Disaster Planning

1. PLSS 307: DISASTER PLANNING AND MANAGEMENT
MUDASIRU MAHAMA
UNIVERSITY OF ENERGY AND NATURAL RESOURCES
DEPARTMENT OF PLANNING AND SUSTAINABILITY, DORMAA
2021/2022
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2. Main course objective
To equip students with knowledge and skills of mainstreaming disasters and
humanitarian emergencies into planning
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3. Specific Course Objectives
 To equip students’ understanding in disaster planning and management from a planning perspective and the role of
various actors in the disaster planning and management process
 To understand the nature and challenges of disaster, impacts and implications and issues concerning planning and
policies at various phases.
 To equip students with the technical know-how of disaster mitigation planning and strategies.
 Understanding of factors affecting short and long-term recovery and rebuilding and the role of planners and policy-
makers.
 Understanding of the factors that give rise to differential vulnerabilities and levels of community resilience
 To equip students with global disaster management strategies and frameworks
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4. Mode of delivery
The mode of delivery shall be face to face and online
I’ve used various sources in the preparation of this module. All of such sources are duly
acknowledged.
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5. Assessment
 Assignments/quizzes
 Class participation and attendance
 Final exams
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6. Assignment Submissions
 All assignments should be printed submitted on loosely binded A4 sheets
 Your submission should have a cover page containing your name, student number, the assignment title and
course name.
 Where necessary there shall be presentations
 Penalties for late submission shall be applied
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7. Introduction to Disaster Planning and Management
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9. Disaster Planning & Management
Disaster planning and management is an integral part of urban resilience planning. It aims at providing data and information, which
can help in understanding the nature of likely hazards in an urban area and their potential impacts.
Planning ahead gives planners the opportunities to;
 Adapt to change or absorb shocks when disasters strike
 Manage or maintain certain basic functions and structures during disastrous
events
 Strengthening disaster preparedness
 Recover quickly or ‘bounce back’ after a shock such as disaster
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10. Disaster Planning & Management
 Earthquakes, storms, and other hazards killed about 3.3 million people between 1970 and 2010, which is an annual average of 82,500
deaths worldwide in a typical year (NHUD report, 2010).
 Disaster risk arises when hazards interact with physical, social, economic and environmental vulnerabilities.
 Events of hydro-meteorological origin constitute the large majority of disasters.
 Despite the growing understanding and acceptance of the importance of disaster risk reduction and increased disaster response
capacities, disasters and in particular the management and reduction of risk continue to pose a global challenge.
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11. Definitions
Hazards
Hazards can be defined as natural or manmade conditions that have a potential for social,
infrastructural, or environmental damage.
Hazards are potential sources of harm or adverse health effect on a person or persons. They
include unsafe conditions that can cause injury, illness and death
Interactions of hazards with human systems might lead to natural disaster
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12. Disaster
 Disaster is defined as the disruptions of normal functioning of a community or society that involve
large human, material, economic, or environmental losses and exceed abilities to cope with the
affected society.
 It can also be defined as “an event impacting an entire society or some subdivision and including
the notion of real impact with threat of impact which ensures that the functioning of the society is
prevented” (Fritz, 1961)
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13. Disaster cont’d
 Historically considered as “Acts of God” or inherent natural phenomena, disasters are now understood as
an outcome of social development patterns with higher risks of exposing vulnerable populations to
hazards.
 Disasters are characterized by their attention on social disintegration, social change, and social disorders.
 Therefore, disaster is seen as an element of disruption and destruction of the previous order and all its
established components, which constituted a society.
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14. Defining features of disaster
 Are sudden-onset occasions,
 Seriously disrupt the routines of collective units,
 Cause the adoption of unplanned courses of action to adjust to the disruption,
 Have unexpected life histories designated in social space and time and Pose danger to valued social
objects.
 It exceeds the societies’ ability to cope
NOTE: There is a distinction between an event and disaster. Not all adverse events are disasters,
only those that overwhelms response capacity are.
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15. Disaster risk
In the past, disasters were often viewed as external shocks, and thus the focus was on relief and recovery.
The concept of disasters risk is now used to describe disasters as the outcome of continuously present conditions of risk in a
society.
Disaster risk is the probability of harmful consequences, or expected losses that results from interactions between development
processes that generate conditions of exposure, vulnerability and hazard.
Conventionally risk is expressed by the notation
Risk = Hazards x Exposure x Vulnerability.
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16. Disaster risk cont’d
Disaster Risk Management is composed by three main types of interventions which are recovering,
reconstructing and preventing risks, damages and losses.
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17. Disaster risk reduction method
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• Identify, characterize, and assess threats
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• Assess the vulnerability of critical assets to specific threats
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• Determine the risk
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• identify ways to reduce those risks
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• Prioritise risk reduction measures based on a strategy
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18. What then is disaster management?
It is the creation of plans through which communities reduce vulnerability to hazards and cope with
disasters.
Disaster management does not avert or eliminate the threats; instead, it focuses on creating plans to
decrease the effect of disasters.
Disaster management” or “disaster risk reduction” are used to define standard and organized efforts for
reducing harm to life, property, and environment due to disasters
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19. Principles of disaster management
 Disaster management is the responsibility of all spheres of government
 Disaster management should use resources that exist for a day-to-day purpose
 Organizations should function as an extension of their core business
 Individuals are responsible for their own safety
 Disaster management planning should focus on large events
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20. Types of Disaster
Disaster is classified under three (3) types;
 Natural disaster
 Man-made/ human induced disaster
 Hybrid disaster
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21. Natural Disaster
Natural disasters are large-scale geological or meteorological events that have the potential to cause loss of life or
property over which man has no control over. These include;
 Biological – which comprehends insect infestations, epidemics and animal attacks;
 Geophysical – earthquakes and tsunamis, volcanic eruptions, dry mass movements, such as avalanches, landslides,
rock falls;
 Climatological – droughts and associated food scarcity, extreme temperatures and
wildfires;
 Hydrological – floods, inundations, water logs, surges; and
 Meteorological – storms.
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22. Man-made disaster
 Technological Disasters are:
 Industrial Accidents: - such as chemical spills, collapse of industrial infrastructures,
explosions, fires, gas leaks, poisoning, radiation;
 Transport accidents – by air, road, rail or water; and
 Miscellaneous – this comprehends collapse of domestic/non industrial structures,
explosions, fires, etc.
 Warfare
 International conflict
 Conventional wae (war beteen countirs, siege, blocakge
 Non-convesntional war (Nuclear,chemical, bilogical)
 National conflict
 Civil wars
 Civil strikes
 Terrorist attack)
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23. Hybrid disaster
There are disasters that result from both human error and natural forces.
 Flood ravage community built in flood plain
 the extensive clearing of jungles causing soil erosion and subsequently heavy rain causing
landslides
 Locating residential, factories in avalanches areas
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24. Notable disasters in Ghana with major
impacts
 Outbreak of Cerebro-Spinal Minigitis (CSM): The outbreak affected the three Northern Regions which
claimed 1,356 lives in 1997.
 Cholera Outbreak: This happened in across the country with 28,000 affected and 243 deaths recorded
between 2014-015.previos outbreak claimed 117 lives.
 Armyworm Invasion: There was an armyworm invasion in the three Northern Regions, Ejura in Ashanti and
Dahwenya in the Greater Accra Region.
 Northern Floods: The 1999 Northern floods swept through the Upper West, Upper East, Northern and the
Northern parts of the Brong Ahafo and Volta Regions affected over three hundred thousand (300,000) persons.
There were secondary disasters of water-borne and water related diseases to contend with
 The 2nd northern Floods: This swept through Upper West, Upper East and Northern Regions affected over
three hundred thousand (307,127) persons. There were some deaths recorded in the three regions (31 in Upper
East; 10 in Upper West). There were secondary disasters of water-borne and water related diseases to contend
with by NADMO and other agencies. This attracted mega response both local and external assistance was
sorted for. – 2007
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25.  The accra sports stadium disaster in 2001. the disaster claimed 126 lives and left many injured during a
football match between Accra Hearts of Oak and Kumasi Asante Kotoko
 June 3rd Fire and flood disaster: there was rainfall which flooded the Kwame Nkrumah Circle and over
150 lives loss. hundreds suffered severe burns that result in permanent physical disabilities. Several
properties loss
 Melcom Disaster in 2012: this disaster recorded 14 deaths, caused injuries to over 70 people and
several properties destroyed
 Keta Tidal waves: Over 3000 people were rendered homeless after the tidal wave that covered several
kilometers along the keta municipality. Several properties including houses, schools, farms, etc were
affected.
 Apiatsi disaster
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26. Notable disasters across the world with
major impacts
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27. Levels of disaster
•The organization, institution or community is
able to contain the incident using its own
resources and can respond effectively
Level 1
• Assistance can be required by external
resources, however, it can be obtained
from nearby authority
Level 2
• The magnitude of the disaster exceeds the
capacity of the local community or region
and support is needed at the national or
international level
Level 3
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28. Paradigm shift in view disasters
Past View: Disaster is an external shocks; need to focus on relief and recovery
Present View: Disaster is the outcome of continuously present conditions of risk in a
society
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29. Causes of Disasters
 Mass migration from rural regions to
cities/ urban growth and sprawl
 Increased human settlement in more
vulnerable areas
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30. Causes of Disasters
 Improper buildings layouts resulting in lack
of drainage systems
 Population increase
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31. Causes of Disasters
 Lack of good drainage system- informal
system
 Poor waste management
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32. Causes of Disasters
 Climate change (both natural and man-made)-storm
intensity and frequency
 Environmental degradation- poor management of
natural resources and destruction of ecosystems,
such as deforestation or pollution)
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33. Impacts of Disaster
Along with immediate loss of lives and damages, disasters also have short and long terms impacts. In the short to
medium term - that is, one or two years after the disaster struck, disasters may affect:
 citizens’ access to shelter, food, water, sanitation, health services and education
 Destruction to the natural habitat of living things. That is the ecosystem is destroyed
 Food in-security in the country side (destruction of farms and livestock)
 disruption of communities and family life, loss of cultural heritage assets, unemployment, and
migration.
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34. Impacts of Disaster
In the long term - that is, up to five to ten years from disaster events, disasters can have severe consequences. That is;
 cause negative impacts on economic growth as well as health and productivity of citizens. Unplanned expenditures are mostly
incurred by government and other agencies.
 Injuries and diseases spreading out after a disaster can deplete the number of available and able workforce or at least reduce
the productivity of the workforce.
 The shortage of food in the aftermath of disasters can result in children being malnourished. This will make them grow weak
and thus making the future generation of workforce less productive.
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THANK YOU
Q&A