Important Concepts for Disaster Management

Disaster management is a process of preparing an effective response to disasters. It involves organizing resources to allocate them strategically in order to lessen the devastations caused by disasters.

Disaster management itself has many concepts that one must be familiar with. What those concepts are will be discussed at length in this article. The information gained from this article will be useful in the UPSC Mains Exam

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Types of Disasters

The basic concepts of disaster management begins with understanding the type of disasters known to humankind. Some of them are as follows:

1. Natural Disasters: As per standard definition, natural disasters are physical phenomena that occur naturally caused by rapid or slow events that will impact human health and cause economic damage. Some examples of these disasters are

• Earthquakes
• Avalanches and Floods
• Droughts and Wildfires
• Cyclones, Storms
• Diseases and Animal Plagues. As per the United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction, disasters are characterized as per the magnitude, intensity, speed and duration.

2. Man Made Disasters: Man-Made Disasters, as per the definition by the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, are events caused by humans which occur close to settlements and are equal in scope to damage and devastation in comparison to natural disasters. Some example of man made disasters are as follows:

• Environment Degradation
• Industrial disasters ( Involving the production, use or transport of hazardous materials)
• Pollution

3. Complex Disasters: Some disasters are the result of a variety of hazards and often lead to a combination of both natural and man-made disasters. Its can result in lootings, breakdown of authority and include situations such as wars.

The examples of complex disasters are:

• Food Insecurity
• Epidemics
• Armed Conflicts
• Displaced Populations

Characteristics of complex disasters are as follows

• Extensive Violence
• Displacements of Populations
• Loss of Life
• Widespread Damage to both Societies and Economies
• Increased Security Risks for Humanitarian Relief Workers

4. Pandemic Disasters: A pandemic is an epidemic of infectious disease that has spread around in the entirety of a region. This can occur to the human population or even animal populations and will lead to a disruption in economic and social conditions of a country, to say nothing of the health of a populace. This may result  naturally or sometimes be a result of man made causes. 

It can also refer to the appearance of a significant number of cases of an infectious disease in a region or population that is usually free from that disease.

These have included the following epidemic:

• Ebola
• Zika
• Avian Flu
• Cholera
• Dengue Fever
• Malaria
• Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19)

Concepts of Disaster Management:

Now that we are familiar with the type of disasters at hand, we can now take a look at the concepts related to disaster management. They are as follows:

1. Prevention
2. Preparedness
3. Response/Relief
4. Recovery

1. Prevention: UNISDR views Disaster Prevention as the concept of engaging in activities which intend to prevent or avoid potential adverse impacts through action taken in advance, activities designed to provide protection from the occurrence of disasters

2. Preparedness: According to ICRC, Disaster Preparedness refers to measures taken to prepare for and reduce the effects of disasters, be they natural or man-made. This is achieved through research and planning in order to try to predict areas or regions that may be at risk of disaster and where possible prevent these from occurring and/or reduce the impact of those disasters on the vulnerable populations that may be affected so they can effectively cope. 

Disaster preparedness activities embedded with risk reduction measures can prevent disaster situations and also result in saving maximum lives and livelihoods during any disaster situation, enabling the affected population to get back to normalcy within a short time period

3. Response/ Relief: Focused predominantly on immediate and short-term needs, the division between this response/relief stage and the subsequent recovery stage is not clear-cut. Some response actions, such as the supply of temporary housing and water supplies, may extend well into the recovery stage. Rescue from immediate danger and stabilization of the physical and emotional condition of survivors is the primary aim of disaster response/relief.

Activities of Response/ Relief include:

• Rescue
• Relocation
• Provision Food and Water
• Provision Emergency Health Care
• Prevention of Disease and Disability
• Repairing Vital Services e.g. Telecommunications, Transport
• Provision Temporary Shelter

4. Recovery: Vulnerability of communities often continues for long after the initial crisis is over. It include the following activities

• Rebuilding Infrastructure e.g. Homes, Schools, Hospitals, Roads
• Health Care and Rehabilitation
• Development Activities e.g. building human resources for health
• Development Policies and Practices to avoid or mitigate similar situations in future

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