DISASTER RISK
REDUCTION
(DRRM)
Concept, Principles and Relevance of
Disaster Risk Reduction
What is Disaster Risk Reduction?
actions taken to reduce the risk of
disasters and the adverse impacts f
natural hazards, through systematic
efforts to analyze and manage the
causes of disasters.
minimize vulnerabilities and
disaster risk throughout a
society, to avoid (prevention) or
to limit (mitigation and
preparedness) the adverse
impacts of hazards.
Concept of Disaster Risk
DISASTER- originated from the French word “desastre”
which is a combination of the word “des” meaning BAD and
“aster” meaning STAR, and can be inferred that disaster
literally means a bad star.
serious disruption of the functioning of a community
involving widespread human, material, economic, or
environmental losses and impacts, which exceeds the ability
of the affected community or society to cope using its own
resources.
Disaster are often defined by consequences to human lives
and not on the basis of the disaster itself.
RISK-The concept of chance or possibility of an event
and it’s negative consequence.
DISASTER RISK- Refers to the potential, disaster
losses which could occur in a particular community
over some specified future time period.
-Product of possible damage caused by a hazard due to the
vulnerability within a community.
-can be categorized as either intensive or extensive.
-can be considered as “acute” or “slow”
THREE ASPECTS TO DETERMINE
DISASTER RISK:
HAZARD- “dangerous phenomenon”, substance, human activity, or
condition, that may cause loss of life, injury or other health impacts,
property damage, loss of livelihoods, and services, social and economic
disruption or environmental damage.
NATURAL HAZARD- are phenomena that may cause severe death toll,
damages to property, environment and socio-economic
Biological hazard
Geologic hazard
Hydro meteorological hazard
HUMAN- INDUCED HAZARDS- This kind of hazards sprouts
from technological or industrial conditions which include
infrastructure failures or specific human activities.
EXPOSURE- This refers to people and properties that are
affected by hazards. For example, those who live below the
mountainous areas are more expose to hazards.
SENSITIVITY- the degree to which a certain community can be
affected by hazards.
VULNERABILITY- and circumstances of a
community, system or asset that make it
susceptible to the damaging effects of a
hazard.
ADAPTIVE CAPACITY- as the ability of the
individual or a community to withstand and
adapt to continuous environmental changes.
IMPACTS OF DISASTERS
Social impacts
Housing- the destruction of houses which may be brought by floods
and earthquakes can lead to homelessness.
Health- health care infrastructures in most parts of the developing
world are vulnerable to hazards because of poor facilities. When
hospitable are damaged, hospitals can not accommodate people
affected by calamities.
Education- school facilities often serve as evacuation and relief
centers. One of the greatest impacts of disasters to education is the
disruption of educational services that can affect to both students
and teachers.
Economic impacts- several experts say that
the basic structure of the economy is a major
determining factor on the degree of the
vulnerability to hazards.
Environmental impacts- trees can be
uprooted due to typhoons, hurricanes, and
strong winds, and there could be forest fires
when lightning hits a dry land.
