Page 1 of 6

Journal for Studies in Management and Planning

Available at

http://edupediapublications.org/journals/index.php/JSMaP/

ISSN: 2395-0463

Volume 03 Issue 08

July 2017

Available online: http://edupediapublications.org/journals/index.php/JSMaP/ P a g e | 274

Natural Hazards and Disaster Management: An Overview

Rahul Choudhary & Neeru Sharma

Assistant Professor Department Of Geography Pt. N. R. S. Govt. College,Rohtak

rcsheoran.02@gmail.com & chetnakaushaik28@gmail.com

ABSTRACT: The United Nations defines

disaster as “the occurrence of sudden or

major misfortune which disrupts the basic

fabric and normal functioning of the

society or community”. Disasters are as

old as human history but the dramatic

increase and the damage caused by them

in the recent past have become a cause of

national and international concern. Over

the past decade, the number of natural and

manmade disasters has climbed

inexorably. The biggest rise has been in

the countries of low human development,

which suffered an increase of

approximately 142 per cent.A disaster is a

serious disruption, occurring over a

relatively short time, of the functioning of

a community or a society involving

widespread human, material, economic or

environmental loss and impacts, which

exceeds the ability of the affected

community or society to cope using its own

resources.

In contemporary academia, disasters are

seen as the consequence of

inappropriately managed risk. These risks

are the product of a combination of both

hazards and vulnerability. Hazards that

strike in areas with low vulnerability will

never become disasters, as in the case of

uninhabited regions.Developing countries

suffer the greatest costs when a disaster

hits – more than 95percent of all deaths

caused by hazards occur in developing

countries, and losses due to natural

hazards are 20 times greater (as a

percentage of GDP) in developing

countries than in industrialized countries.

This paper discusses the basic concepts of

natural hazards and disaster management.

KEYWORDS: Disaster Management,

Hazard, Vulnerability, Capacity,

Prevention, Preparedness, Mitigation,

Response, Rehabilitation.

WHAT IS A DISASTER?

As per the Oxford dictionary a disaster is

“a sudden accident or a natural catastrophe

that causes great damage or loss of life”.

The term disaster owes its origin to the

French word “Desastre” which is a

combination of two words ‘des’ meaning

bad and ‘aster’ meaning star. Thus the

term refers to ‘Bad or Evil star’. A

disaster can be defined as “A serious

disruption in the functioning of the

community or a society causing wide

spread material, economic, social or

environmental losses which exceed the

ability of the affected society to cope using

its own resources”. A disaster is a result

from the combination of hazard,

vulnerability and insufficient capacity or

measures to reduce the potential chances

of risk. A disaster happens when a hazard

impacts on the vulnerable population and

causes damage, casualties and

disruption.Any hazard – flood, earthquake

or cyclone which is a triggering event

along with greater vulnerability

(inadequate access to resources, sick and

old people, lack of awareness etc) would

lead to disaster causing greater loss to life

Page 2 of 6

Journal for Studies in Management and Planning

Available at

http://edupediapublications.org/journals/index.php/JSMaP/

ISSN: 2395-0463

Volume 03 Issue 08

July 2017

Available online: http://edupediapublications.org/journals/index.php/JSMaP/ P a g e | 275

and property. For example; an earthquake

in an uninhabited desert cannot be

considered a disaster, no matter how

strong the intensities produced. An

earthquake is disastrous only when it

affects people, their properties and

activities. Thus, disaster occurs only when

hazards and vulnerability meet. But it is

also to be noted that with greater capacity

of the individual/community and

environment to face these disasters, the

impact of a hazard reduces. Therefore, we

need to understand the three major

components namely hazard, vulnerability

and capacity with suitable examples to

have a basic understanding of disaster

management.

WHAT IS A HAZARD ?

Hazard may be defined as “a dangerous

condition or event, that threat or have the

potential for causing injury to life or

damage to property or the environment.”

The word ‘hazard’ owes its origin to the

word ‘hasard’ in old French and ‘az- zahr’ in Arabic meaning ‘chance’ or

‘luck’. Hazards can be grouped into two

broad categories namely natural and

manmade.

Natural hazards are hazards which are

caused because of natural phenomena

(hazards with meteorological, geological

or even biological origin). Examples of

natural hazards are cyclones, tsunamis,

earthquake and volcanic eruption which

are exclusively of natural origin.

Landslides, floods, drought, fires are

socio-natural hazards since their causes are

both natural and man-made. For example

flooding may be caused because of heavy

rains, landslide or blocking of drains with

human waste.

Manmade hazards are hazards which are

due to human negligence. Manmade

hazards are associated with industries or

energy generation facilities and include

explosions, leakage of toxic waste,

pollution, dam failure, wars or civil strife

etc.

WHAT IS VULNERABILITY ?

Vulnerability may be defined as “The

extent to which a community, structure,

services or geographic area is likely to be

damaged or disrupted by the impact of

particular hazard, on account of their

nature, construction and proximity to

hazardous terrains or a disaster prone

area.”

Physical Vulnerability includes notions

of who and what may be damaged or

destroyed by natural hazard such as

earthquakes or floods. It is based on the

physical condition of people and elements

at risk, such as buildings, infrastructure etc

and their proximity, location and nature of

the hazard. It also relates to the technical

capability of building and structures to

resist the forces acting upon them during a

hazard event.

Socio-economic Vulnerability is the

degree to which a population is affected by

a hazard will not merely lie in the physical

components of vulnerability but also on

the socioeconomic conditions. The socio- economic condition of the people also

determines the intensity of the impact. For

example, people who are poor and living

in the sea coast don’t have the money to

construct strong concrete houses. They are

generally at risk and loose their shelters

whenever there is strong wind or cyclone.

Because of their poverty they too are not

able to rebuild their houses.

Page 3 of 6

Journal for Studies in Management and Planning

Available at

http://edupediapublications.org/journals/index.php/JSMaP/

ISSN: 2395-0463

Volume 03 Issue 08

July 2017

Available online: http://edupediapublications.org/journals/index.php/JSMaP/ P a g e | 276

WHAT IS CAPACITY ?

Capacity can be defined as “resources,

means and strengths which exist in

households and communities and which

enable them to cope with, withstand,

prepare for, prevent, mitigate or quickly

recover from a disaster”. People’s capacity

can also be taken into account.

Physical Capacity: People whose houses

have been destroyed by the cyclone or

crops have been destroyed by the flood can

salvage things from their homes and from

their farms. Some family members have

skills, which enable them to find

employment if they migrate, either

temporarily or permanently.

Socio-economic Capacity: In most of the

disasters, people suffer their greatest losses

in the physical and material realm. Rich

people have the capacity to recover soon

because of their wealth. In fact, they are

seldom hit by disasters because they live in

safe areas and their houses are built with

stronger materials. However, even when

everything is destroyed they have the

capacity to cope up with it.

Hazards are always prevalent, but the

hazard becomes a disaster only when there

is greater vulnerability and less of capacity

to cope with it. In other words the

frequency or likelihood of a hazard and the

vulnerability of the community increases

the risk of being severely affected.

WHAT IS RISK ?

Risk is a “measure of the expected losses

due to a hazard event occurring in a given

area over a specific time period. Risk is a

function of the probability of particular

hazardous event and the losses each would

cause.”

The level of risk depends upon the nature

of the hazard,vulnerability of the

elements which are affected and the

economic value of those elements. A

community or locality is said to be at

‘risk’ when it is exposed to hazards and is

likely to be adversely affected by its

impact. Whenever we discuss ‘disaster

management’ it is basically ‘disaster risk

management’. Disaster risk management

includes all measures which reduce

disaster related losses of life, property or

assets by either reducing the hazard or

vulnerability of the elements at risk.

Disaster Risk Reduction can take place in

the following ways:

i. Preparedness embraces measures

which enable governments,

communities and individuals to

respond rapidly to disaster situations to

cope with them effectively.

Preparedness includes the formulation

of viable emergency plans, the

development of warning systems, the

maintenance of inventories and the

training of personnel. It may also

embrace search and rescue measures as

well as evacuation plans for areas that

may be at risk from a recurring

disaster. Preparedness therefore

encompasses those measures taken

before a disaster event which are aimed

at minimising loss of life, disruption of

critical services, and damage when the

disaster occurs.

ii. Mitigation embraces measures taken

to reduce both the effect of the hazard

and the vulnerable conditions to it in

order to reduce the scale of a future

disaster. Therefore mitigation activities