Hazard/Disaster Management

History shows that India is exposed to national disasters. Cyclones-2/”>Cyclones, floods, Earthquakes, droughts and floods are major threats.
About 60 percent of the landmass is prone to earthquakes of various intensities, over 40 million hectares is prone to floods and 68 percent of the area is susceptible to drought. This not only results in loss to thousands of lives, but also in terms of loss in private, community and public assets.
While substantial scientific and material progress has been made, the loss of lives and property due to disasters has not decreased.
Government of India has now brought about a paradigm shift in its approach to disaster management, from being relief centric to one with greater emphasis on preparedness, prevention and mitigation.
This approach proceeds from the conviction that development cannot be sustained unless disaster mitigation is built into the development process. Another cornerstone of the approach is that mitigation has to be inter- disciplinary spanning across all sectors of development.
Disaster Management occupies an important place in the policy framework as it is the poor and underprivileged who are worst affected on account of calamities and disasters.
Disaster Management is a multi-disciplinary area in which a wide range of issues that range from forecasting, warning, search and rescue, relief, reconstruction and rehabilitation are included. It is multi-sectoral as it involves administrators, scientists, planners, volunteers and communities. Their roles and activities span the pre-disaster, during disaster and post-disaster plans. All these activities are complementary and supplementary to each other and here is a critical need for coordinating these activities.
Natural disasters directly impact economies, agriculture, Food Security, water, sanitation, Environment and Health. It is therefore one of the single largest concerns for most of the developing nations.
Apart from the economic aspect, such disasters also have social and psychological dimensions that needs to be studied and appropriate strategies for mitigation developed.
Today, we have a range of early warning systems for a range of natural hazards. However, it is not enough to ensure that communities are safe from disasters. This is where disaster mitigation can play an important role.

What is disaster management?

The United Nations defines a disaster as a serious disruption of the functioning of a community or a Society. Disasters involve widespread human, material, economic or environmental impacts, which exceed the ability of the affected community or society to cope using its own Resources.
The Red Cross and Red Crescent societies define disaster management as the organisation and management of resources and responsibilities for dealing with all humanitarian aspects of emergencies, in particular preparedness, response and recovery in order to lessen the impact of disasters.

Types of disasters

There is no country that is immune from disaster, though vulnerability to disaster varies. There are four main types of disaster.

Natural disasters: including floods, hurricanes, earthquakes and volcano eruptions that have immediate impacts on human health and secondary impacts causing further death and suffering from (for example) floods, landslides, fires, Tsunamis.

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Natural Types of Disasters

· Agricultural diseases & pests

· Damaging Winds

· Drought and water shortage

· Earthquakes

· Emergency diseases (pandemic influenza)

· Extreme heat

· Floods and flash floods

· Hail

· Hurricanes and tropical storms

· Landslides & debris flow

· Thunderstorms and lighting

· Tornadoes

· Tsunamis

· Wildfire

· Winter and ice storms

· Sinkholes

Environmental emergencies: including technological or industrial accidents, usually involving the production, use or transportation of hazardous material, and occur where these materials are produced, used or transported, and forest fires caused by humans.
Complex emergencies: involving a break-down of authority, looting and attacks on strategic installations, including conflict situations and war.
Pandemic emergencies: involving a sudden onset of contagious disease that affects health, disrupts Services and businesses, brings economic and social costs.

Man-Made and Technological Types of Disasters

· Hazardous materials

· Power service disruption & blackout

· Nuclear power plant and nuclear blast

· Radiological emergencies

· Chemical threat and biological weapons

· Cyber attacks

· Explosion

· Civil unrest

Any disaster can interrupt essential services, such as health care, electricity, water, sewage/garbage removal, transportation and communications.
The interruption can seriously affect the health, social and economic networks of local communities and countries.
Disasters have a major and long-lasting impact on people long after the immediate effect has been mitigated.
Poorly planned relief activities can have a significant negative impact not only on the disaster victims but also on donors and relief agencies. So it is important that physical therapists join established programmes rather than attempting individual efforts.
Local, regional, national and International Organisations are all involved in mounting a humanitarian response to disasters. Each will have a prepared disaster management plan. These plans cover prevention, preparedness, relief and recovery

Phases of Disaster

The National Governor’s Association designed a phase of disaster model to help emergency managers prepare for and respond to a disaster, also known as the ‘life cycle’ of comprehensive emergency management.
The four phases of disaster:
- Mitigation
- Preparedness
- Response
- Recovery
The model helps frame issues related to disaster preparedness as well as economic and business recovery after a disaster.
Each phase has particular needs, requires distinct tools, strategies, and resources and faces different challenges.
The issues addressed below relate to the resiliency and recovery of the local economy and business community before and after a major disaster.

MITIGATION

Pre-Disaster Mitigation Efforts

PREPAREDNESS

Education, Outreach and Training

Business Continuity & Emergency Management Planning

RESPONSE

Immediate Response to Stakeholders

Establish Business Recovery Center

RECOVERY

Post-Disaster Economic Recovery Plan

Phases of Disaster

Mitigation

Mitigation involves steps to reduce vulnerability to disaster impacts such as injuries and loss of life and property.
This might involve changes in local building codes to fortify buildings; revised zoning and land use management; strengthening of public Infrastructure-2/”>INFRASTRUCTURE; and other efforts to make the community more resilient to a catastrophic event.

Preparedness

Preparedness focuses on understanding how a disaster might impact the community and how education, outreach and training can build capacity to respond to and recover from a disaster.
This may include engaging the business community, pre-disaster strategic planning, and other logistical readiness activities.
The disaster preparedness activities guide provides more information on how to better prepare an organization and the business community for a disaster.

Response

Response addresses immediate threats presented by the disaster, including saving lives, meeting humanitarian needs (food, shelter, clothing, public health and safety), cleanup, damage assessment, and the start of resource distribution.
As the response period progresses, focus shifts from dealing with immediate emergency issues to conducting repairs, restoring utilities, establishing operations for public services (including permitting), and finishing the cleanup process.
Triage efforts assess and deal with the most pressing emergency issues. This period is often marked by some level of chaos, which can last a month or more, depending on the nature of the disaster and the extent of damage. Federal resources, such as action from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (in the case of a major disaster declaration) and non-profit resources such as the Red Cross are deployed immediately
Business re-entry into the economy begins during this phase. Businesses initially may face issues with access to their site, preliminary damage assessment, and communications with staff, vendors, suppliers and customers. Ongoing issues may include access to capital and workers, the repair of damaged property or inventory, and a diminished customer base. It is in this phase that long-term future of a region’s business base will be saved or lost.
Business Recovery Centers are quickly set up in a community to centralize small business recovery resources (e.g. SBA, SBDC, SCORE, CDFI, etc), local bank officers, technical assistance providers, and other critical assistance for maintaining business continuity and/or get businesses up and running.
Federal resources from SBA, FEMA, HUD, EDA, USDA, etc., as well as state programs, start to arrive; temporary housing goes up; and the planning for the reconstruction of damaged infrastructure, facilities, and areas begins. The response phase typically continues through the sixth month, again depending on the nature of the disaster.
It is not uncommon for disasters to reveal a weakened Economic Development landscape, with significant gaps in organizational capacity, staff and resources. Thus, economic development agencies and stakeholders may need additional staff, capacity building assistance, and training.

Recovery

Recovery is the fourth phase of disaster and is the restoration of all aspects of the disaster’s impact on a community and the return of the local economy to some sense of normalcy.
By this time, the impacted region has achieved a degree of physical, environmental, economic and social stability.
The recovery phase of disaster can be broken into two periods. The short-term phase typically lasts from six months to at least one year and involves delivering immediate services to businesses.
The long-term phase, which can range up to decades, requires thoughtful strategic planning and action to address more serious or permanent impacts of a disaster.
Investment in economic development capacity building becomes essential to foster economic diversification, attain new resources, build new partnerships and implement effective recovery strategies and tactics.
Communities must access and deploy a range of public and private resources to enable long-term economic recovery.

Highlights of the National Disaster Management Plan

The National Disaster Management Plan (NDMP) is the first ever national plan prepared in the country.

Following are the highlights of the NDMP:

The NDMP has been aligned broadly with the goals and priorities set out in the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction.
The Vision of the Plan is to “Make India disaster resilient, achieve substantial disaster risk reduction, and significantly decrease the losses of life, livelihoods, and assets – economic, physical, social, cultural and environmental – by maximizing the ability to cope with disasters at all levels of administration as well as among communities.
For each hazard, the approach used in this national plan incorporates the four priorities enunciated in the Sendai Framework into the planning framework for Disaster Risk Reduction under the five Thematic Areas for Actions:
- Understanding Risk
- Inter-Agency Coordination
- Investing in DRR – Structural Measures
- Investing in DRR – Non-Structural Measures
- Capacity Development
- The Response part of the Plan has identified eighteen broad activities which have been arranged into a matrix to be served as a ready reckoner:
- Early Warning, Maps, Satellite inputs, Information Dissemination
- Evacuation of People and Animals
- Search and Rescue of People and Animals
- Medical Care
- Drinking Water/ Dewatering Pumps/ Sanitation Facilities/ Public Health
- Food & Essential Supplies
- Communication
- Housing and Temporary Shelters
- Power
- Fuel
- Transportation
- Relief Logistics and Supply Chain Management
- Disposal of Animal Carcasses
- Fodder for Livestock in scarcity-hit areas
- Rehabilitation and Ensuring Safety of Livestock and other Animals, Veterinary Care
- Data Collection and Management
- Relief EMPLOYMENT
- Media Relations
- The Plan has also incorporated a Chapter on Strengthening Disaster Risk Governance.
- The generalized responsibility matrix given in this section summarizes the themes for strengthening Disaster Risk Governance and specifies agencies at the Centre and State with their respective roles.
- The matrix has six thematic areas in which Central and State Governments have to take actions to strengthen disaster risk governance:

Mainstream and integrate DRR and Institutional Strengthening
Capacity Development
Promote Participatory Approaches
Work with Elected Representatives
Grievance Redress Mechanism
Promote Quality Standards, Certifications, and Awards for Disaster Risk Management
The National Disaster Management Plan (NDMP) provides a framework and direction to the government agencies for all phases of Disaster Management Cycle.
The NDMP is a dynamic document in the sense that it will be periodically improved keeping up with the emerging global best practices and knowledge bases in disaster management.
Globally, the approach towards post-disaster restoration and rehabilitation has shifted to one of betterment reconstruction. The NDMP provides a generalized framework for recovery since it is not possible to anticipate all the possible Elements of betterment reconstruction.
The Plan also highlights that the disaster risk reduction will be achieved by mainstreaming the requirements into the developmental plans.

Disaster Management Support Programme in India by ISRO

India has been traditionally vulnerable to natural disasters on account of its geo-climatic conditions.
Floods, droughts, cyclones, earthquakes and landslides have been recurrent phenomena.
About 60% of the landmass is prone to earthquakes of various intensities; over 40 million hectares is prone to floods; close to 5,700 km long coastline out of the 7,516 km, is prone to cyclones; about 68% of the cultivable area is susceptible to drought.
The Andaman & Nicobar Islands, the East and part of West coast are vulnerable to Tsunami.
The deciduous/ dry-deciduous forests in different parts of the country experience forest fires.
The Himalayan region and the Western Ghats are prone to landslides

DMS programme

Under the DMS programme, the services emanating from aerospace infrastructure, set up by ISRO, are optimally synthesized to provide data and information required for efficient management of natural disasters in the country.
The Geostationary satellites (Communication and Meteorological), Low Earth Orbiting Earth Observation satellites, aerial survey systems together with ground infrastructure form the core element of the observation Systems for disaster management.
The Decision Support Centre established at National Remote Sensing Centre (NRSC) of ISRO is engaged in monitoring natural disasters such as flood, cyclone, agricultural drought, landslides, earthquakes and forest fires at operational level.
The information generated from aero-space systems are disseminated to the concerned in near real time for aiding in DECISION MAKING.
The value added products generated using satellite imagery helps in addressing the information needs covering all the phases of disaster management such as, preparedness, early warning, response, relief, rehabilitation, recovery and mitigation.

National Institute of Disaster Management (NIDM)

National Institute of Disaster Management (NIDM) has been entrusted with the nodal responsibility for Human resource development, capacity building including training & education, research, documentation and policy planning in the field of disaster management.
Upgraded from the National Centre for Disaster Management of the Indian Institute of Public Administration on the 16th October, 2003, NIDM is steadily marching forward to fulfill its mission to make a disaster resilient India by developing and promoting a culture of prevention and preparedness at all levels, and emerge as a Centre of Excellence.
Union Home Minister is the President of the Institute and, its Governing Body is chaired by Vice Chairman of National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA).

Mission and Objectives

Mission of NIDM is to strive relentlessly towards making a disaster free India by developing and promoting a culture of prevention and preparedness at all levels, provide assistance in policy formulation and to facilitate in reducing the impact of disasters through achieving the following objectives:
Planning and promoting training and capacity building services including strategic Learning.
Research, documentation and development of national level information base.
System development and expertise promotion for effective disaster preparedness and mitigation.
Promoting awareness and enhancing knowledge and skills of all stakeholders.
Strengthening institutional mechanisms for training and capacity building of all stakeholders.
To become National Resource Centre for the Central and State Governments in the field of Disaster Management in collaboration with other premier institutions

Hazard/Disaster Management

Hazard/disaster management is the process of identifying, assessing, and reducing the risks posed by hazards and disasters. It includes a wide range of activities, from planning and preparedness to response and recovery.

The goal of hazard/disaster management is to protect people and property from harm. It does this by reducing the likelihood of a hazard occurring, reducing the impact of a hazard if it does occur, and helping people recover from a hazard.

Hazard/disaster management is a complex and challenging task. It requires the cooperation of many different stakeholders, including government agencies, non-governmental organizations, businesses, and the public. It also requires a deep understanding of the hazards and risks that a community faces.

There are many different approaches to hazard/disaster management. Some common approaches include:

Hazard identification and assessment: This involves identifying the hazards that a community faces and assessing the risks posed by those hazards.
Risk assessment: This involves estimating the likelihood of a hazard occurring and the potential impact of that hazard.
Disaster preparedness: This involves developing plans and procedures to prepare for a disaster.
Disaster response: This involves taking action to save lives and property during a disaster.
Disaster recovery: This involves helping people and communities recover from a disaster.
Mitigation: This involves taking steps to reduce the risk of a hazard occurring or the impact of a hazard if it does occur.
Reconstruction: This involves rebuilding infrastructure and communities after a disaster.
Education and outreach: This involves educating the public about hazards and risks and how to prepare for and respond to disasters.
Research and development: This involves developing new technologies and methods for hazard/disaster management.
International cooperation: This involves working with other countries to share information and best practices on hazard/disaster management.
Policy and planning: This involves developing policies and plans to guide hazard/disaster management.
Coordination and collaboration: This involves coordinating the efforts of different stakeholders involved in hazard/disaster management.
Communication and information management: This involves communicating with the public about hazards and risks and how to prepare for and respond to disasters.
Financial management: This involves managing the financial resources needed for hazard/disaster management.
Logistics and supply chain management: This involves managing the flow of goods and services needed for hazard/disaster management.
Human resources management: This involves managing the people who work in hazard/disaster management.
Information technology management: This involves managing the information technology systems used in hazard/disaster management.
Infrastructure management: This involves managing the infrastructure that is needed for hazard/disaster management, such as roads, bridges, and Dams.
Environmental management: This involves managing the environment to reduce the risk of hazards and disasters.
Social and economic impact assessment: This involves assessing the social and economic impacts of hazards and disasters.
Public health and safety: This involves protecting the public’s health and safety during a disaster.
Mental health and psychosocial support: This involves providing mental health and psychosocial support to people affected by a disaster.
Food security and Nutrition: This involves ensuring that people have access to food and nutrition during a disaster.
Water and sanitation: This involves ensuring that people have access to safe water and sanitation during a disaster.
Shelter and housing: This involves providing shelter and housing for people who have been displaced by a disaster.
Education and child care: This involves providing education and child care for people who have been affected by a disaster.
Economic recovery: This involves helping people and communities recover economically from a disaster.
Governance and institutional strengthening: This involves strengthening the governance and institutions that are needed for hazard/disaster management.
Peacebuilding and conflict prevention: This involves building peace and preventing conflict in areas that are at risk of disasters.
Sustainable Development: This involves promoting sustainable development to reduce the risk of hazards and disasters.
Climate change adaptation: This involves adapting to the impacts of Climate Change to reduce the risk of hazards and disasters.
Disaster risk reduction: This involves reducing the risk of hazards and disasters.

Hazard/disaster management is a critical part of protecting people and property from harm. It is a complex and challenging task, but it is essential to ensuring the safety and well-being of communities around the world.

What is a hazard?

A hazard is a situation that could cause harm to people, property, or the environment. Hazards can be natural, such as earthquakes or floods, or human-made, such as industrial accidents or chemical spills.

What is a disaster?

A disaster is a serious event that causes widespread damage and loss of life. Disasters can be caused by natural hazards, such as earthquakes or hurricanes, or human-made hazards, such as wars or terrorist attacks.

What is hazard management?

Hazard management is the process of identifying, assessing, and reducing the risks posed by hazards. Hazard management can be used to prevent disasters, mitigate the effects of disasters, and prepare for future disasters.

What is disaster management?

Disaster management is the process of preparing for, responding to, and recovering from disasters. Disaster management can be used to save lives, protect property, and restore essential services after a disaster.

What are the different types of hazards?

There are many different types of hazards, including natural hazards, human-made hazards, and technological hazards. Natural hazards are caused by the natural environment, such as earthquakes, floods, and hurricanes. Human-made hazards are caused by human activity, such as industrial accidents, chemical spills, and war. Technological hazards are caused by the failure of technology, such as nuclear accidents and power outages.

What are the different types of disasters?

There are many different types of disasters, including natural disasters, human-made disasters, and technological disasters. Natural disasters are caused by the natural environment, such as earthquakes, floods, and hurricanes. Human-made disasters are caused by human activity, such as wars, terrorist attacks, and industrial accidents. Technological disasters are caused by the failure of technology, such as nuclear accidents and power outages.

What are the different phases of hazard management?

The four phases of hazard management are hazard identification, hazard assessment, hazard mitigation, and hazard preparedness. Hazard identification is the process of identifying potential hazards. Hazard assessment is the process of evaluating the risks posed by hazards. Hazard mitigation is the process of reducing the risks posed by hazards. Hazard preparedness is the process of preparing for a disaster.

What are the different phases of disaster management?

The four phases of disaster management are disaster preparedness, disaster response, disaster recovery, and disaster mitigation. Disaster preparedness is the process of preparing for a disaster. Disaster response is the process of responding to a disaster. Disaster recovery is the process of recovering from a disaster. Disaster mitigation is the process of reducing the risks posed by disasters.

What are the different types of hazard management plans?

There are many different types of hazard management plans, including emergency response plans, evacuation plans, and continuity of operations plans. Emergency response plans are plans that outline the steps that will be taken to respond to a disaster. Evacuation plans are plans that outline the steps that will be taken to evacuate people from a dangerous area. Continuity of operations plans are plans that outline the steps that will be taken to keep essential services running during a disaster.

What are the different types of disaster management plans?

There are many different types of disaster management plans, including emergency response plans, evacuation plans, and recovery plans. Emergency response plans are plans that outline the steps that will be taken to respond to a disaster. Evacuation plans are plans that outline the steps that will be taken to evacuate people from a dangerous area. Recovery plans are plans that outline the steps that will be taken to recover from a disaster.

What are the benefits of hazard management?

The benefits of hazard management include saving lives, protecting property, and restoring essential services after a disaster. Hazard management can also help to reduce the economic impact of disasters.

What are the challenges of hazard management?

The challenges of hazard management include the difficulty of predicting when and where disasters will occur, the high cost of hazard mitigation, and the difficulty of coordinating the efforts of different government agencies and private organizations.

What are the future trends in hazard management?

The future trends in hazard management include the use of new technologies, such as remote sensing and geographic information systems, to improve hazard identification and assessment. The use of new technologies to improve hazard mitigation, such as early warning systems and flood control systems. The use of new technologies to improve disaster response, such as telemedicine and disaster relief drones. The use of new technologies to improve disaster recovery, such as 3D printing and disaster recovery Software.

What is the most common type of natural disaster?
(A) Earthquakes
(B) Tsunamis
(C) Hurricanes
(D) Tornadoes
What is the most common type of man-made disaster?
(A) Fires
(B) Explosions
(C) Transportation accidents
(D) Terrorism
What is the first step in disaster management?
(A) Mitigation
(B) Preparedness
(C) Response
(D) Recovery
What is the goal of mitigation?
(A) To reduce the risk of a disaster occurring
(B) To prepare for a disaster
(C) To respond to a disaster
(D) To recover from a disaster
What is the goal of preparedness?
(A) To reduce the risk of a disaster occurring
(B) To prepare for a disaster
(C) To respond to a disaster
(D) To recover from a disaster
What is the goal of response?
(A) To reduce the risk of a disaster occurring
(B) To prepare for a disaster
(C) To respond to a disaster
(D) To recover from a disaster
What is the goal of recovery?
(A) To reduce the risk of a disaster occurring
(B) To prepare for a disaster
(C) To respond to a disaster
(D) To return to normal after a disaster
What is the most important thing to do in the event of a disaster?
(A) Stay calm
(B) Follow the instructions of emergency personnel
(C) Evacuate if necessary
(D) Take shelter
What is the most important thing to do after a disaster?
(A) Stay calm
(B) Follow the instructions of emergency personnel
(C) Evacuate if necessary
(D) Take shelter
What is the best way to protect yourself from a disaster?
(A) Have a plan
(B) Have a kit
(C) Be prepared
(D) All of the above