Disaster Risk refers to the risk related to the disasters that are uncertain accidents either manual or natural that make great damage or losses of life. Disaster risks are basically classified into three types is Hazardous, Exposure, and Vulnerable. Natural disaster risks are referred to as the risks which are due to natural phenomenon such as floods, drought, volcanoes, earthquakes, etc.
This can be managed by a set of procedures known as Disaster Risk Management. To make it possible Disaster Risk Assessment is conducted.
What is disaster risk?
Disaster risk is the probabilistic determination of the hazardous function, exposure, capability of injuries, loss of lives, damage, and wasted assets that occurred at a specific period.
By observing the situation of the environment, disaster risk is a huge concern nowadays, with day by day evolution we are evolving but on the other side we are increasing the disaster risks too there are so many man-made tragedies such as Bhopal Gas Leak Disaster, North Pacific Waste Zone and many more.
A natural disaster is the abnormal intensity of nature. The destruction and the adverse situation caused by natural disasters are so unexpected and unpredictable. Some common examples of natural disasters are landslides, earthquakes, drought, hurricanes, etc.
Types of disaster risk
There are broadly three types of disaster risks in existence on the basis of the nature of the disaster and the consequences that can be created by these risks.
The three types of disaster risk are: Hazardous disaster risk, Exposure disaster risk, Vulnerability disaster risk. Let us now talk about these risks in detail:
Hazardous Disaster Risk:
The adverse damage that can be caused by the destructive physical phenomenon is well known as hazardous disaster risk. This type of risk is uncertain and it can happen anywhere. Windstorms, Volcanic eruptions, earthquakes, etc are examples of Hazardous risks.
Exposure Disaster Risk:
The valuable assets, the location, and attributes that are affected by the disaster which is important to a community. In general, all those areas or materials which are affected by a disaster are termed Exposure Disasters. For example, Farmlands, buildings, factories, etc.
Vulnerability Disaster Risk:
When exposed to a hazard the chances of damage and destruction are due to the vulnerable condition. This is the possibility by which an area of a building is affected by a disaster.
For example, A long bridge is much more vulnerable than a short bridge during an earthquake.
Types of natural disaster risk
Natural Disaster Risks are the risks that are caused by natural phenomena. These are not conducted straight by human beings but can be a result of what we human beings are doing entirety.
Geographical risk:
Geographical risks are the investment risk in a geographical area especially with the possibility of a negative impact on investments due to the natural disaster. For example – the oil pumping company in Mexico carries a geographical risk that a hurricane will destroy it.
Hydrological risk:
The adverse condition caused by having either too much water or too little water that is the condition of flood or drought. This is mainly seen in the areas where the water supply is not adequate. Either the water supply is very high as in tropical areas or very low as in desert areas.
Climatological risk:
Climatological risks are the negative impact of climate change on a livelihood like change in temperature (sudden increase or fall in temperature ) which leads to changes in precipitation or humidity.
Meteorological risk:
Meteorological risks are weather-related risks that are primarily caused by water and wind. Cyclone, Typhoon, Frost, and Extreme temperature are some examples of meteorological risks.
Biological risk:
The infections spread from one organism to another by more interactions and exposition to viruses, fungi, blood, and mold. Communicable diseases, that can be transferred to one another are seen in this risk. The most recent example of this risk is Covid-19.
What is Disaster risk management?
The plan of action for the reduction of existing disasters, managing residual risk, and prevention of new disaster risk is termed disaster risk management. Disaster Risk management is the set of procedures that can be carried out in order to manage the disaster risk. The planning is based on the last data, vulnerability, and prediction. This is true that we can not remove completely the Disaster risks by management only but we can surely limit its harsh consequences.
How to conduct a disaster risk assessment?
To manage the Disaster Risk, we can perform the disaster risk assessment which includes the following procedures:
- Recognize threats and identify vulnerabilities.
- Risk calculation and risk examination.
- Develop risk management strategy – structural, non-structural, benefits analysis
- Strategic planning – economic, political, and institutional support consideration.
- Generate response, recuperation, reconstruction, and repair.
- Implement knowledge management and sustainable development.
- Utilize resilience building and community participation.
How to achieve Disaster risk reduction?
We can achieve Disaster risk reduction by a four-way process that is Plan, Do, Check, Act. In detail, they are elaborated as follows:
1. Plan:
The plan refers to the first step of the process in which we have to make a detailed map of the problem blueprint that needs to be solved or prevented. The main aim of the Plan is to:
a. Foresee damage
b. Prepare risk maps
c. Managing information
2. Do:
Do refer to the preparation of the prevention methods and the plans by which the problem will be or can be solved. The main aim of this stem is the:
- Preparation of various action plans and timelines.
- Examination of countermeasures.
- Development of disaster prevention plan and disaster prevention information or alert system.
3. Check:
Check the effectiveness of disaster prevention and risk mitigation planning and the training effectiveness of the system for the management of risk at the time of disaster. The main aim of this step is the:
Assess the effectiveness of disaster risk reduction and risk management training, planning.
4. Act:
The act is the last and the final step of Disaster Risk Reduction, In this the main focused areas are the following:
a. Implementation of various disaster risk reduction/prevention action plans.
b. Updating flooding, landslide, and tsunami hazards map on regular basis.
c. Effective verification of flooding, landslide countermeasures on regular basis.
d. Adhere to disaster risk management protocol, procedures, check sheet, and rules.
Conclusion:
Remarking the condition of the environment in the present time, all are surrounded by disaster risk at any instance of time and place. the negative events caused by humans or nature which have a huge impact on the destruction of on environment is a disaster. For controlling, managing, and preventing the disaster, Disaster risk management is performed.