Lec 1 - Concepts/defns Flashcards
ULOs
1) EXPLAIN the concepts of disaster risk in terms of hazard events, Exposure and Vulnerability in reference to society, econ, environ and the disaster management risk cycle
2) DISCUSS the SUITABILITY of different hazard/risk assessment methods for different situations
3) CRITICALLY EVALUATE the perspectives, actiions and interactions of DRR stakeholders
4) PROPOSE APPROPRIATE STRATEGIES for different scenarios of DR response, recovery, reconstruction, mitigation or preparedness.
DR language?
Hazard = A process, phenomenon or human activity that MAY CAUSE health impacts, social, econ and/or environ dmg/
Exposure = The situation of people/system and other human assets LOCATED in HAZARD-PRONE areas
Vulnerability = The CONDITIONS determined by social, econ and environ factors that INCREASE the SUSCEPTIBILITY of an individual/system to the IMPACTS of hazards,
Disaster risk = HEV = POTENTIAL loss of life/assets to occur in a SPECIFIC PERIOD OF TIME determined probabilisitically
Disaster = Serious disruption of the funcitioning of a society at any scale due to hazardous events leading to social, econ and environ losses
DRR = Aimed at preventing new and reducing existing disaster risk and managing residual risk - contributes to strengthing resilience and sustainable development
Resilience = Ability of a system exposed to hazards to recover/resist/adapt to effects of a hazard inclu. through preservation of its essential basic strucs. and fncs. through risk management.
Risk and disaster components
Hazard: type, location, frequency and mag. event
Exposure: Spatial and temporal location
Vulnerability: degree of damage expected as a result of exposure to a certain hazard
Disaster = Risk > Capacity to cope
Learn how to draw the risk analysis, assessment and management framework!!!!!
Disaster risk reduction options
Reduce hazard: eng. or struc. emasures, good environ. management practices
Reduce consequences;
Exposure: avoid hazards, planning controls, early warnings, evac.
Vulnerability: increase resilience of econ, environ etc
Transfer or share risk: insure losses
Accept remaining risk
Defining hazards by their dimensions
Trigger event - Many classes/sub-classes e.g. natural v man-made, often complex due to secondary hazards
Mag. and frequency - A measure of size of event, or the energy released and potential to cause damage.
Frequency - Hazards are expressed as a prob. of occurrence of an event of a certain intensity at a particular location within a time period.
Spatial occurrence - Location/extent
Temporal - SPeed of onset and duration
Why do Civil engineers need to quantify hazards in these ways? Can’t build something unless we know what will affect it. This linked in design codes to provide necessary safety - we design for specific mag. events
Defining consequences (disaster impacts)
Basicallt split up into direct and indirect (secondary) impacts across social, econ., environ. and physical scales.
DIRECT IMPACTS: S - Death, indury E - capital costs, interruption of business En - ecological danage, pollution P - struc/non-struc dmg
INDIRECT IMPACTS:
S- Disease, food/water scarcity
E- loss of markets/investment, insurance loss
En- environ. degradation, loss fo biodiversity
P- Deterioration of damaged buildings
Capacities Vs Vulnerabilities
CAPACITIES
1) ENVIRONMENT:
Natural environ resources, natural barriers to hazards, biodiversity
2) ECON
Capital, reserves, diversified economy, agri.
3) PHYSICAL
Robust/reliable public infrast., homes, water/energy supply
4) SOCIAL
Coping mechanisms, adaptive strategies, memory of past disasters, preparedness
VULNERABILTIES
1)ENVIRON
Deforestation, pollution, erosion, loss of natural hazard defences, climate change
2) ECON
monocrop, non diversified economy, indebtedness
3) PHYSICAL
usnafe buildings, rapid urbanisation
4) SOCIAL
Rapid urbanisation; lack of education, poverty, corruption, lack of prepardeness
Defining resilience, for infrast. in the UK
Composed of 4 functions:
1) RESISTANCE ( or robustness) - inherent str, protecion, ability to resist stress
2) REDUNDANCY - system capacity providing alternative options or substitutions to allow continued functioning when some elements fail
3) RELIABILITY - ability to operate under a range of conditions, frequency with which hazard protection devices fail
4) RESPONSE AND RECOVER - Speed with which disruption is overcome and functionality/service restored
Definition of resilient communities- red cross
Good health, knowledge and education, reliable services/infrast., diverse livelidhood opportunities, healthy ecosystems, ability to organise and make decisions
Recording databases, why do we need them?
Support humanitarian relief, research on nature/causes of disasters, risk modelling/mapping, development of (and monitoring progress on) international policies, and insurance assessments
3 main sources of global d. data:
1. EM-DAT, 2. Reinsurance company data, 3. The DesInventar system
Problems with global databases:
1) Most countries don’t systematically collect data on disaster events and losses
2) Small events are often neglected
3) Most disasters are compound events, creating classification problems
4) Typically only tangible impacts are recorded e.g. death/losses
5) There no internationally agreed defn of what a disaster is
6) Reporting sources have vested interests
EM-DAT international disaster database details
Criteria for a disaster: (has to be a)
-10+ killed, 100+ affected, declaration of state of emmergency or a call for international assistance
COmpiled from various soruces: UN agencies, NGOs, gobs, insurance companies, press etc
EM-DAT is the main data source for UN
Reinsurnace company data
Tends to have a higher threshold for inclusion than EM-DAT and more emphasis on econ. losses.
Used as the data source for Catastrophe Loss models CAT
Types of reporting biases
Bias - implicit user assumption - be aware that…
1) Hazard -every hazard is represented - not all may be represented depending on threshold etc
2) Temporal - losses are comparable over time - Recording process may change
3) Threshold- All losses countred - criteria for inclusion in databases means smaller ones ignored
4) Accounting - All types of losses counted (human, economic; direct, indirect) - highly variable and depends on vested interests/ ease of data collection
5) Geographic - Losses are comparable within/across different geo. areas - geo. units not uniform internally, political boundaries change
6) Systematic - losses are ocmputed uniformly- Economic may/may not be inflation-adjusted; agencies may select upper, lower or mean estimates for recording
Most common bias is that small, frequency disasters are under-reported -> small events may graudate in tim eto larger events esp. with urbanisation so Vul. and exp. icnrease
Therefore developing an abiliity to intervene to prevent small disasters can also develop a capacity to do so for larger events.
What is extensive risks?
a risk layer of high-frequency, low-intensity losses typically borne by low-income ocmmunities.
Opposite to intensive risks
