LT COL K C MONNAPPA

Overall learning Objectives

•Create interest in disaster management

•Stimulate motivation

•link the learning to your work activities

•Relate the learning to your values and attitudes about disaster management

Governments are increasingly dependent on NGOs to coordinate all pre/post-disaster assistance and sometimes international assistance. Therefore, governments need better communication about their mutual needs and capabilities.

Disasters are a growing problem. They will become of increasing concern to government’s principal activities. In disaster-prone countries developmental programmes are inevitably affected by disasters. Projects are set back or suffer delays as a country recovers from the consequences of a disaster.

Disasters are non-routine events that require non-routine responses. Government and development agencies in general cannot rely on normal procedures to implement appropriate responses. They need to learn and practice special skills and attitudes.

Disasters are closely linked with at least four other priorities for which NGOs has accepted either a direct or supportive role: displaced persons, refugees and returnees, women in development, and environmental protection. The issues of all these subjects overlap significantly. A training programme in one will support the professional development of Social Worker in all.

The world community takes considerable interest in disasters. Governments and the NGOs have high profiles involvement in these events, which are observed closely by the media. Developmental agencies and governments must prove their competence in order to project a positive image of providing appropriate support.

A hazard is a rare or extreme event in the natural or human-made environment that adversely affects human life, property or activity to the extent of causing a disaster.

A disaster is a serious disruption of the functioning of a society, causing widespread human, material, or environmental losses which exceed the ability of affected society to cope using only its own resources. Disasters are often classified according to their speed of onset (sudden or slow), or according to their cause (natural or man-made).

Another term closely related to disaster is emergency. A disaster might be regarded as a particular type (or sub-set) of an emergency. “Disaster” suggests an intense time period and level of urgency. Whereas a disaster is bound by a specific period in which lives and essential property are immediately at risk, an emergency can encompass a more general period in which:

• there is a clear and marked deterioration in the coping abilities of a group or community, or

• coping abilities are only sustained by unusual initiatives by the group or community or by external intervention.

 

A disaster stems from the fact that certain communities or groups are forced to settle in areas susceptible to the impact of a Natural calamity such as a raging river or a volcanic eruption. It is essential to make a distinction between hazards and disasters, and to recognize that the effect of the former upon the latter is essentially a measure of the society’s vulnerability.

Vulnerability is seen as the progression of three stages:

Underlying causes: a deep-rooted set of factors within a society that together form and maintain vulnerability.

Dynamic pressures: a translating process that channels the effects of a negative cause into unsafe conditions; this process may be due to a lack of basic services or provision or it may result from a series of macro-forces

Unsafe conditions: the vulnerable context where people and property are exposed to the risk of disaster; the fragile physical environment is one element; other factors include an unstable economy and low income levels.

Poverty Population growth Rapid urbanization Transitions in cultural practices Environmental degradation Lack of awareness and information War and civil strife

Disaster management is the body of policy and administrative decisions and operational activities which pertain to the various stages of a disaster at all levels.

Human-made disasters are disasters or emergency situations where the principal, direct cause(s) are identifiable human actions, deliberate or otherwise.

Apart from “technological” and “ecological” disasters, this mainly involves situations in which civilian populations suffer casualties, losses of property, basic services and means of livelihood as a result of war or civil strife.

Risk is the expected losses (lives lost, persons injured, damage to property and disruption of economic activity) due to a particular hazard. Risk is the product of hazard and vulnerability.

Vulnerability is the degree of loss (for example, from 0 to 100 percent) resulting from a potentially damaging phenomenon.

Population displacements are usually associated with crisis-induced mass migration in which large numbers of people are forced to leave their homes to seek alternative means of survival. Such mass movements normally result from the effects of conflict, severe food shortages or collapse of economic support systems.

Complex emergencies are a form of human-made emergency in which the cause of the emergency as well as the assistance to the afflicted are bound by intense levels of political considerations. This sort of emergency is normally associated with the problems of displaced people during times of civil conflict or with people in need caught in areas of conflict.

Rapid onset disasters

Slow onset disasters

Relief phase: The relief phase is the period immediately following the occurrence of a sudden disaster (or the late discovery of a neglected/deteriorated slow-onset situation) when exceptional measures have to be taken to search and find the survivors as well as meet their basic needs for shelter, water, food and medical care.

Rehabilitation: Rehabilitation is the operations and decisions taken after a disaster with a view to restoring a stricken community to its former living conditions, while encouraging and facilitating the necessary adjustments to the changes caused by the disaster.

Reconstruction: Reconstruction is the actions taken to reestablish a community after a period of rehabilitation subsequent to a disaster. Actions would include construction of permanent housing, full restoration of all services, and complete resumption of the pre-disaster state.

Mitigation: Mitigation is the collective term used to encompass all actions taken prior to the occurrence of a disaster (pre-disaster measures) including preparedness and long-term risk reduction measures. (Mitigation has been used by some institutions or authors in a narrower sense, excluding preparedness.)

Preparedness: Preparedness consists of activities designed to minimize loss of life and damage, organize the temporary removal of people and property from a threatened location, and facilitate timely and effective rescue, relief and rehabilitation.

Early warning: The process of monitoring situations in communities or areas known to be vulnerable to slow onset hazards. For example, famine early warning may be reflected in such indicators as drought, livestock sales, or changes in economic conditions. The purpose of early warning are to enable remedial measures to be initiated and to provide more timely and effective relief including thorough disaster preparedness actions.

Emergency phase: The emergency phase is the period during which extraordinary measures have to be taken. Special emergency procedures and authorities may be applied to support human needs, sustain livelihoods, and protect property to avoid the onset of disaster. This phase can encompass pre-disaster, disaster alert, disaster relief and recovery periods. An emergency phase may be quite extensive, as in a slow onset disaster such as a famine. It can also be relatively short-lived, as after an earthquake.

Rehabilitation: The action taken after a slow onset disaster where attention must be given to the issues of resettlement or returnee programmes, particularly for people who have been displaced for reasons arising out of conflict or economic collapse.

There are several hazard types for which there is widespread concern. They can be categorized as follows: Sudden onset hazards – (geological and climatic hazards) earthquakes, tsunamis, floods, tropical storms, volcanic eruptions, landslides Slow onset hazards – (environmental hazards) drought, famine, environmental degradation, desertification, deforestation, pest infestation Industrial/technological – system failures/accidents, spillages, explosions, fires Wars and civil strife – armed aggression, insurgency, terrorism, and other actions leading to displaced persons and refugees Epidemics-water and/or food–borne diseases, person-to-person diseases (contact and respiratory spread), vector-borne diseases and complications from wounds

Socio/political forces At least one of three situations arise:

› The government’s ability to assist the disaster-afflicted becomes severely constrained.

› The government becomes extremely suspicious of or uninterested in afflicted people who have fled from non-government to government held areas.

› The government or opposition groups actually create or compound a disaster through actions that generate refugees and the mass displacement of people.

Displaced persons These include people who are:› forced to leave their homes as a result of drought,

famine, or other disaster, usually in search of food› non-combatant individuals and families forced to leave

their homes because of the direct or indirect consequences of conflict but who remain inside their country

› forcibly resettled by their government if the resettlement is ethnically, tribally or racially motivated

› expelled from a country, especially as an ethnic or national group, forced out for economic or political reasons.

Reasons for concern One is that displaced persons are often

ineligible to receive relief and assistance available to refugees (individuals who have crossed an international border seeking protection).

A second reason is that the displaced are often insecure about relying on their own government for protection.

A third reason is the obstacle of national sovereignty that limits outside agencies to assist this population.

The basic characteristics of of disasters and emergencies and appropriate response measures can be structured as follows:› Causal phenomena - Typical effects› General characteristics - Possible risk

reduction measures› Predictability - Specific preparedness

measures› Factors contributing to vulnerability -

Typical post-disaster needs

Disasters set back development programming destroying years of development initiatives.

- Infrastructure improvement e.g. transport and utility systems are destroyed by

a flood.

Rebuilding after a disaster provides significant opportunities to initiate development programs.

- A self-help housing program to rebuild housing destroyed by an earthquake teaches

new skills, strengthens community pride and leadership and retains development money that otherwise would be exported to large construction companies.

Development programs can increase an area’s susceptibility to disasters.

- A major increase in livestock development leads to overgrazing, which contributes to desertification and increases vulnerability to famine.

Development programs can be designed to decrease the susceptibility to disasters and their negative consequences.

- Housing projects constructed under building codes designed to withstand high winds result in less destruction during the next tropical storm.

Loss of resources Interruption of programs Impact on investment climate Impact on the non-formal sector Political destabilization

Loss of resources: Development resources are lost when a disaster wipes out the products of investment–it shortens the life of development investments. The disasters affect development through:› " Impact on capital stock and inventory› " Loss of production and provision of services due to disruption and increased cost of goods and services› " The secondary effects of the disaster include inflation, balance of payment problems, increase in fiscal expenditure, decreases in monetary reserves› " Other indirect losses, for example: the impact on a country’s debt position could be that as the debt service burden increases, the country has less resources available to invest in productive enterprises› " The outcome of these losses of resources include: loss of economic growth, delays to development programs, cancellation of programmes, and disincentives to new investment› " There may also be a shift in skilled human resources toward high visibility recovery activity–a diversion from long-term to short-term needs.

Interruption of programs

Disasters interrupt ongoing programs and divert resources from originally planned uses.

Impact on investment climateDisasters, especially when they have occurred repeatedly within a short period of time, have a negative impact on the incentive for further investment. Investors need a climate of stability and certainty to be encouraged to risk their money. The disaster further clouds the investment picture when it has caused loss of employment, thereby depressing market demand, and resulting in a stagnation which limits overall growth.

Impact on non-formal sectorDisasters have special negative impacts on the non-formal sector where approximate costs of disasters are often underestimated. Disasters depress the non-formal economy through the direct costs of lost equipment and housing (which often also serves as business sites). The indirect costs of disasters include lost employment, and lost income. Sometimes the importation of relief items creates disincentives to producers.

Political destabilizationThe stress to a country caused by a disaster often results in the destabilization of the government. This may occur for several reasons. For example, the government may have mismanaged the disaster relief and recovery, leading to discontent on the part of affected communities. Or the survivors may have had unmet expectation which, for whatever reason, translate into some form of protest. The government could also become the scapegoat for problems beyond its control, again leading to its possible downfall. In fact, it is very common for a government to collapse or be overthrown within two or three years of a major disaster.

Disasters often create a political and economic atmosphere wherein extensive changes can be made more rapidly than under normal circumstances. For example, in the aftermath of a disaster, there may be major opportunities to execute land reform programmes, to improve the overall housing stock, to create new jobs and job skills, and to expand and modernize the economic base of the community-opportunities that would not otherwise be possible.

loss of means of livelihood communities becoming separated from

any services previously provided loss of normal sources of food lack of shelter and household

necessities lack of fuel for cooking

lack of potable water communicable diseases and over-

crowding additional burdens particularly for

women heads of households possibly large numbers of

unaccompanied children loss of land tenure

possible communication and logistics problems

insecurity due to tensions and military activities

Not to be forgotten is the population that may remain at home and, even though they are not “trapped in combat areas”, they nonetheless are in places that are hard to reach because of political, logistical and/or security obstacles.

They may suffer many of the above problems and be isolated from humanitarian relief.