DISASTER CONCEPT, DISASTER PREVENTION, MITIGATION AND PREPAREDNESS

Maann Sharla M. Bautista Dolores District

Abstract:
Philippines is one of the most disaster prone countries of the world. It has had some of the worlds most severe droughts, landslides, typhoons, floods, earthquakes, rail accidents, sea accidents and road accidents. Disaster is a sudden, calamitous event bringing great damage, loss, and destruction and devastation to life and property. In simple terms we can define disaster as a hazard causing heavy loss to life, property and livelihood. This paper deals with types of disasters and mitigation and management methods at and after the time of disasters. Vulnerability, Hazards and Risk reduction are the main key points involved in Disasters. This paper deals with main aspects involved in each and every type of disaster for managing and mitigating their effects.

Research Background:
The earth has been an unstable proposition throughout its existence. Man who entered the scene has been exploring during his short existence to unravel the various mysteries which are mysteries till date. These mysteries have been understood by and confined to the intellectual community. But, when the victims of the mysteries are the people then they need to know what the mysteries are and the impact the mysteries can have on them. This paper discusses how disaster can be managed through awareness and suggests a methodology to mitigate disaster. But before discussing this let us discuss what a disaster is? What disaster management is? How disasters can be managed by spreading awareness about disasters?

What is a Disaster?
According to each, disaster is defined as many ways, so, there is no particular definition for a Disaster. Overall, disaster is defined as: Disaster is a sudden, calamitous event bringing great damage, loss, and destruction and devastation to life and property. WHO defines Disaster as "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.
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It is a natural accident, which causes great damage to life, property and Structures which cannot be reused. It may also be termed as a serious disruption of the functioning of society, causing widespread human, material or environmental losses which exceed the ability of the affected society to cope using its own resources. Damages by Disasters: Damages done by disasters are inevitable and they cannot be reduced and predicted and only method is to manage them and mitigate them. The damage caused by disasters is immeasurable. The damage caused by disasters depends on: Geographical location of place, Climate of the place, Type of Surface of Earth and Degree of Vulnerability.

This influences the mental, socio-economic, political and cultural state of the affected area. A disaster may have the following main features: Unpredictability, Unfamiliarity, Speed, Urgency, Uncertainty and Threat

Vulnerability, Hazards and Risk are the main key points when ever disaster mitigation and management is considered.

Types of Disasters:
Disasters are simply defined as any over helming ecological disruption which disturbs environmental and economical positions. Disasters are mainly divided as two types: Natural Disasters and Artificial Disasters.

Artificial Disasters are also called as Man Made Disasters.

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Natural Disasters: Disasters that are caused by Natural causes are called as Natural Disasters. Earthquakes, Landslides, Floods, River erosion, Cyclones, Tsunami, Forest Fires etc

Artificial Disasters: These are the disasters that are occurred due to man made changes over the surface of the Earth. Nuclear Disasters, Chemical Disasters, Mine Disasters, Biological Disasters. These are an example of manmade disasters. Natural Disasters: Earthquakes: Earthquakes are nothing but any sudden movement over the surface of the Earth which shakes Earth vigorously that destroys the structures resting on the Earth. We are not about to predict earthquakes. As one door closes, another opens. If we cant predict earthquakes, then lets learn to live safely with them. The main safeties behind Earthquakes are: We should know safe spot in each and every room of our house, Decide where your family will reunite if separated, Maintain emergency food, water, medicine, first aid kit, tools, and clothing. During an Earthquake:
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 Take cover. Go under a table or other sturdy furniture; kneel, sit, or stay close to the floor. Hold on to furniture legs for balance. Be prepared to move if your cover moves. If no sturdy cover is nearby, kneel or sit close to the floor next to a structurally sound interior wall. Place your hands on the floor for balance. Typhoons: Typhoon is defined as: Rapid inward circulation of air masses about a low pressure centre; circling counter clockwise in the northern hemisphere and clockwise in the southern.

Keep watch on weather and listen to radio or TV. Keep alert about the community warning systems loudspeakers, bells, conches, drums or any traditional warning system. Get to know the nearest typhoon shelter / safe houses and the safest route to reach these shelters, Prepare a first aid kit, emergency tools for saving ourselves, dry food.

During a Typhoon:

Disconnect all electrical appliances and turn off gas. If the building starts crumbling, protect yourself with mattresses, rugs or blankets under a strong table or bench or hold on to a solid fixture (e.g. a water pipe) Listen to your transistor radio for updates and advice.

Floods:

All your family members should know the safe route to nearest shelter/ raised pucca house. If your area is flood-prone, consider alternative building materials. Mud walls are more likely to be damaged during floods. You may consider making houses where the walls are made of local bricks up to the highest known flood level with cement pointing.

During Floods:

Drink boiled water. Keep your food covered, dont take heavy meals. Use raw tea, rice-water, tender coconut-water, etc

During a Landslide:

Stay alert and awake. Many debris-flow fatalities occur when people are sleeping. Listen to a Weather Radio or portable, battery-powered radio or television for warnings of
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intense rainfall. Be aware that intense, short bursts of rain may be particularly dangerous, especially after longer periods of heavy rainfall and damp weather. If you are in areas susceptible to landslides and debris flows, consider leaving if it is safe to do so. Remember that driving during an intense storm can be hazardous. If you remain at home, move to a second story if possible. Staying out of the path of a landslide or debris flow saves lives.

After the Landslide:

Stay away from the slide area. There may be danger of additional slides. Check for injured and trapped persons near the slide, without entering the direct slide area. Direct rescuers to their locations. Help a neighbor who may require special assistance - infants, elderly people, and people with disabilities. Elderly people and people with disabilities may require additional assistance. People who care for them or who have large families may need additional assistance in emergency situations. Disaster management means: Emergency management is the discipline of dealing with and avoiding risks. It is a discipline that involves preparing for disaster before it occurs, disaster response (e.g., emergency evacuation, quarantine, mass decontamination, etc.), and supporting, and rebuilding society after natural or human-made disasters have occurred. In general, any Emergency Management is the continuous process by which all individuals, groups, and communities manage hazards in an effort to avoid or ameliorate the impact of disasters resulting from the hazards. Effective Emergency Management relies on thorough integration of emergency plans at all levels of government and non-government involvement. Disaster management involves a cycle namely Emergency Cycle.
Experts, such as Red-Cross, have long noted that the cycle of Emergency Management must include longterm work on infrastructure, public awareness, and even human justice issues.

The process of Emergency Management involves four phases: 1. 2. 3. 4. Mitigation Preparedness Response Recovery.

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This is named as Emergency Management Cycle since it works in a cyclic process.

Mitigation:
Mitigation efforts attempt to prevent hazards from developing into disasters altogether, or to reduce the effects of disasters when they occur. The mitigation phase differs from the other phases because it focuses on long-term measures for reducing or eliminating risk. Mitigative measures can be structural or non-structural. Structural measures use technological solutions, like flood levees. Non-structural measures include legislation, land-use planning and insurance. Mitigation is the most cost-efficient method for reducing the impact of hazards; however it is not always suitable. Mitigation does include providing regulations regarding evacuation, sanctions against those who refuse to obey the regulations (such as mandatory evacuations), and communication of potential risks to the public. Some structural mitigation measures may have adverse effects on the ecosystem. A precursor activity to the mitigation is the identification of risks. Physical risk assessment refers to the process of identifying and evaluating hazards. The hazard-specific risk (Rh) combines both the probability and the level of impact of a specific hazard. The equation below states that the hazard multiplied by the populations vulnerability to that hazard produces a risk Catastrophe modeling. The higher the risk, the more urgent that the hazard specific vulnerabilities are targeted by mitigation and preparedness efforts. However, if there is no vulnerability there will be no risk, e.g. an earthquake occurring in a desert where nobody lives.

Preparedness:
Preparedness is a continuous cycle of planning, organizing, training, equipping, exercising, evaluation and improvement activities to ensure effective coordination and the enhancement of capabilities to prevent, protect against, respond to, recover from, and mitigate the effects of natural disasters, acts of terrorism, and other man-made disasters.

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In the preparedness phase, emergency managers develop plans of action to manage and counter their risks and take action to build the necessary capabilities needed to implement such plans. Common preparedness measures include:

Communication plans with easily understandable terminology and methods. Proper maintenance and training of emergency services, including mass human resources such as community emergency response teams. Development and exercise of emergency population warning methods combined with emergency shelters and evacuation plans. stockpiling, inventory, and maintain disaster supplies and equipment Develop organizations of trained volunteers among civilian populations. Professional emergency workers are rapidly overwhelmed in mass emergencies so trained; organized, responsible volunteers are extremely valuable.

Eg: National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council, Red Cross, Another aspect of preparedness is casualty prediction, the study of how many deaths or injuries to expect for a given kind of event. This gives planners an idea of what resources need to be in place to respond to a particular kind of event.

Response:
The response phase includes the mobilization of the necessary emergency services and first responders in the disaster area. This is likely to introduce: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. firefighters police ambulance disaster relief operation(military) Non combatant evacuation operation Special rescue teams

at the site of the disaster prone areas. A well rehearsed emergency plan developed as part of the preparedness phase enables efficient coordination of rescue. There is a need for both discipline (structure, doctrine, process) and agility (creativity, improvisation, adaptability) in responding to a disaster.

Recovery:
The aim of the recovery phase is to restore the affected area to its previous state. It differs from the response phase in its focus; recovery efforts are concerned with issues and decisions that must be made after immediate needs are addressed.
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Recovery efforts are primarily concerned with actions that involve rebuilding destroyed property, re-employment, and the repair of other essential infrastructure. Efforts should be made to "build back better", aiming to reduce the pre-disaster risks inherent in the community and infrastructure. An important aspect of effective recovery efforts is taking advantage of a window of opportunityfor the implementation of mitigative measures that might otherwise be unpopular. Recently the Government has formed the NDRRMC . This group represents a public/private partnership, and aimed at improving the general response of communities to emergencies, in addition to those incidents which might be described as disasters.

4Rs is a term used to describe the emergency management cycle locally. In Philippines the
four phases are known as:

Reduction = Mitigation Readiness = Preparedness Response Recovery

Risk Assessment The evaluation of risk for a tropical cyclone is a relatively straightforward process. A hazard map should be prepared for any given year. The following information could be used to estimate the probability of storms of cyclones of various intersections that may strike different parts of the county.

Analyses of climatologically records to determine how often tropical cyclones have strucktheir intensities and locations. History of wind strengths, frequencies, height and location of storm surges frequencies of flooding. Information about tropical cyclone occurrences in the past 50-100 years over the ocean adjoining the part of the country in question.

a) An Integrated Warning/Response System Specific preparedness measures to counter the impact of tropicaltyphoons may be classified into two categories:

Those of long term or seasonal nature, which need to be planned, implemented and operationally tested and co-coordinated by means of simulation exercise well before a Page 8

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seasonal threat commences. Among these are pre-season co-ordination meetings at headquarters, district and local levels, at which operational contingency plans are reviewed and amended, training and community preparedness programs conducted and community lifelines. Those of a short-term nature, which relate to a state of readiness to cut in once a contemporary cyclone threat is announced. Among these are domestic, vocational and animal husbandry arrangements to safeguard the survival, property assets and livelihoods of individual families and communities.

b) Public Warning System The three main objectives in a tropical typhoon warning are:

To alert the people to the danger by announcing the existence of a threat due to a typhoon To identify the areas where people will be actively threatened by typhoon and where communities should monitor further warning announcements, and To call the people to action by recommending specific preparedness activities, which may be part of, and integrated warning/response plan to protect vulnerable resources.

Disaster management Team Cycle:

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Research Methodology:

Dolores is very blessed for its geographical location and position. It is one of those towns in Quezon that is least affected by some disasters. But this does give Dolores any chance of not to be prepared should any disaster strikes in this town. The methodology used in this research is Qualitative Methods in data gathering through surveys and interviews as well as team planning.

The following tables represent the data gathered and specific actions for the identified hazards and problems.

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Counter Disaster Plan of Dolores District SY 2012-2013; 2013-2014

Disaster-Related Problems & Issues in the Community/School Vehicular accidents Area Household/School Affected Objectives Strategies Resources Needed And Sources SCHEDULE

Dolores Central School Don Eulogio Capino Elementary School Don Severo Felismino Elementary School Bulakin Elementary School Dolores Central School Annex

To train the students of these said schools regarding traffic rules

Orientation on road safety

SPG Officers Key Teachers Head Teachers Principal Police Officers *Pamphlets regarding road safety *School Fund

January 2013 June 2013

To prevent vehicular accidents

Repainting / Creation of pedestrian lanes in all roads

Barangay Officers Municipal Engineering Office *Barangay Fund

April 2013

Creation of road safety patrol Boundary between Brgy. Silanganan and Pinagdanglanyan Creation of Road Signs and Installation of light posts

Barangay Police Officers

January 2013

Barangay Officers Municipal Engineering Office *Barangay Fund

December 2012

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Floods

Households in the boundary of San Mateo and Antonino

To improve the flood gates

Elevation of the roads between San Mateo and Antonino

Barangay Officers Municipal Engineering Office *Barangay Fund

April 2013

Entire Dolores drainage and canals

To prevent accidental drowning in the Dolores Canal System

Installation of metal barriers in the open canal

Municipal Engineering Office *Municipal Road Improvement fund Barangay Officers PTA Officers

April 2013

Landslide

Kinabuhayan Elementary School

To strengthen some portions the hills surrounding Kinabuhayan

Creation of a barrier to prevent stones from falling to the school and other house surrounding the school

March 2013

*Barangay Fund

Don Eulogio Capino Elementary School

To evaluate the situation of some portion of DECES which situated just above

Soil Testing and Ground Evaluation on some classroom of DECES located near the lake

Principal Teachers PTA Officers *School Fund

March 2013

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RE-ENTRY PLANNING OF DOLORES DISTRICT SY 2012-2013; 2013-2014

ACTIVITY OBJECTIVES TARGET BENIFICIARIES Dolores District Educative Community TIME FRAME May 2013 PERSON/S RESPONSIBLE Red Cross Volunteers Key Teachers Head Teachers RESOURCES NEEDED Projector Laptop PPT regarding Disaster REMARKS

Disaster Concept ,Mitigation, Prevention and Preparedness Orientation Seminar

To educate the school community regarding the different disaster To help the school in identifying and preparing in the different hazards that may be present in their school

Re- Echo on Disaster Concept ,Mitigation, Prevention and Preparedness Orientation Seminar

To educate the community regarding the different disaster To help the community in identifying the different hazards that may be present in their barangay To prepare the barangay in the different disaster

Different sectors in the barangay

June 2013

Key Teachers PTA officers SGC Members

Projector Laptop PPT regarding Disaster

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First Aid Seminar

To equip key teachers and SPG officers regarding some basic first aid.

Dolores District Educative Community

July 2013

Key Teachers Selected SPG Officers Red Cross First Aid Volunteers

First Aid Paraphernalia Laptop Projector PPT regarding First Aid

Earthquake and Fire Drills

Preparation of Hazard Map

Creation of Counter Disaster Plan

To educate the students regarding what to do should the said disaster strikes To identify the different hazards that may be present in the community To mitigate or prevent disaster from striking in the community

Dolores District Educative Community

July 2013 December 2013

Key Teachers Selected SPG Officers

Entire Barangay

August 2013

Barangay Officials Key Teachers Red Cross Volunteers

Map of the barangay

Entire Barangay

September 2013

Barangay Officials Key Teachers

Counter Disaster Plan

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Conclusion: We cannot predict any of the disasters, but we can prevent them by mitigation and management techniques. So, to keep DOLORES safe from all the disasters, we should have minimum knowledge about disasters and their mitigation and management techniques. Save greenery and DOLORES from all the disasters.

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