STUDENT LEARNING GUIDE

Disaster Readiness and Risk Reduction (DRR) for Senior High School

• LEARNING MODULE 1: BASIC CONCEPT OF DISASTER AND DISASTER RISK

by Andres Winston C. Oreta
Week No. 1: Lecture Session @ 1.5 hrs + One Student Activity Session @ 3.5 hrs
CONTENT CONTENT PERFORMANCE LEARNING
STANDARD STANDARD COMPETENCIES
Basic concept of The learners The learners relate to The learners should be able to
disaster and demonstrate the concept of disaster show competencies in the
disaster risk understanding of the with daily life following:
following: 1.Explain the meaning of
1. Concept of disasters and disaster risks;
disaster; 2. Identify, explain, and
2. Concept of differentiate the risk factors
disaster risk; and the processes that turn an
3. Nature, process of event into a potential disaster.
disasters; 3. Be able to explain hazards
4. Effect of disasters analysis and risk
identification.
4. Identify areas/locations
exposed and situations when
hazards can turn into
disasters; and
5. Analyze disaster from
different perspectives
( physical, psychological,
socio-cultural, economic,
political and biological)

1.1 DISASTERS AND HAZARDS

Disasters are events that are triggered by hazards. Hazards if not controlled can lead to accidents
which could lead to a disaster. Examples of accidents caused by hazards are a slip and fall
accident, road accident, or electric shock. If the accident involves a single person, we tag it as a
personal disaster. Community level disaster involves major calamities due to natural hazards like
earthquakes, typhoons and landslides or catastrophic events due to human-induced hazards like
terrorism or war or man-made hazard such as fire. The figures below will show you the
relationship between a hazard and a disaster. For each figure, identify the hazard that resulted to
the accident or disaster.
Figure 1.1 A slip and fall accident (disaster) which may cause injury may be due to various hazards such
as a slippery banana peel, scattered marbles or slippery or wet floor.

Figure 1.2 The hazard in a road accident (disaster) which causes injury or death to pedestrians are
moving vehicles along the roads.
Figure 1.3 The main causes of electric shock (disaster) especially to innocent kids are faulty appliances,
damaged or frayed cords or extension leads, electrical appliances coming in contact with water and
incorrect or deteriorated household wiring.

Figure 1.4 Earthquakes may produce different types of hazards like ground shaking, liquefaction,
tsunami, ground rupture and landslides. The 7.2 magnitude earthquake which rocked Bohol, Philippines
on Oct 15, 2013 resulted to about 200 people killed and considerable damage to roads, houses, buildings
and heritage churches.
Figure 1.5 Tropical cyclones or typhoons bring hazards such as floods and strong winds. Tropical Storm
Ondoy (international name: Ketsana) ravaged Luzon, submerging areas in Metro Manila in floods at
record-breaking levels on September 2009. . From the total of affected population, 464 were killed, 529
injured, and 37 were missing. Furthermore, a total of 15,798 families or 70,124 people took shelter in
244 evacuation centers. The damages to infrastructure and agriculture was estimated at a cost of P11
billion.

A disaster or “kalamidad” in Filipino is “a sudden calamitous event bringing great damage, loss,
or destruction. (Merriam-Webster). The United Nations International Strategy for Disaster
Reduction (UNISDR 2015) defines a disaster as “a serious disruption of the functioning of a
community or a society due to hazardous events interacting with conditions of vulnerability and
exposure, leading to widespread human, material, economic and environmental losses and
impacts.”
A “hazardous event” is “the occurrence of a natural or human-induced phenomenon in a
particular place during a particular period of time due to the existence of a hazard. (UNISDR
2015). A “hazardous event” becomes a disaster when there are losses such as injuries, deaths,
damaged property, loss opportunities, economic losses or damaged environment. The keyword in
the definition of a disaster is “LOSSES.” Disasters occur because a hazard is triggered. A hazard
or “peligro” in Filipino is “a potentially damaging physical event, phenomenon or human activity
that may cause the loss of life or injury, property damage, social and economic disruption or
environmental degradation” (UNISDR 2015). Disasters can affect an individual or a community.
The magnitude of a disaster and its impact depends on the hazard that triggered the disaster.
From an individual level, the losses maybe loss of income, or property injury or even death.
From a community level, a disaster may involve a population of people who were displaced,
large number of deaths or millions of pesos of losses in property or income. From the previous
figures, let us identify the hazards that may have resulted to the disasters:
• Slip & fall accidents are caused by wet or uneven floors and scattered objects on floors.
• Road accidents are caused by moving vehicles.
• Electric shocks are caused by faulty wiring or unsafe handling of electric gadgets.
• Buildings collapse occur due to earthquake ground shaking.
• Floods are caused by heavy rainfall or overflowing river or water storage.

Class Activity 1.1

1.2 VULNERABILTY AND DISASTER RISK

Not all hazards result to a disaster. Only when a person, community or structure are vulnerable to
the hazard that a disaster may occur. The magnitude of the disaster which can be measured by
the losses (lives, injuries, damaged structures, loss income, etc.) depends on the vulnerability.
Vulnerability or “bulnerabilidad” or “kahinaan” in Filipino is associated with “the conditions
determined by physical, social, economic and environmental factors or processes, which increase
the susceptibility of a community to the impact of hazards” (UNISDR 2015). The various
vulnerability factors will be discussed in detail later. However, in the previous figures on hazard
& disaster, what are the vulnerable elements and what are the vulnerabilities that may have
caused the disaster?
• Slip & fall accidents: People with poor eye sight, physically impaired or senior citizens,
Type of footwear (high heels), Inattentive with surroundings
• Road accidents: People with poor eye sight, physically impaired or senior citizens,
Children, People not using pedestrian lanes or following traffic signals
• Electric shocks –Kids, No safety protection on electric gadgets
• Buildings collapse – Poorly built houses and buildings, Buildings near faults
• Floods – Low lying areas or flood plains, clogged drainage

When a hazard is triggered and a person, community or structure (which are the exposed
elements) are vulnerable to the hazard, a disaster may occur as shown in Figure 1.6.

Figure 1.6 The impact of disasters depends on the hazard and vulnerability

A disaster due to landslide (hazard) occurs because people (Exposed elements) settle in unsafe
areas (vulnerability) like unstable slopes. Structures (Exposed elements) that are not designed to
resist earthquakes (vulnerability) are highly vulnerable to damage or collapse due to earthquakes
(hazard). Communities (Exposed elements) near coastal areas (vulnerability) without early
warning system and tsunami disaster mitigation structures are highly vulnerable to a tsunami
(hazard). Communities (Exposed elements) in low-lying areas (vulnerability) are highly
vulnerable to flooding (hazard) due to intense rainfall.
Disaster and Disaster Risk are two terms that must be distinguished from each other. After the
event, a disaster may occur and the losses like total number of deaths, injuries, damaged
structures, displaced people and damaged properties can be determined.
Disaster risk is “considered to be a function of hazard, exposure and vulnerability. It is normally
expressed as a probability of loss of life, injury or destroyed or damaged assets which could
occur to a system, society or a community in a specific period of time” (UNISDR 2015). Hence,
the losses in disaster risk are predictions only if the hazard occurs. The predicted losses are a
result of an assessment of the hazard and vulnerability. Hence, in a disaster, the losses are after
the event, while in disaster risk, the losses are estimates only if the event occurs or before the
event as shown in Figure 1.7.

Figure 1.7 Disaster and Disaster Risk

Figure 1.8 show the relationship between hazard and vulnerability. The intersection of the two
circles represent the disaster risk which can be express in terms of losses. The magnitude of the
hazard (example: amount of earth that may fall due to the landslide) increases the disaster risk.
The vulnerability can be express in terms of population or number of houses (settlement in on or
below unstable slopes) exposed to the hazard. The larger the vulnerable exposure the higher the
risk.
To reduce the impact of a disaster, we can avoid or manage the hazard or reduce the
vulnerability. Some hazards like slippery floors or faulty wiring can be avoided or managed. But
some natural hazards like earthquakes and typhoons cannot be managed or avoided. We can only
reduce the effect of natural hazards by disaster risk reduction.

Figure 1.8 Hazard + Vulnerability = Disaster Risk

Disaster risk reduction (DRR) is “the concept and practice of reducing disaster risks through
systematic efforts to analyze and manage the causal factors of disasters, including through
reduced exposure to hazards, lessened vulnerability of people and property, wise management of
land and the environment, and improved preparedness for adverse events” (UNISDR 2009).
The new definition of disaster risk reduction is “the policy objective aimed at preventing new
and reducing existing disaster risk and managing residual risk, all of which contributes to
strengthening resilience” (UNISDR 2015). DRR strategies can be classified into three general
categories (1) Avoid the the hazard, (2) manage the hazard, and (3) Reduce vulnerability. Figure
1.9 presents these three strategies for a slip accident.
Figure 1.9 DRR Strategies in Daily Life
One effective DRR strategy is to avoid the hazard (Figure 1.10). As you can see in the figure,
when the hazard is avoided the intersection between the hazard circle and vulnerability circle is
reduced meaning less possible losses. Relocation of households from the unsafe areas prevents
losses in case a landslide occurs.

Figure 1.10. Avoid the Hazard

Another DRR strategy is to manage the hazard (Figure 1.11). When the hazard is managed the
possibility of the hazard being triggered is reduced and .the intersection between the hazard
circle and vulnerability circle is reduced meaning less possible losses. Protection of unstable
slopes using barriers and vegetation reduces the possible occurrence of landslides.

Figure 1.11. Manage the hazard

Another general DRR strategy is to reduce vulnerability to the hazards. When the vulnerability is
reduced by adding a fence or wall to prevent the falling earth reaching the settlement, the
intersection between the hazard circle and vulnerability circle is reduced meaning less possible
losses (Figure 1.12)

Figure 1.12. Reduce Vulnerability

Disaster risk reduction starts with the individual. Everybody should be “safety conscious” in
everyday living. One should always “think safety first” so that accidents in daily life can be
avoided. When an individual is safe, he/she is better prepared for bigger disasters.

Figure 1.12. Think Safety

1.3 SEATWORK NO. 1
• Individual Assignment 1.3.1: Safety/Disaster Awareness Slogan & Poster. Express a
catchy slogan that promotes ‘safety or disaster awareness’ with your original poster. Use A4
size paper and any medium (crayons, colored pencils, pencil, pens or digital art using
software). Remarkable posters and slogans will be featured in class.

Figure 1.13 A Safety Slogan

• Individual Assignment 1.3.2 Hazards at Home

Observe objects in your house that can become a hazard. How can this object become a hazard
and lead to harmful effects to you and your family? What should you do to avoid the possible
harmful effect or disaster? You may take photos of your home or draw sketches to show the
hazard. This can be presented similar to Figure 1.14 as poster printed in A4 paper.
Related Videos:
• Spot the hazard - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sekwr3qlS1E
• Hazards at the workplace - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d6_6N0m9H1I
• Hazard Blind Spots - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d7ucHKl5dr8

Figure 1.14 Sample Output on Hazards at Home