the functioning of society, causing widespread human, material, or environmental losses, which exceed the ability of the affected community to cope using their own resources

48. Hazard
Any phenomenon, substance, or situation, which has the potential to cause disruption or damage to infrastructure and services, people, their property and their environment

49. Capacities
The resources and skills people posses, can develop, mobilize and access, which allows them to have more control over shaping their own futures and coping with disaster risks

50. Vulnerabilities
A concept which described factors or constraints of an economic, social, physical, or geographic nature, which reduce the ability of a community to prepare for and cope with the impact of hazards

51. Risk
The probability that negative consequences may arise when hazards interact with vulnerable areas, people, property, and environment

52. Risk Reduction Measures
These are various activities, projects and programs that the communities may identify after assessing and analyzing the risks that they face. These measures are specifically intended to reduce the current risks and prevent future risks in the community.

53. Risk = Chance (c) × Loss (l)
Disaster Risk
Chance of likelihood of suffering harm and loss as a result of a hazardous event.
Closely depends upon the exposure of a person or a community to a hazard
Also defined as the probability of harmful consequences or expected losses resulting from interactions between natural or human-induced hazard and vulnerable conditions
Risk = Chance (c) × Loss (l)

54. Disaster Risk
May also depend on exposure to the consequences or uncertainty or potential deviations from what is planned or expected disruption to everyday life
Risk = probability(p) × Loss (l)
Disaster Risk = Hazard × Elements of Exposure × Vulnerability

55. Risk
The anticipated or potential consequences of a specific hazards interacting with a specific community at a specific time.
Combination of probability and of the consequences or outcomes for the community if exposed to hazard
Results from the interaction of the three functions namely hazard, vulnerability, and exposure
Also a function of probability
Meteor hitting earth is big risk but small probability

56. Disaster Risk
At the local and community level, it is easily understood as the likelihood of a particular hazard occurrence and its probable damaging consequences for people and property.
𝐷𝑖𝑠𝑎𝑠𝑡𝑒𝑟 𝑅𝑖𝑠𝑘 = 𝐻𝑎𝑧𝑎𝑟𝑑 × 𝑉𝑢𝑙𝑛𝑒𝑟𝑎𝑏𝑖𝑙𝑖𝑡𝑦 – 𝐶𝑎𝑝𝑎𝑐𝑖𝑡𝑦
𝐷𝑖𝑠𝑎𝑠𝑡𝑒𝑟 𝑅𝑖𝑠𝑘 = 𝐻𝑎𝑧𝑎𝑟𝑑×𝑉𝑢𝑙𝑛𝑒𝑟𝑎𝑏𝑖𝑙𝑖𝑡𝑦 𝐶𝑎𝑝𝑎𝑐𝑖𝑡𝑦
Bigger vulnerability bigger disaster risk
Bigger capacity smaller disaster

57. Disaster Risk Assessment
According to UNISDR, it is a participatory process to access hazards, vulnerabilities, and capacities of a community.
Bigger vulnerability bigger disaster risk
Bigger capacity smaller disaster

58. Vulnerability Assessment
Identifies what elements are at risk and the causes of their vulnerability conditions.
Includes physical, geographical, economic, social, and political factors that make some people vulnerable to the dangers of a given hazard
Bigger vulnerability bigger disaster risk
Bigger capacity smaller disaster

59. Capacity Assessment
The community’s resources and coping strategies are identified
Bigger vulnerability bigger disaster risk
Bigger capacity smaller disaster

60. Risk Analysis
Enable the community and the local authorities to understand the potential impact of various hazard events
Involves the development of risk scenarios based upon the information about hazards, their frequency and intensity and the elements-at-risk
Identify what kind of impact a hazard will have on various at-risk-elements such as people, houses, crops, buildings, roads, schools, etc
Bigger vulnerability bigger disaster risk
Bigger capacity smaller disaster

61. Identify and List 5 elements at risk in Bethany Christian School
Activity #5
Identify and List 5 elements at risk in Bethany Christian School

62. Elements-at-Risk Physical Social Economic Environmental
Facilities and services (houses, access roads, bridges, schools, hospitals, etc) and community structures
Social
People (lives and health) and household
Economic
Livelihood and economic activities (jobs, equipment, crops, livestock, etc)
Environmental
Natural environment
Bigger vulnerability bigger disaster risk
Bigger capacity smaller disaster

63. Community as an Element-at-Risk
Geographically (a cluster of households, a small village, or a neighborhood in a town)
People with shared experiences (a particular interest groups, ethnic groups, professional groups, language groups, particular hazard-exposed groups)
Sector (farmers, fisherfolk, business sector)
Group that are affected by and can assist in the mitigation of hazards and reduction of vulnerabilities
Bigger vulnerability bigger disaster risk
Bigger capacity smaller disaster

64. Essential Components in Determining Risk
Hazard occurrence probability is the likelihood of experiencing a natural or technological hazard at a given location or region. Quantifying hazard probability involves assessing not only the probability of occurrence but the probability of magnitude
Elements-at-risk. Identifying and making an inventory of people or school building or other elements which would be affected by the hazard if it occurs, and when required, estimating their economic value
Bigger vulnerability bigger disaster risk
Bigger capacity smaller disaster

65. Essential Components in Determining Risk
Vulnerability of the elements-at-risk. Effect on school buildings or schoolchildren or other elements if they experienced some levels of hazard impact. Vulnerability is the relationship between the severity of hazard impact and the degree of damaged caused
Bigger vulnerability bigger disaster risk
Bigger capacity smaller disaster

66. Loss Management
Pre- and post disaster actions designed to keep the losses at the minimum in human, structural, and economic aspects
Pre-disaster loss management area activities focusing on reducing the community vulnerability to hazards. Actions include improving the resistance of physical structures such as school buildings, developing improved safety plans for the occupants, and increasing/diversifying the network of social support mechanism available to communities in threatened areas

67. Loss Management
Pre- and post disaster actions designed to keep the losses at the minimum in human, structural, and economic aspects
Post disaster loss management focuses on improving the emergency response and broadening the range of support given to victims that includes facilitation of relief delivery and stimulating a rapid recovery

68. Effects of Disasters can be categorized as:
Human/Biological
Social Effects of Disaster
Physical/Material
Psychological
Economic
Environmental Degradation
Political Impacts of Disasters

69. Human/Biological Effects
High incidence of diseases within the community
Human capital accumulation positively affects economic growth

70. Philippines
One of the top 3 countries that are vulnerable to disasters in terms of loss of people’s lives
Second among 171 countries in terms of risk level of disasters

71. Philippines
According to Center for Research of Epidemiology of Disasters (CRED)
The country is 52.46% exposed to hazards
33.35% susceptibility of likelihood that the country will suffer great harm, loss, and disruption in an extreme event or natural hazard
48.17% adaptive capacity for long-term strategies in dealing with and attempting to address the negative impact of natural hazards and climate change
Lacks 80.03% coping capacity to minimize the negative consequences of negative hazards and climate change through direct action and the resources available

72. Social Effects
Some survivors of disasters will likely suffer permanent physical disability and psychological conditions, such as posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD)
Children and young people may be emotionally disturbed, thus they experience recurrent nightmares, regression in developmental achievements, increased dependency on parents and guardians, decreased appetite, clinging, exaggerated startled response, irritability, and school problems

73. Physical/Material Effects
Poor people suffer more from crises than people who are richer because they have little or no savings, less income or production options, and limited resources
Damage to physical and material has a significant impact on our society
i.e. collapsed buildings, damaged houses, poor evacuation sites and the like

74. Psychological Effects
Psychological response of survivors can range from transient mild stress reaction to the more severe and prolonged consequences of PTSD
Responses are influenced by gender, developmental stage, inherent resilience, social support and the level of exposure of the person to the trauma
Victims may suffer anxiety, grief, despair, severe sleep disturbance, and nightmares during the first few weeks and months after a disaster
Anxieties are manifested in phobias and obsessions

75. Economic Effects
Vulnerability to natural disaster is a complex issue, as it is determined by the economic structure, the stage of development, prevailing social and economical conditions, coping mechanism, risk assessment, frequency and intensity of disasters, etc
Impact on the poor could be losing access to some basic services, reversals in accumulation of physical and human capital, and perhaps increase in child labor, prostitution, and criminal activities

76. Economic Effects
Disasters and the extreme poverty and increasing inequality have important consequences in achieving our Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
Direct Costs
physical damage, including that of productive capital and stocks (industrial plants, standing crops, inventories), economic infrastructure (roads, electric supply) and social infrastructure (homes, school, hospitals)
Indirect Costs
Disruptions to the flow of good and services – lower output from damaged or destroyed assets and infrastructures and the loss of earnings as income- generating opportunities are affected
Disruption of basic services (telecommunications, water, electricity)

77. Political Effects
Disaster represents extreme shocks to the political system of the country, increasing the number of citizen demands while simultaneously reducing the government’s response capabilities
Communities or countries that are devastated by disasters often experience significant political transformations soon afterward (e.g. appointment of new DRR officer, new policies and systems at the national and local level)

78. Philippines
Archipelago with 2 pronounced seasons: wet (June to February) and dry (March to May)
Being in the Western Pacific Basin, the Philippines is a typhoon path with at least 20 typhoons experienced yearly