Lecture #2 Flashcards
Why can minting a database of disasters be difficult?
- Disasters can co-occur
- Mortality can be difficult to count
- Lack of census taking
What events officially qualify as a disaster?
- 10 or more deaths
- 100 or more persons affected
- Government declaration of disaster
- Pleas for international assistance
What are the exceptions to the CRED threshold?
- for drought/famine: at least 2000 persons affected
- for technological disasters: 5 or more deaths per event
Are the impact of losses felt the same in different places?
Impact of losses is felt differently, statistics must be placed in a community/regional context
What does the media tend to focus on in terms of a disaster?
- human interest
- visual impact
- events close to home
- Prioritizing according to a NA perspective
In terms of media attention, the death of one NA=
Deaths of
- 3 eastern Europeans
- 9 Latinos
- 11 middle easterners
- 12 Asians
Do all disaster create the same consequences?
No, the impact varies greatly by disaster type
-some cause more deaths, other affect more people, others have more economic losses
Where are technological disaster most likely to occur?
Industrialized countries
What are 4 impacts that disasters create?
- property damage
- economic losses
- persons affected
- deaths
Do all impacts happen at the same level?
Impacts do not increase in equal proportions
-some increase faster than others
What was the magnitude of the Haiti earthquake?
- 0
- Jan 12 2010
How many people died?
220,000
Where was the epicentre?
25 km from the capital city
What was one factor related to housing that made it one of the worst natural disasters in history?
all building collapsed. They should have been able to withstand a M7 but they have such poor building codes that they all crumbled
What kind of earth what was the Haiti earthquake?
Occurred along a transform fault
What were the problems with Haitis landscape that contributed more harm than good?
- Poor country, sold all lumber= decrease in mangroves which are natural barriers fro storm surges
- Soil erosion because of the lack of vegetation
- Deforestation
What type of living arrangements are growing at a quick rate in developing countries?
Slums
-house a lot of people and are most likely within hazard zones
How do you determine the vulnerability of a location to a hazard?
Is a function of its resiliency and reliability
Resiliency definition
The rate of recovery from the occurrence of an event
Reliability definition
The frequency which which protective devices against disaster are able to withstand the disaster
What is a risk assessment?
Involves estimating the likelihood that a particular event will harm human nealth
What is risk management?
Involves deciding whether or not hot to reduce a particular risk and at what costs
What is the problem with risk?
Its very subjective from individual to individual
-we one person considers risky someone else might not
Whats the best amount of data to have for a risk assessment?
at least 100 years, but we don’t have that much data for all hazards
