According to Corina Warfield (2008):

a. Disaster management aims to reduce, or avoid, the potential losses from hazards, assure
prompt and appropriate assistance to victims of disaster, and achieve rapid and effective
recovery.
b. The Disaster management cycle illustrates the ongoing process by which governments,
businesses, and civil society plan for and reduce the impact of disasters, react during and
immediately following a disaster, and take steps to recover after a disaster has occurred.
c. Appropriate actions at all points in the cycle lead to greater preparedness, better warnings,
reduced vulnerability or the prevention of disasters during the next iteration of the cycle. The
complete disaster management cycle includes the shaping of public policies and plans that
either modify the causes of disasters or mitigate their effects on people, property, and
infrastructure.
d. The mitigation and preparedness phases occur as disaster management improvements are
made in anticipation of a disaster event. Developmental considerations play a key role in
contributing to the mitigation and preparation of a community to effectively confront a disaster.
As a disaster occurs, disaster management actors, in particular humanitarian organizations,
become involved in the immediate response and long-term recovery phases.

Goals of Disaster Management:

(1) Reduce or avoid losses from hazards;
(2) Assure prompt assistance to victims;
(3) Achieve rapid and effective recovery.

e. The four disaster management patients in this precede at alway, oh even disaraly, occur in
folation eith of preche order. Often it even rarely overlap and the length of each phase grealy
depends on the severity of the disaster.

Mitigation
Minimizing the effects of disaster.
Mitigation activities actually eliminate or reduce the probability of disaster occurrence, or
reduce the effects of unavoidable disasters.

Mitigation measures include building codes; vulnerability analyses updates; zoning and land use
management; building use regulations and safety codes; preventive health care; and public
education.
Mitigation will depend on the incorporation of appropriate measures in national and regional
development planning. Its effectiveness will also depend on the availability of information on
hazards, emergency risks, and the countermeasures to be taken.

The mitigation phase, and indeed the whole disaster management cycle, includes the shaping
of public policies and plans that either modify the causes of disasters or mitigate their effects on
people, property, and infrastructure.

Preparedness
Planning how to respond.
The goal of emergency preparedness programs is to achieve a satisfactory level of readiness to
respond to any emergency situation through programs that strengthen the technical and
managerial capacity of governments, organizations, and communities.
These measures can be described as logistical readiness to deal with disasters and can be
enhanced by having response mechanisms and procedures, rehearsals, developing long-term
and short-term strategies, public education and building early warning systems.

Preparedness can also take the form of ensuring that strategic reserves of food, equipment,
water, medicines and other essentials are maintained in cases of national or local catastrophes.

During the preparedness phase, governments, organizations, and individuals develop plans to
save lives, minimize disaster damage, indi enhance disaster response operations,
Preparedness measures include preparedness plans; emergency exercises/training; warning
systems; emergency communications systems; evacuations plans and.

training; resource inventories; emergency personnel/contact lists; mutual aid agreements; and
public information/ education.

As with mitigation efforts, preparedness actions depend on the incorporation of appropriate

measures in national and regional development plans. In addition, their effectiveness depends
on the availability of information on hazards, emergency risks and the countermeasures to be
taken, and on the degree to which government agencies, non-governmental organizations and
the general public are able to make use of this information.

Humanitarian Action

During a disaster, humanitarian agencies are often called upon to deal with immediate response
and recovery. To be able to respond effectively, these agencies must have experienced leaders,
trained personnel, adequate transport and logistic support, appropriate communications, and
guidelines for working in emergencies. If the necessary preparations have not been made, the
humanitarian agencies will not be able to meet the immediate needs of the people.

Response

Efforts to minimize the hazards created by a disaster.

The response phase is the actual implementation of the disaster plan. The best response plans
use an incident command system, are relatively simple, are routinely practiced, and are
modified when improvements are needed. Response activities need to be continually monitored
and adjusted to the changing situation.
Activities a hospital, healthcare system, or public health agency take immediately during, and
after a disaster or emergency occurs.

The aim of emergency response is to provide immediate assistance to maintain life, improve
health and support the morale of the affected population. Such assistance may range from
providing specific but limited aid, such as assisting refugees with transport, temporary shelter,
and food, to establishing semi-permanent settlement in camps and other locations.

It also may involve initial repairs to damaged infrastructure. The focus in the response phase is
on meeting the basic needs of the people until more permanent and sustainable solutions can
be found. Humanitarian organizations are often strongly present in this phase.

Sustainable Development

Developmental considerations contribute to all aspects of the disaster management cycle. One
of the main goals of disaster management, and one of its strongest link with development, is the
promotion of sustainable livelihoods and their protection and recovery during disasters and
emergencies. Where this goal is achieved, people have a greater capacity to deal with disasters
and their recovery is more rapid and long lasting.

In a development-oriented disaster management approach, the objectives are to reduce

hazards, prevent disasters, and prepare for emergencies. Therefore, developmental
considerations are strongly represented in the mitigation and preparedness phases of the
disaster management cycle. Inappropriate development processes can lead to increased
vulnerability to disasters and loss of preparedness for emergency situations.

Disaster Management Cycle

On the whole, Disaster Management Cycle is composed of the following:
1. Before a disaster (pre-disaster). Pre-disaster activities which are taken to reduce human and
property losses caused by a potential hazard. For example, carrying out awareness campaigns,
strengthening the existing weak structures, preparation of disaster management plans at
household and community level, etc. Such risk reduction measures taken under this stage are
termed as mitigation and preparedness activities.
2. During a disaster (disaster occurrence). These include initiatives taken to ensure that the
needs and provisions of victims are met and suffering is minimized. Activities taken under this
stage are called emergency response activities.
3. After a disaster (post-disaster). There are initiatives taken in response to a disaster with a
purpose to achieve early recovery and rehabilitation of affected communities, immediately after
a disaster strikes. These are called as response and recovery activities.
The Disaster risk management cycle diagram (DRMC) highlights the range of initiatives which
normally occur during both the Emergency response and Recovery stages of a disaster. Some
of these cut across both stages (such things as coordination and the provision of ongoing
assistance); whilst other activities are unique to each stage (eg. Early Warning and Evacuation
during Emergency Response, and Reconstruction and Economic and Social Recovery as part
of Recovery. The DRMC also highlights the role of the media, where there is a strong
relationship between this and funding opportunities. This diagram works best for relatively
sudden-onset disasters, such as floods, earthquakes, bushfires, tsunamis, cyclones etc., but is
less reflective of slow-onset disasters,
such as drought, where there is no obviously recognizable single event which triggers the
movement into the Emergency Response stage.
C. Key Principles and Elements of Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR)

Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) aims to reduce the damage caused by natural hazards like
earthquakes, floods, droughts and cyclones, through an ethic of prevention. The reduction of
disaster risk is the foundation of community-based disaster risk management.

Disaster Risk reduction includes activities that will minimize disaster-related losses of life,
property or assets and environment. Such activities are also described as mitigation measures.
The concept and practice of reducing disaster risks through systematic efforts to analyze and
manage the causal factors of disasters,