DISASTER MANAGEMENT

Anandlal R
Asst. Professor
Dept. of Civil Engg.
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 ENVIRONMETAL HAZARDS

• Extreme events-natural or man made, which

occur rarely and exceed the tolerable

magnitude within or beyond certain time

limits, make human adjustments very

difficult, result in colossal losses of property

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 ENVIRONMETAL HAZARDS (contd.)

• As per the definition of UNO, Hazard is a potentially damaging

physical event, phenomenon or human activity that may cause the loss

of life or injury, property damage, social and economic disruption or

environmental degradation.

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 Characteristics of Hazards

• Natural or Man induced events

• Physical events or causes or processes of disaster

• Have potential for damaging different forms of life, mainly human

• Represent latent conditions for future threats to all types of biota

• May or may-not become disasters

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 DISASTERS
• Combination of two words: ‘des’ meaning evil and ‘astre’

meaning star

• it means evil star

• Result of an immediate situation or the result of a long set process

which disrupts normal human life in its established social,

traditional and economic system

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 Disaster –Definition as per DM Act, 2005

“Disaster" means 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

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 Characteristics of Disaster

• Natural or Man made

• Occur rapidly, instantaneously and indiscriminately

• Always viewed in terms of human beings

• Intensity measured in terms of damages done to the human society

• Cause several socio-economic and health problems, etc.

• Effects may be short lived or long lasting

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 Distinction between Hazard and Disaster
• Hazard and disaster are closely related
• Hazard is a natural event whereas disaster is its consequence
• Hazard is a perceived natural event which threatens both life and property. A
disaster is the culmination of such hazard
• A hazard is a potential for disaster
• A hazard becomes a disaster when it hits an area affecting the normal life
system

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 Classification of hazards / disasters
• Classification based on causative factors:
Natural Man-induced (anthropogenic)
• Volcanic disaster • Physical disasters
Reservoir induced seismic disaster
• Seismic Disaster
Man induced landslide disaster
• Tsunami Disaster Accelerated soil erosion
• Cylcones and so on. • Chemical disasters
Release of toxic chemicals
Nuclear test and explosions ad so on.
• Biological ad health related
Epidemics and pandemics
Eutrophication ad so on
• Technological
Failure of nuclear plants
Nuclear wars
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NATURAL DISASTERS

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MAN MADE DISASTERS

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 Minor natural disasters:
Major natural disasters:
• Cold wave
• Flood
• Thunderstorms
• Cyclone
• Heat waves
• Drought
• Mud slides
• Earthquake
• Storm

Major manmade disaster: Minor manmade disaster:

• Setting of fires • Road / train accidents, riots
1. Epidemic • Food poisoning
2. Deforestation • Industrial disaster/ crisis
3. Pollution due to prawn • Environmental pollution
cultivation
4. Chemical pollution.
5. Wars

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• Classification based on rate of Occurrence:
• Sudden or rapid onset hazards or disasters
• Slow onset hazards and disasters
• Classification based on National/International Interests:
• Hazards and Disasters due to Human Error:
• Hazards and Disasters of Continued Effects:
• Classification based on response capability:
• Local Disaster
• National Disaster
• International Disaster
• Compound Disasters:

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 Vulnerability
• Describes the characteristics and circumstances of a community, system or asset that
make it susceptible to the damaging effects of a hazard

• Many aspects of vulnerability, arising from various physical, social, economic, and
environmental

• poor design and construction of buildings

• lack of public information and awareness

• limited official recognition of risks

• Preparedness measures and disregard for wise environmental management

• Vulnerability varies significantly within a community and over time

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 Types of Vulnerability

• Physical Vulnerability

• Social Vulnerability

• Economic Vulnerability

• Environmental Vulnerability

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 Physical Vulnerability
• Conventionally asset-oriented

• Mainly refer to the location considerations and susceptibilities of the built

environment

• Exposure to hazards – “living in harms ways” or “being in the wrong place

at the wrong time.”

• Determined by aspects such as density levels, remoteness of a settlement, its

siting, design and materials used for critical infrastructure and for housing
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 Social Vulnerability
• Refers to the inability of people, organizations and societies to withstand adverse impacts
to hazards due to characteristics inherent in social interactions, institutions and systems of
cultural values

• Aspects related to

• Levels of literacy and education

• The existence of peace and security

• Access to basic human rights

• Systems of good governance

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 Economic Vulnerability

• The level of vulnerability is highly dependant upon the economic

status of individuals, communities and nations

• The poor are usually more vulnerable to disasters due to

• Lack of resources to build sturdy structures

• To put other engineering structures in place to protect

themselves from being negatively impacted by disaster
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 Environmental Vulnerability

• The extent of natural resource depletion.

• Loss of resilience of the ecological systems.

• Loss of biodiversity.

• Exposure to toxic and hazardous pollutants.

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 EXPOSURE

• Refers to that which is affected by natural disasters, such as people and

property.

• State or condition of being unprotected and open to damage, danger,

risk of suffering a loss in a transaction, or uncertainty.

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 DISASTER RISK

• Adverse impacts of a particular hazard on different aspects, such as

social, economic, political, medical, psychological, etc. of human
society

• The probability that a hazard will happen or, more precisely, the
likelihood that an event will coincide with the elements that can be
affected

• Disaster Risk = function (Hazard, Exposure, Vulnerability)

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 CRISIS

• Any situation that is life threatening or could threaten to harm people

or property, seriously interrupt business, damage reputation and/or

negatively impact share value.

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 CRISIS MANAGEMENT

• Involves identifying the crisis, planning a response to crisis and

confronting and resolving the crisis

• Crisis Management has two functions:

1. Secure the scene and engage in rescue and recovery

2. Provide relief programs to populations in urgent need and

reconstruct communities in the disaster aftermath
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 EMERGENCY

• A state in which normal procedures are suspended and extra-ordinary

measures are taken in order to avert a disaster

• It can cause immediate danger to people’s lives or might not be immediately

life-threatening, and can extend to wider environment

• Examples include forest fires, oil spills, health emergencies such as cardiac
arrests or road accidents and outbreaks of diseases such as cholera.

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 Disaster Resilience
• Disaster resilience is the ability of individuals, communities,
organizations and states to adapt to and recover from hazards, shocks
or stresses without compromising long-term prospects for
development
• The core elements of disaster resilience as follows :
1. Context:
2. Disturbance:
3. Capacity to respond:
4. Reaction:

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 1. Resilience - Context

• Whose resilience is being built – such as a social group, socio-

economic or political system, environmental context or institution

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 2. Resilience - Disturbance

• What shocks (sudden events like conflict or disasters) and/or stresses

(long-term trends like resource degradation, urbanisation, or climate

change) the group aims to be resilient to

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 3. Resilience – Capacity to respond

• The ability of a system or process to deal with a shock or stress

depends on exposure (the magnitude of the shock or stress),
sensitivity (the degree to which a system will be affected by, or will
respond to, a given shock or stress), and adaptive capacity (how well
it can adjust to a disturbance or moderate damage, take advantage of
opportunities and cope with the consequences of a transformation).
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 4. Resilience – Reaction
• A range of responses are possible, including: bounce back better,
where capacities are enhanced, exposures are reduced, and the system
is more able to deal with future shocks and stresses; bounce back,
where pre-existing conditions prevail; or recover, but worse than
before, meaning capacities are reduced. In the worst-case scenario, the
system collapses, leading to a catastrophic reduction in capacity to
cope with the future
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 Disaster Management/Preparedness
• Aimed to minimize loss of life and damage in the event of a disaster
• Helps by removing people and property from a threatened location and
by facilitating timely and effective rescue, relief and rehabilitation at
the place of disaster
• Disaster management has 4 phases:
1. Mitigation
2. Rescue
3. Relief
4. Rehabilitation
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 Mitigation
• Effort to reduce the loss of life and property in the event of a disaster by
lessening the impact of disasters
• Means taking action before the next disaster to reduce human and financial
consequences later
• It involves
• Analysing risks
• Reducing risks and ensuring against risks

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 Rescue

• Rescue operations involves providing medication to those hurt and

taking people out of the affected area and debris in the events of

earthquakes and floods, etc.

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 Relief
• Starts as soon as the disaster strikes

• Main emphasis laid on providing injured with medication and providing food as well as
clean drinking water to the people

• Relief activities include:

• Rescue and relocation

• Providing food and water

• Preventing disease and disability

• Repairing vital services, etc

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 Rehabilitation

• It looks at more long term inputs of reinstating lost livelihoods,

introducing new economic opportunities and improving land and water

management processes so as to reduce people’s vulnerability and

enhance capacities to handle future calamities.

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 Basic Concepts of Earth as a System
• System analysis emphasis on the importance of understanding the structure
of, and the relationships between and within, different parts of the
environment

• System may be defined as a set of interconnected parts which function

together as a complex whole

• Energy moves through systems via a series of flows, cycles and

transformations

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 Sub-divisions of a System
• System – refers to the entire environmental system (such as river drainage
basin)

• Sub-system –refers to major sub-divisions within the system (such as a

flood-plain)

• System Component ( or system element) – refers to a part of the system or

sub system which has specific properties (such as sediment carried by the
river)

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 Earth as a System
• An integrated system
• Sub-divided into 4 components:
• Geosphere/Lithosphere
• Atmosphere
• Hydrosphere
• Biosphere
• Components itself are systems in their own right and tightly interconnected
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 Geosphere

• The part of the planet composed of rock and minerals

• Includes the solid crust, the molten mantle and the liquid and solid parts of
the earth's core

• The surface of the geosphere is subject to processes of erosion, weathering

and transport, as well as to tectonic forces and volcanic activity, which
result in the formation of landforms such as mountains, hills

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 Atmosphere
• Gaseous layer surrounding the earth and held to its surface by gravity
• Receives energy from solar radiation which warms the earth's surface and is
re-emitted and conducted to the atmosphere
• Absorbs water from the earth's surface via the process of evaporation
• Acts to redistribute heat and moisture across the earth's surface
• Contains substances that are essential for life, including carbon, nitrogen,
oxygen and hydrogen

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 Hydrosphere
• Those parts of the earth system composed of water in its liquid,
gaseous (vapour) and solid (ice) phases
• The hydrosphere is sub-divided into the fluid water systems and
the cryosphere (the ice systems).

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 Biosphere

• This contains all living organisms and it is intimately related to the

other three spheres

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 Energy Flows

• Earth is a vast, complex system powered by two sources of energy

 An internal source( the decay of radioactive elements in the

geosphere-which generates geothermal heat)

 An external source (solar radiation received from the sun)

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 Mode of Energy Transfer
• Energy transferred within and between environmental systems in three main ways:

• Radiation: energy is transmitted through space, typically in the form of

electromagnetic waves

• Convection: the physical movement of fluids (air or water) that contain energy
in the form of heat – does not occur in solids

• Conduction: transfer of energy in the form of heat through the substance of a

medium ( from molecule to molecule)

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 Three main process of energy transfer at
Global Scale
• Horizontal transfer of sensible heat by the movement of warm air

masses

• Transfer of heat in the form of atmospheric moisture

• Horizontal convection of sensible heat by ocean currents

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 Biogeochemical Cycles
• The earth system contains several ‘great cycles’ in which key materials are
transported through the environment

• The key materials that cycle through the major biogeochemical cycles are
carbon, oxygen, hydrogen, nitrogen, phosphorous and Sulphur

• Biochemical cycles operate at global scale

• Three of the key biogeochemical cycles are the nitrogen, carbon and
Sulphur cycles
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Carbon Cycle

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 Green House Effect

• A naturally occurring phenomenon which is responsible for heating

the earth surface and atmosphere

• Due to green house effect, the average temperature of earth surface is

15°C and without green house effect the average temperature would

have been – 18°C

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 Green House

• A building in which plants are grown

• A greenhouse has different type of covering materials, such as glass or

plastic roof and walls. It accumulates temperature and heats up

because incoming visible solar radiation from the sun is absorbed by

plants, soil and other things inside the building

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• The absorbed radiation gets accumulated and converted to heat energy
(lower frequencies of infrared thermal radiation).

• Infrared radiation is absorbed by green house gases and water vapours.

• Some of the heat rays are reflected by the glass panes and again come
back to the surface.

• Warming effect found in green house is due to accumulation of heat

rays.
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 Main Green House Gases

• Carbon dioxide

• Methane

• Chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs)

• Nitrous Oxide (N2O)

• Water vapour

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 Carbon dioxide

• The most important green house gas

• Normal level in atmosphere is 0.03%

• A rise in CO2 due to large scale deforestation and combustion of fossil

fuels

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 Methane CH4

• It traps 20 times as much heat as CO2

• Produced by incomplete biomass combustion, incomplete

decomposition, flooded paddy fields, marshes, etc

• In arctic regions, methane comes out of earth’s interior at many places

called methane chimneys

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 Chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs)

• Synthetic gaseous compounds of carbon and halogen

• Used as cooling gas in refrigerators and air conditioners, used in

aerosol cans and jet fuel, fire extinguishers, plastic foams and room
fresheners

• They are highly stable and non-degradable

• Trap 1500 to 7000 times as much heat as per molecule of CO2

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 Nitrous Oxide (N2O)

• Produced by burning of fossil fuels, lightning and thunder, microbial

activities, livestock wastes,etc.

• Traps about 2000 times as much heat per molecule as CO2

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Water Vapour

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 Global warming

• Global warming is the observed and projected increases in the average

temperature of Earth’s atmosphere and its oceans

• Global warming is causing irreparable damage to the Earth’s climate

as well as its physical environment

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 Causes of Global Warming

• Deforestation

• The Greenhouse Effect

• The process of recovering Fossil Fuels

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 Effects of Global Warming

• Increased melting of Ice Caps

• Rise in Sea Levels

• Desertification

• Hurricane & Cyclones

• The Spread of Diseases

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