The occurrence of extreme catastrophic events can be sudden, quick and unpredictable.
However, the recurrences of minor disaster events that cause enormous losses in human lives and economic assets over a long period of time are abetted by changing patterns of land use, especially deforestation, poorly planned development and the increasing concentration of people and capital in vulnerable areas (for example, in the coastal regions exposed to windstorms, in the fertile river basins exposed to floods, and in urban areas exposed to earthquakes.
Disaster vulnerability is enhanced by an overburdened urban infrastructure, urban and rural poverty, and overuse of environmental resources. Prevention of such disasters is possible if we rethink the way we live and use our resources.
Several factors contribute to any disaster, some less obvious than others. For example, the immediate cause of a bridge or building collapse may be a mud slide, though poor design or construction, or unsafe siting may be the reasons.
The mudslide itself may have been caused by denuded hillsides that increased sediment flow that the bridge could not withstand and the denuded hillsides may be due to poor communities that are struggling to survive on forest produce.
Symptoms are easily and often mistaken for the cause. Likewise, disaster prevention requires many actions, but they are not always obvious.
For example, improving the public delivery of some services like reliable public transport, allows people to move from unsafe areas close to work to safer locations.
Reducing deforestation prevents heavy rains from washing mud, rock, and debris into populated areas. Disaster prevention measures are in fact basic sustainable development measures.
Focusing on 3R is the most for disaster management:
Relief, Recovery and Reconstruction but not enough on prevention and preparedness only.
Hence, a successful policy response for effective prevention includes information, interventions and infrastructure. Underpinning this policy response is the role of institutions without which any policy response would be ineffectual.
Pre-event risk management for natural disasters is a planned and structured approach that aims at:
- Risk identification and assessment: identifying and prioritizing vulnerable areas and populations through advanced information systems,
- Risk Control: Risk mitigation: reducing the intensity and frequency of the peril and the potential losses through interventions and infrastructure development, and Risk transfer: transferring or spreading the risks through innovative institutions to lessen the burden on the victims and to facilitate the recovery process.
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