What is Disaster ?

A disaster is a sudden, calamitous event that seriously

disrupts the functioning of a community or society and
causes human, material, and economic or
environmental losses that exceed the community’s or
society’s ability to cope using its own resources. Though
often caused by nature, disasters can have human
origins.
What does Disaster stand for ?

 D : Detection
 I : Incident Command
 S : Safety and Security
 A : Assess Hazards
 S : Support
 T : Triage and Treatment
 E : Evacuation
 R : Recovery
 Types of disastres

Disasters are of two types :

 Natural disasters,

 Man-made disasters.
 Types of Natural Disasters

Natural Disasters are of the following type:

Earthquakes
Volcanic eruptions
Cyclones
Floods
Droughts
Tornadoes
Tsunami
 Earthquakes

An earthquake is a shaking of the ground caused by the sudden breaking and

movement of tectonic plates of the earth's rocky outermost crust. The edges of the
tectonic plates are marked by faults. Most earthquakes occur along the fault lines
when the plates slide past each other or collide against each other.

The shifting masses send out shock waves that may be powerful enough to alter the
surface of the Earth, thrusting up cliffs and opening great cracks in the ground and
cause great damage ... collapse of buildings and other man-made structures, broken
power and gas lines, landslides, snow avalanches, tsunamis.
 Volcanic Eruptions

Volcanoes can cause widespread destruction and consequent disaster in several ways. The
effects include the volcanic eruption itself that may cause harm following the explosion of the
volcano or the fall of rock. Second, lava may be produced during the eruption of a volcano. As it
leaves the volcano, the lava destroys many buildings and plants it encounters. Third, volcanic ash
may form a cloud, and settle thickly in nearby locations. In sufficient quantity ash may cause
roofs to collapse under its weight but even small quantities will harm humans if inhaled. A
specific type of volcano is the super volcano.. The main danger from a super volcano is the
immense cloud of ash which has a disastrous global effect on climate and temperature for many
years.
 Cyclones

Cyclone in meteorology refers to any low pressure area with winds spiraling inwards. Cyclones rotate clockwise
in the Southern Hemisphere and anti-clockwise in the Northern Hemisphere. Cyclone is the general term for a
variety of low pressure system types, such as tropical cyclones, extra tropical cyclones and tornadoes.

The largest of the low-pressure systems are the extra tropical cyclones and the cold-core polar cyclones which lie
on the synoptic scale which in meteorology is a horizontal length of 1000 km or more. The Warm-core cyclones
are the tropical cyclones, mesocyclones, and the polar lows that lie within the smaller mesoscale. The
Subtropical cyclones are intermediate in size. Cyclones have also been on other planets outside of the Earth,
such as Mars and Neptune. For example the Great Red Spot of Jupiter and the Great Black Spot of Neptune.

Cyclones are also referred to as hurricanes and typhoons. They consist of the eye, eye wall and rain bands.
The calmest part of a cyclone is its eye which is at the middle of a cyclone.
 Floods

A flood is an overflow of an expanse of water that submerges land. The Floods

directive defines a flood as a temporary covering by water of land not normally
covered by water. In the sense of "flowing water", the word may also be applied to
the inflow of the tide. Flooding may result from the volume of water within a body
of water, such as a river or lake, which overflows or breaks levees, with the result
that some of the water escapes its usual boundaries. While the size of a lake or
other body of water will vary with seasonal changes in precipitation and snow melt,
it is not a significant flood unless the water covers land used by man like a village,
city or other inhabited area, roads, expanses of farmland, etc.
 Droughts

Droughts occur in virtually all climates. Of all the weather-related

phenomena that can cause severe economic impacts in the United States,
droughts come in second only to hurricanes, according to the National
Climatic Data Center. But unlike hurricanes, which are easily identified and
straightforward to classify in terms of wind speeds, droughts are much
tougher to define. Most people think of a drought as a period of unusually
dry weather that persists long enough to cause problems such as crop
damage and water supply shortages.
 Tornadoes

A tornado is a violent rotating column of air extending from a

thunderstorm to the ground. The most violent tornadoes are capable of
tremendous destruction with wind speeds of up to 300 mph. They can
destroy large buildings, uproot trees and hurl vehicles hundreds of yards.
They can also drive straw into trees. Damage paths can be in excess of one
mile wide to 50 miles long. In an average year, 1000 tornadoes are
reported nation wide. Most tornadoes form from thunderstorms.
 Tsunami

A tsunami is a series of water waves caused by the displacement of a large volume of a body of water, generally
an ocean or a large lake. Earthquakes, volcanic eruptions and other underwater explosions landslides, glacier
calvings, meteorite impacts and other disturbances above or below water all have the potential to generate a
tsunami.
Tsunami waves do not resemble normal sea waves, because their wavelength is far longer. Rather than
appearing as a breaking wave, a tsunami may instead initially resemble a rapidly rising tide. Tsunamis generally
consist of a series of waves with periods ranging from minutes to hours, arriving in a so-called "wave train".
Wave heights of tens of metres can be generated by large events. Although the impact of tsunamis is limited to
coastal areas, their destructive power can be enormous and they can affect entire ocean basins; the 2004 Indian
Ocean tsunami was among the deadliest natural disasters in human history with at least 290,000 people killed or
missing in 14 countries bordering the Indian Ocean.
 Causes of Natural Disasters

The causes of natural disasters are many. Human activities play a

role in the frequency and severity of disasters. A natural disaster is
a disruption in the balance of the environment. The human factor
raises the cost, in both property damage and loss of life.
Understanding the causes of natural disaster can provide clues to
their prevention.
Not all natural disasters can be prevented. Each natural disaster
has its own factors and complications. Understanding the basic
principles of ecology can provide keys to lessening their effects.
Nature evolved with natural disasters and disturbance. The best
prevention is looking at the strategies found in nature.
 Man Made Disasters

A man-made disasters is a disaster resulting from

human intent, negligence, or error.
Manmade disasters can be both intentional and
unintentional. It results in huge loss of life and property.
It further affects a person's mental, physical and social
well-being.
Reasons for Man Made Disasters

The causes of man made disasters are:

Reasons

ignorance 52%
unawreness 20%
illiteracy 40%
carelessness 42%
Examples of Man Made Disasters

Man made disasters can be the following:

 Nuclear disaster
 Chemical disasters
 Radiological emergencies
 Terrorism
go ahead 
 Nuclear Accidents

 One should not look at the fire as it causes instant

blindness.

 Close all doors and windows as radioactivity does

not penetrate into solid structures.

 Cover all food and water.

 Chemical Disasters

 Do not panic, evacuate calmly and quickly perpendicular to wind

direction through the designated escape route
 Keep a wet handkerchief or piece of cloth/ sari on face during
evacuation
 Do not consume the uncovered food/ water etc open to the air,
drink only from bottle
 Provide correct and accurate information to government official.
 Inform others on occurrence of event at public gathering places
(like school, shopping centre, theatre etc.).
 Don’t pay attention to the rumours and don’t spread rumours.
 Radiological emergencies

 Take cover yourself Keep your condition till the flash, hot air, and flying and
falling debris
 Be aware of intense flash-light coming from the explosion of a nuclear
weapon.
 Then, head urgently for the nearest shelter without panic. You have 30-60
min before you reach the shelter.
 Protect your mouth and nose with swab/cloth etc.
 You must wash your hands, face, hairs, and other uncovered part of your
body.
 Take the necessary equipment with you and enter the shelter.
 Terrorism
Terrorism is the use of fear and acts of violence in order to intimidate
societies or governments. Many different types of social or political
organizations might use terrorism to try to achieve their goals. People
who do terrorism are called terrorists.

It is difficult to explain terrorism. Terrorism has no official criminal law

definition at the international level. Common definitions of terrorism
refer to violent acts which are intended to create fear (terror); are done
for a religious, political, or ideological goal; and which target civilians.
Some definitions now include acts of unlawful violence and war. The
use of similar tactics by criminal gangs is not usually called terrorism,
though these same actions may be called terrorism when done by a
politically motivated group.
 Example of man made disaster…

 London smog
 The Al-Mishraq Fire
 The Nuclear Power Plant Explosion in Chernobyl
 The Kuwait Oil Fires
 The Destruction of the Aral Sea
 Effects of Disasters

The disasters has only caused loss to life and property,

the animals face the threat of extinction, good yielding
land turns into a waste land humans suffer from severe
ailments every where there is a health problem.