What is a disaster?

 The United Nations defines disaster as “the occurrence of sudden or major misfortune
which disrupts the basic fabric and normal functioning of the society or community”.
 The Disaster Management Act, 2005 defines disaster as “a catastrophe, mishap,
calamity or grave occurrence in any area, arising from natural or man-made causes, or
by accident or negligence which results in substantial loss of life or human suffering or
damage to, and destruction of, property, or damage to, or degradation of, environment,
and is of such a nature or magnitude as to be beyond the coping capacity of the
community of the affected area”.

How are disasters classified?

Disasters are classified according to whether they are “natural” disasters, or “human-made”
disasters. For example, disasters caused by floods, droughts, tidal waves and earth tremors are
generally considered “natural disasters.” Disasters caused by chemical or industrial accidents,
environmental pollution, transport accidents and political unrest are classified as “human-made”
or “human- induced” disasters since they are the direct result of human action.

DIsasters

Natural
Man made

Geophysical Hydrological
Climatological
1)Earthquake 1)Avalanche Meterological
Drought
2)Volcano 2)Flood Cyclone, Biological
Extreme hot/cold
3)Tsunami 3)Flash Flood Storm Surge, conditions Epidemics: viral,
4)Landslides Tornado, bacterial, parasitic,
Forest/Wildfire
fungal, or prion
Cold Wave Fires
infections
Heat Wave Glacial Lake
Insect infestations
Outburst
Animal stampedes
 1. Geophysical

Earthquake-

An earthquake is the movement or trembling of the ground produced by the sudden

displacement of rock in the Earth's crust. Stress accumulates in response to tectonic forces until
it exceeds the strength of the rock. The rock then breaks along a pre-existing or new fracture
called a fault. The rupture extends outward in all directions along the fault plane from its point of
origin (focus).

Volcano

A volcano is a vent or chimney which transfers molten rock known as magma from depth to the
Earth's surface. Magma erupting from a volcano is called lava and is the material which builds
up the cone surrounding the vent

Volcanic hazards include explosions, lava flows, bombs or ballistics, ash or tephra, pyroclastic
flows, pyroclastic surges, mudflows or lahars, landslides, earthquakes, ground deformation,
tsunami, air shocks, lightning, poisonous gas and glacial outburst flooding.
Tsunami

A series of waves (with long wavelengths when traveling across the deep ocean) that are
generated by a displacement of massive amounts of water through underwater earthquakes,
volcanic eruptions or landslides.

Tsunamis have the potential of causing significant casualties, widespread property damage,
massive infrastructure loss and long-term negative economic impacts. People caught in the path
of a tsunami often have little chance of survival. People die from drowning or debris crushing
them.

2. Hydrological

Avalanche:

Avalanche is a large mass of loosened earth material, snow, or ice that slides, flows or falls
rapidly down a mountainside under the force of gravity.

Flood:

A general term for the overflow of water from a stream channel onto normally dry land in the
floodplain (riverine flooding), higher-than normal levels along the coast and in lakes or
reservoirs (coastal flooding) as well as ponding of water at or near the point where the rain fell.

Flash Flood

Heavy or excessive rainfall in a short period of time that produce immediate runoff, creating
flooding conditions within minutes or a few hours during or after the rainfall.

Landslide

A landslide is defined as the movement of a mass of rock, debris, or earth down a slope.
Landslides are a type of "mass wasting," which denotes any down-slope movement of soil and
rock under the direct influence of gravity.

3. Meterological

Cyclone:

Cyclone can be defined as any large system of winds that circulates about a centre of
low atmospheric pressure in a counterclockwise direction north of the Equator and in a
clockwise direction to the south. Cyclones are dangerous because they produce destructive
winds, heavy rainfall with flooding and damaging storm surges that can cause
inundation of low-lying coastal areas.

Tornado:
 Tornado is a small-diameter column of violently rotating air developed within a
convective cloud and in contact with the ground. These whirling atmospheric vortices can
generate the strongest winds known on Earth, wind speeds in the range of 500 km per hour
have been measured in extreme events. When winds of this magnitude strike a populated area,
they can cause huge destruction and great loss of life, mainly through injuries from flying debris
and collapsing structures.

4. Climatological

Drought:
Lack or insufficiency of rain for an extended period that causes a considerable hydrologic
(water) imbalance and, consequently, water shortages, crop damage, streamflow reduction, and
depletion of groundwater and soil moisture.

Wildfire/Forest fire
A wildfire is an unplanned fire that burns in a natural area such as a forest, grassland, or prairie.
Uncontrolled blazes fuelled by weather, wind, and dry underbrush, wildfires can burn acres of
land and consume everything in their path in mere minutes. There are three conditions that
need to be present in order for a wildfire to burn, referred to as the fire triangle: fuel, oxygen,
and a heat source.

Glacial Lake Outburst

Glacial lake outburst flood” (GLOF) is a phrase used to describe a sudden release of a
significant amount of water retained in a glacial lake, irrespective of the cause. GLOFs are
characterized by extreme peak discharges, with an exceptional erosion/transport potential;
therefore, they can turn into flow-type movements (e.g., GLOF-induced debris flows)

5. Biological

Epidemic
Epidemic, an occurrence of disease that is temporarily of high prevalence.
An epidemic occurring over a wide geographical area (e.g., worldwide) is called a pandemic.

Insect Infestation:
Pervasive influx and development of insects or parasites affecting humans, animals, crops and
materials.

Cascading effect of Disaster – Earthquake, Tsunami, fire and nuclear disaster: Japan
Experience
Event of one kind of Disaster sometimes lead to a cascading effect and untold other disasters.
The preparedness to respond to such unforeseen chain of events is difficult to visualize and
plan and is going to be one of the challenges to managers engaged in DRR. Recent
experiences of earthquake in Japan leading to Tsunami, fire and then nuclear emergency are
an eye opener to those underestimating the might and fury of nature.

Impact of disasters

Disasters may result in both direct and indirect losses.

Direct Losses

Primary direct losses are those resulting from the immediate destruction caused by the
event, such as shake damage from an earthquake or water and wind damage from a
hurricane.

Secondary direct losses are those additional impacts resulting from follow-on physical
destruction, such as fire following an earthquake (due perhaps to breaks in gas lines) or
additional water damage to unrepaired structures from rain following a hurricane.

Indirect losses:

Short term indirect losses-

Induced losses in sales, wages, and/or profits due to loss of function. The inability to
operate may derive from either direct physical damage to commercial structures or from
infrastructure failure.


Input/output losses to firms forward-linked or backward-linked in production to

businesses closed as a result of direct physical damage or infrastructure failure.

Spending reductions from the income losses triggered by firm closures.

Long term indirect impact-

Altered migration flows, changes in development and housing values resulting from
changes in insurance costs, reduced consumption (if borrowing occurred to repair and
replace damaged structures and goods), and altered government expenditures that derive
from new patterns of migration and development.

Disaster Management
Phases of Disaster Management
Mitigation
Mitigation involves steps to reduce vulnerability to disaster impacts such as injuries and loss of life and
property. This might involve changes in local building codes to fortify buildings; revised zoning and land
use management; strengthening of public infrastructure; and other efforts to make the community more
resilient to a catastrophic event.

Preparedness
Preparedness focuses on understanding how a disaster might impact the community and how education,
outreach and training can build capacity to respond to and recover from a disaster.

Response
Response addresses immediate threats presented by the disaster, including saving lives, meeting
humanitarian needs (food, shelter, clothing, public health and safety), cleanup, damage assessment, and
the start of resource distribution. As the response period progresses, focus shifts from dealing with
immediate emergency issues to conducting repairs, restoring utilities, establishing operations for public
services (including permitting), and finishing the cleanup process.

Recovery

Recovery is the fourth phase of disaster and is the restoration of all aspects of the disaster’s impact on a
community and the return of the local economy to some sense of normalcy. By this time, the impacted
region has achieved a degree of physical, environmental, economic and social stability.

Priorities as per the Sendai Framework, which is the basis of India’s National Disaster
Management Plan

Priority 1: Understanding disaster risk

Disaster risk management needs to be based on an understanding of disaster risk in all its dimensions of
vulnerability, capacity, exposure of persons and assets, hazard characteristics and the environment
Disaster risk governance at the national, regional and global levels is vital to the management of disaster risk
reduction

Priority 2: Strengthening disaster risk governance to manage disaster risk

in all sectors and ensuring the coherence of national and local frameworks of laws, regulations and public policies
that, by defining roles and responsibilities, guide, encourage and incentivize the public and private sectors to take
action and address disaster risk

Priority 3: Investing in disaster risk reduction for resilience

Public and private investment in disaster risk prevention and reduction through structural and non-structural
measures are essential to enhance the economic, social, health and cultural resilience of persons, communities,
countries and their assets, as well as the environment. These can be drivers of innovation, growth and job creation.
Such measures are cost- effective and instrumental to save lives, prevent and reduce losses and ensure effective
recovery and rehabilitation

Priority 4
Enhancing disaster preparedness for effective response, and to «Build Back Better» in recovery,
rehabilitation and reconstruction

Experience indicates that disaster preparedness needs to be strengthened for more effective response and
ensure capacities are in place for effective recovery. Disasters have also demonstrated that the recovery,
rehabilitation and reconstruction phase, which needs to be prepared ahead of the disaster, is an opportunity to
«Build Back Better» through integrating disaster risk reduction measures.