DISASTER READINESS

AND RISK REDUCTION (DRRR)

Quarter 1 - Module 1
Disaster: Its Meaning and Its
Risk Factors
Disaster Readiness and Risk Reduction SHS
Alternative Delivery Mode
Quarter 1 – Module 1: Disaster: Its Meaning and Its Factors
First Edition, 2020

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Published by the Department of Education OIC-Schools Division

Superintendent: Carleen S. Sedilla CESE OIC-Assistant Schools
Division Superintendent: Brian E. Ilan EdD

Development Team of the Module

Writer: Maria Vina C. Liwanag

Editor: Edwin I. Salviejo EdD

Reviewers: Ernell O. Placido

Layout Artist: Arnold G. Chan

Management Team: Angelita S. Jalimao

Chief Education Supervisor, Curriculum Implementation Division

Neil Vincent C. Sandoval

Education Program Supervisor, LRMS

Edwin I. Salviejo EdD

Division Science Coordinator/School Principal I

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 DISASTER READINESS
AND RISK REDUCTION (DRRR)
Quarter 1 - Module 1
Disaster: Its Meaning and Its
Risk Factors
Introductory Message
For the facilitator:
Welcome to the Disaster Readiness and Risk Reduction Alternative Delivery Mode
(ADM) Module on Disaster: Its Meaning and Its Risk Factor!

This module was collaboratively designed, developed and reviewed by educators both
from public and private institutions to assist you, the teacher or facilitator in helping
the learners meet the standards set by the K to 12 Curriculum while overcoming their
personal, social, and economic constraints in schooling.

This learning resource hopes to engage the learners into guided and independent
learning activities at their own pace and time. Furthermore, this also aims to help
learners acquire the needed 21st century skills while taking into consideration their
needs and circumstances.

In addition to the material in the main text, you will also see this box in the body of
the module:

Notes to the Teacher

This contains helpful tips or strategies that
will help you in guiding the learners.

As a facilitator you are expected to orient the learners on how to use this module. You
also need to keep track of the learners' progress while allowing them to manage their
own learning. Furthermore, you are expected to encourage and assist the learners as
they do the tasks included in the module.

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For the learner:
Welcome to the Disaster Readiness and Risk Reduction Alternative Delivery Mode
(ADM) Module on Disaster: Its Meaning and Its Risk Factor!

The hand is one of the most symbolized part of the human body. It is often used to
depict skill, action and purpose. Through our hands we may learn, create and
accomplish. Hence, the hand in this learning resource signifies that you as a learner is
capable and empowered to successfully achieve the relevant competencies and skills
at your own pace and time. Your academic success lies in your own hands!

This module was designed to provide you with fun and meaningful opportunities for
guided and independent learning at your own pace and time. You will be enabled to
process the contents of the learning resource while being an active learner.

This module has the following parts and corresponding icons:

What I Need to Know This will give you an idea of the skills or
competencies you are expected to learn in
the module.

What I Know This part includes an activity that aims to

check what you already know about the
lesson to take. If you get all the answers
correct (100%), you may decide to skip this
module.

What’s In This is a brief drill or review to help you link

the current lesson with the previous one.

What’s New In this portion, the new lesson will be

introduced to you in various ways such as a
story, a song, a poem, a problem opener, an
activity or a situation.

What is It This section provides a brief discussion of

the lesson. This aims to help you discover
and understand new concepts and skills.

What’s More This comprises activities for independent

practice to solidify your understanding and
skills of the topic. You may check the
answers to the exercises using the Answer
Key at the end of the module.

What I Have Learned This includes questions or blank

sentence/paragraph to be filled in to process
what you learned from the lesson.

What I Can Do This section provides an activity which will

help you transfer your new knowledge or
skill into real life situations or concerns.

Assessment This is a task which aims to evaluate your

level of mastery in achieving the learning
competency.

Additional Activities In this portion, another activity will be given to

you to enrich your knowledge or skill of the

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 lesson learned. This also tends retention of
learned concepts.

Answer Key This contains answers to all activities in the

module.

At the end of this module you will also find:

References This is a list of all sources used in

developing this module.

The following are some reminders in using this module:

1. Use the module with care. Do not put unnecessary mark/s on any part of the
module. Use a separate sheet of paper in answering the exercises.
2. Don’t forget to answer What I Know before moving on to the other activities
included in the module.
3. Read the instruction carefully before doing each task.
4. Observe honesty and integrity in doing the tasks and checking your answers.
5. Finish the task at hand before proceeding to the next.
6. Return this module to your teacher/facilitator once you are through with it.
If you encounter any difficulty in answering the tasks in this module, do not hesitate to
consult your teacher or facilitator. Always bear in mind that you are not alone.

We hope that through this material, you will experience meaningful learning and
gain deep understanding of the relevant competencies. You can do it!

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 What I Need to Know

The module is divided into two lessons, namely:

• Lesson 1 – Definition of Disaster
• Lesson 2 – Risk Factors Underlying in Disasters

After going through this module, you are expected to:

1. define disaster
2. differentiate the three risk factors namely hazard, exposure, vulnerability and
capacity
3. create a model community map

What I Know

Choose the letter of the best answer. Write the chosen letter on a separate sheet
of paper.
1. Which of the following is TRUE about disaster?
A. It causes widespread disruption in the community.
B. It causes mild disruption in the function of a community.
C. It causes mild destruction to limited parts of the community.
D. It is a predictable damage, harm and loss suffered by a community.
2. When does a disaster occur? When,
A. loss equal to its power C. loss can be case to case basis.
B. loss greater than its resources D. loss is less than its destruction

3. Which of the following barangays

marked A, B, C and D is mostly
exposed to the rising of water
level from Talangka River?
A. A C.C
B. B D.D

4. In case houses will be covered by

a landslide, which of the following
capacity will help the community
manage the situation?

A. fire extinguisher
Legend: B. rescue boat
C. temporary shelter
Landslide flood
D. ventilator

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Recoveries from Virus-D 10. Which age group is the most
vulnerable to Virus-D?
out of 100 sample by age
A. 0-19 C. 40-59
80 and
0-19 20-39 40-59 60-79
above B. 20-39 D. 80 and above
5 20 19 8 48

Lesson

1 Definition of Disaster
You may have heard the word disaster in many situations. For example, your mom
would say “disaster” if she finds your room all in a mess. Another example, your
friend would tell you that “you were a disaster” if you gave an awful class
presentation. In these situations, the word disaster is used as a mere expression.
However, the real word disaster is something serious. You will understand the true
meaning of disaster in this module. You will also learn that disaster can even be
prevented.

What’s In

Before we start this module, let us familiarize with some terms to be used in our
dicussion about disaster.

• A natural phenomenon is an obsevable event which naturally happens

around us. Some examples of this are earthquake, typhoon, landslide, volcanic
eruption and tsunami.

• Man-made activities are activities carried out by man such as mining, farming,
quarrying, and fishing.
• A community has various functions such as distribution, production,
consumption of products, socialization, social control, social participation and
mutual support.

What’s New

The word disaster is misused in a lot of situations. People may have used it to
describe a room that is messy, a class presentation that has failed or to anything
that went wrong.

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 What is It

The widespread destruction or damage to a community shown in the pictures above

are caused either by a natural phenomenon or by man. A disaster occurs if there is
a serious disruption of the functioning of a community because of a widespread
destruction.

Some common causes of disaster and affected social function

Natural Widespread Disrupted Community
Phenomena Situation or Condition Function
Damages to bridges, tunnels, -Transportation
pavements and highway infrastructure
Earthquake Damages to structure like houses and -Housing, , Businesses, Health
various buildings (church, office Care
buildings)
Community infection -Housing, Businesses,
Transportation, Health Care
Virus
Services
-School, Church Service
Man-Made Widespread Disrupted Community
Activities Situation or Condition Sector
-water pollution -Fishing livelihood
Oil spill
-imbalanced ecosystem
Dynamite -coral reefs destruction -Fishing livelihood
fishing -imbalanced ecosystem
Illegal logging -Deforestation -various industries relying on
-imbalanced ecosystem natural resources

Improper air, water and land pollution -public health

garbage
disposal

Disaster can also be defined in terms of loss. If the loss suffered by a community is
greater than the ability of the resources to handle the situation, a disaster occurs.

LOSS > COMMUNITY DISASTER

human life lost, damaged
properties (house, car,etc)
economic (bankruptcy),
environmental (degradation)
occurs if the loss is
RESOURCES greater than the ability
Either materials and manpower of the community to
Greater which are used to manage or cope with the situation
than cope with the effects of a disaster. by using its resources.

Activity 1.1. Definition of Disaster

Rearrange the phrases below to explain why a situation becomes a disaster.

. if there were many boats destroyed by the waves,

A storm surge can cause a disaster
which could disrupt the fishing livelihood.

(natural phenomenon or man-made activity) (widespread destruction)

1.
(disruption of community function)
_______________________________________________________________________________

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Refer to the given community resources below to complete the sentence.

Community Resources: road roller machine, asphalt, construction workers,

civil engineers, traffic enforcer

2. The situation can be _________________________ (a disaster, not a

disaster) because the community ______ (can, cannot) handle the
loss. The resources it ________ (needed, not needed) are _________
Source: https://commons.wikime-
media.org/wiki/File:Land_crack_
for material and _______________ for manpower.
in_Alor_2004.png

What’s More

Choose from the words inside the box to complete the sentence.
smog factory emissions transportation

1. _______________________ can cause a disaster if there is a widespread ________

which could disrupt the _______________ of a community. Drivers may find it
difficult to drive through the street because of zero visibility.
For items 2-3, refer to the information in the table below to complete the sentence.
BARANGAY KAHANDAAN
COMMUNITY RESOURCES

carpenter teacher doctor

mason internet nurse
engineer connectivity Ventilator
lumber laptop hospital bed
(limited)
iron bars module mask

2. If there would be a strong earthquake, the community will suffer from a

disaster.
The loss the community will suffer is ___________ (greater than, less than)
its ability to handle the situation. The community _________ (has complete,
has incomplete) resources to manage the effects of an earthquake such as
_______, (all that applies)

3. Situation: Students have to stay at home due to community lockdown.

The community loss is _____________ (less than, greater than) the
community resources. The community ___________ (can, cannot) cope with
the situation. The situation will not lead to a disaster because teachers can
send __________ (module, laptop, stick with internet connectivity) to the
students. Students can still continue studying at home.

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 What I Have Learned

1. A disaster is a serious disruption of the functioning of a community or a

society involving a widespread human, material, economic, or environmental
losses and impacts.
2. A disaster happens when the losses suffered by the affected community are
greater than its ability to handle severe situations using its resources.

What I Can Do
For item #1, refer to the figure below.
1. A community is shown where houses
are close to one another separated only
by narrow streets. If one house was
caught on fire, the fire may easily
spread like wild fire. Which of the
following materials would likely cause a
widespread house fire?
____ Lightweight materials such as

thin plywood

____ Solid concrete blocks

____ Solid concrete and stainless-

steel trusses and brackets

____ Hardiflex (heat resistant) wood

for walls and frames

Assessment

Multiple Choice. Choose the letter of the best answer. Write the chosen letter on
a separate sheet of paper.

1. Which of the following is TRUE about disaster?

A. It is caused by a natural phenomenon only.
B. It causes destruction to limited parts of the community.
C. It causes serious disruption in the function of a community.
D. It causes mental terror and physical threat to selected people.

2. During a disaster, how does the loss suffered by the community compare to
its ability to cope with the situation?
A. loss < ability of the community C. loss = ability of the community
B. loss > ability of the community D. cannot be determined

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3. Which of the following community functions will be disrupted after a storm surge

flooded the entire community where all houses were submerged up to the roof?
I. local air travel II. cruise industry III. housing V.
IV. power offshore oil extraction industry

A. I and II C. I, III, and IV

B. I, II and III D. I, IV and V

Additional Activities

Situation: As a member of your community, it is important that you know

the community you live in. Answer the two questions below to know about
your community.

(1) What natural phenomena or man-made activities which could put

your community in danger?
(2) What are the community resources found in your community?

Task: Make two maps, (1)your present community map and (2)your ideal
model cummunity map. Make 5 to ten sentences explaining how your ideal
community map different from your present map. Use the terms: natural
phenomenon, man-made activity, loss, community function, less than /
greater than, disaster. (Note: Please refer to your teacher for the Rubric.)

Lesson

Risk Factors Underlying in Disasters

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There are factors in the community which can determine the chances of suffering
from a disaster.

What’s In

In the previous lesson you understood that a situation becomes a disaster if

there is a widespread destruction which can cause a serious disruption to a
community. A natural phenomenon like storm surge may cause widespread flooding
that can disrupt housing and transportation of a community. In addition, a man-
made activity such as oil spill can cause a widespread water pollution that could
disrupt a balanced ecosystem and the livelihood of fisherman. A disaster will also
happen if the community loss is greater than its ability to cope with the situation
using its resources.

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 This time you will realize that we can actually do something to prevent a
disaster from happening by understanding what is disaster risk. We will also learn
the three disaster risk factors namely exposure to a hazard, vulnerability and
capacity to cope.

What’s New

Disaster Risk Factors

Can disasters be prevented from happening? If yes, what does it take to prevent
it from happening? Now, let us look at the two pictures below to get an idea.

Activity 2.0 Disaster Risk Factors

A B

Source: https://commons.wikime-dia.org/wiki/File:Slum_in_Manila_ Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Slum_in_Manila_during_

during_flooding_(4046572466).jpg flooding_(4046572466).jpg

Between A and B, which community is ...

1. in a dangerous condition?
2. exposed or prone to landslide?
3. vulnerable or susceptible to diseases?
4. lacking capacity in terms of access?
5. at a greater risk to disaster?

Based on the picture presented above, disaster actually happens because of

several factors affecting a community. Picture A shows numerous factors in a
community which increases its chances to suffering from a disaster. Let us find out in
this lesson the factors to disaster risk.

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 What is It

Disaster Risk
Similar to what you did in the previous activity in order for you to prevent a disaster
from happening, you must first identify the conditions or factors which determines
your chances of suffering from a disaster. Disaster risk is a term used to refer to the
chances or probability to suffer from the effects of a disaster. It is also used to
describe the possible losses in lives, health, status, livelihood, assets and services
that a community may suffer in the future based on certain factors or conditions.

There are three factors that may increase or decrease disaster risk or your
chances of suffering from a disaster:
1. exposure to hazard,
2. vulnerability, and
3. capacity to cope.

Hazard
Before we define exposure to hazard, you must understand what a hazard is.
Hazards are things or events around us that can cause harm or damage to humans,
property or the environment. A super typhoon approaching a populated city is a
hazard because it can cause harm all people and things present in the city. However,
if a super typhoon approaches an island without an inhabitant, then the super
typhoon is not a hazard because there are no people, animals, plants, and properties
that will be affected.

Exposure
Exposure to a hazard or simply called as exposure refers to people,
property, systems or other elements present in the hazard zones. When people or
things are present in hazard zone, there is exposure. Exposure to a hazard
increases the disaster risk.

Vulnerability
Vulnerability refers to the characteristics and circumstances of a community,
system or asset that increases the chances of suffering from a disaster. Vulnerability
for people can be the age, gender, and sex. Vulnerability to a building structure is
the weak foundation or lack of property insurance. Vulnerability to community is the
lack of policy, laws and preparedness program. Finally, vulnerability to environment
is the lack of environmental protection laws or regulations.

Capacity
This refers to the combination of all the strengths, attributes and resources
available within a community or organization that can be used to handle a bad
situation or a disaster. Capacity can be in terms of skills of people (e.g. carpentry),
institutions to handle a situation (e.g. Department of Health), equipment (e.g.
ventilator), infrastructure (e.g. learning center), and community policies (e.g.14-day
quarantine period) or regulations (e.g. Building Code for building construction).

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 What’s More

Answer the following questions by choosing the items between A and B.

Situation A B
1. What communities are exposed Communities along Communities in
to tsunami? coastal areas highlands
2. Who are vulnerable to An adult with heart A teenager who gets
infectious diseases caused by disease under anti- a seasonal vaccine
bacteria bacterial medication against flu
3. Who has capacity to cope A family who has a A family whose each
with the effects of 7.2 magnitude car, a credit card and member has an
earthquake causing most a mobile wifi. emergency bag.
structures to collapse such as
bridge, and communication tower?

What I Have Learned

1. Hazards are things or events around us that can cause harm

or damage to humans, property or the environment.
2. Exposure to hazard or simply exposure refers to people, property, systems or
other elements present in the hazard zones which can suffer from possible
damage, injury or destruction.

3. Vulnerability refers to the characteristics and circumstances of a community,

system or asset that make it prone to the damaging effects of a hazard.

4. Capacity refers to the combination of all the strengths, attributes and

resources available within a community or organization that can be used to
achieve in disaster preparedness or to handle a disaster situation.

5. Disaster Risk is a term used to describe the possible losses in lives, health, status,
livelihood, assets and services that a community may suffer in the future.

6. The three factors of a disaster risk:

a. exposure to hazard,
b. vulnerability, and
c. capacity to cope in terms of resources.

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 What I Can Do

Direction: Fill in the blanks to complete the dialogue below.

Your Barangay Captain visited your neighborhood located along the river.
He made an announcement that a rip rap would be built along the river
bank in order to protect the neighborhood from soil erosion. Then, your
friend asked you for some clarifications. Read aloud the dialogue. Complete
your dialogue based on the announcement made by your Barangay Captain.
(Optional: You may ask one of your family members to read the dialogue
with you.)

Friend: I heard that our Barangay Captain has a project for our
community. What is the project about?

You: As you know our houses are located along the river bank. We are
exposed to ______ if the river overflows after a heavy rain. We are also
exposed to _______ . As you may have noticed, our river bank is bare and
unprotected from the flow of river.

Friend: Yes, I noticed that. If the river continues to carry the soil in the
riverbank, it will cause the foundation of our houses to crumble and may
damage our houses. I never realized how dangerous the condition we are in.
Our community must be protected through building a ________ on the river
bank. So, now I understand why our community needs the rip rap project.
You: Wow, you figured it out yourself! Good for you!

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 Assessment

Multiple Choice. Choose the letter of the best answer. Write the chosen letter on a
separate sheet of paper.

1. Which is exposed to the greatest number of hazard?

A. Guadalupe Viejo B. Rizal C. Pembo D. Lapaz

2. Which of the following capacity or resources needed in case of an earthquake?

A. boat B. shelter C. thermometer D. Ventilator

3. Who are vulnerable in case of flood?

A. elderly in wheelchair C. a SHS student who can help carry
B. a grade six student who runs fast D. grade 2 student who has a “Go Bag”

Additional Activities

Interview at least two members of your family. Ask them of the following:
1. hazard that might affect your family
2. vulnerable people in your family
3. capacity to help your family manage the situation
4. other families located in other places exposed to the same hazard. Submit
the interview transcript (interview questions and responses from your
family member)

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