Adjustment And Responses

1
Adjustment And Responses
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Coping With Hazards

• How people adjust to hazards depends on
• Type of hazard.
• Risk (probability) of the hazard several
  factors influence how people view risk.
• Ways of managing the consequences of a hazard
  include
• Modifying the hazard event, through building
  design, building location, and emergency
  procedures.
• Improved forecasting and warning.
• Sharing the cost of loss, through insurance or
  disaster relief.

3
Building Design

• A single-storey building has a quick response to
  earthquake forces.
• A high-rise building responds slowly, and
  shockwaves are increased as they move up the
  building.
• If the buildings are too close together,
  vibrations may be amplified between buildings and
  increase damage.
• The weakest part of a building is where different
  elements meet.

4
Building Design

• Elevated motorways are therefore vulnerable in
  earthquakes because they have many connecting
  parts.
• Certain areas are very much at risk from
  earthquake damage areas with weak rocks,
  faulted (broken) rocks, and on soft soils.
• Many oil pipelines and water pipelines in
  tectonically active areas are built on rollers,
  so that they can move with an earthquake rather
  than a fracture.

5
Early Alternative Adjustments
Affect The Cause Modify The Hazard Modify Loss Potential Adjust To Losses
No known way of altering the earthquake mechanism. Stable site selection soil and slope stabilisation sea wave barriers fire protection. Warning systems emergency evacuation and preparation building design land-use change permanent evacuation. Public relief subsidised insurance. Insurance and reserve funds. Individual loss-bearing.
Earthquakes
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Early Alternative Adjustments
Affect The Cause Modify The Hazard Modify Loss Potential Adjust To Losses
Reduce flood flows by Land-use treatment cloud seeding. Control flood flows by reservoir storage levees channel improvement flood fighting. Warning systems emergency evacuation and preparation building design land-use change permanent evacuation. Public relief subsidised insurance. Insurance and reserve funds. Individual loss-bearing.
Floods
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Early Alternative Adjustments
Affect The Cause Modify The Hazard Modify Loss Potential Adjust To Losses
Change geographical distribution by cloud seeding. Reduce impact by snow fences snow removal salting and sanding of highways. Forecasting rescheduling inventory control building design land-use change permanent evacuation. Public relief subsidised insurance. Insurance and reserve funds. Individual loss-bearing.
Snow
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Northern Nigeria

• Adjustments to drought suggested by peasant
  farmers

Change Location Nothing permanent.
Change Use Nothing.
Prevent Effects Store food for next year seek work elsewhere temporarily seek income by selling firewood, crafts, or grass expand fishing activity plant late cassava plant additional crop.
Modify Events Consult medicine men pray for end of drought.
Share Turn to relatives possible government relief.
Bear Suffer and starve pray for support.
9
Tanzania

• Adjustments to drought suggested by peasant
  farmers

Change Location Nothing permanent.
Change Use Drought-resistant crops, irrigation.
Prevent Effects More thorough weeding Cultivate larger areas work elsewhere tie ridging planting on wet places sending cattle to other areas sell cattle to buy food staggered planting.
Modify Events Employ rainmakers pray.
Share Send children to kinsmen government relief store crops move to relatives farm use savings.
Bear Do nothing.
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Changing Priorities

• In the immediate aftermath of a disaster the main
  priority is to rescue people.
• This may involve the use of search and rescue
  teams and sniffer dogs.
• Thermal sensors may be used to find people alive
  among the wreckage.
• The number of survivors decreases very quickly.
• Few survive after 72 hours, although there were
  reports from Sichuan of people surviving nearly
  20 days the number is extremely low however.

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Rehab

• Rehabilitation refers to people being able to
  make safe their homes and be able to live in them
  again.
• Following the UK floods of 2007, some people were
  unable to return to their homes for over a year.
• For some residents in New Orleans, rehabilitation
  was not possible, so reconstruction (rebuilding)
  was necessary.
• This can be a very long, drawn-out process,
  taking up to a decade for major construction
  projects.

12
Hazard Mitigation

• As well as dealing with the aftermath of a
  disaster, governments try to plan to reduce
  impacts of future events.
• This is sometimes called Hazard Mitigation.
• This was seen after the 2004 Tsunami in S. Asia.
• Before the event, a tsunami early warning system
  was not in place in the Indian Ocean.

13
The Future

• Following the event, as well as emergency rescue,
  rehabilitation, and reconstruction, governments
  and aid agencies in the region developed a system
  to reduce the impacts of future tsunamis.
• It is just part of the progress needed to reduce
  the impact of hazards and to improve safety in
  the region.

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Model Of Disaster Recovery
Periods Emergency Restoration Reconstruction I Reconstruction II
Capital Stock Damaged or destroyed. Patched. Rebuilt (replacement). Major construction (commemmoration, betterment, development).
Normal Activities Ceased or changed. Return and function. Return at pre-disaster levels or greater. Improved and developed.
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Activity

• You are to use the A3 blank copy of the
  Adjustments And Damage Limitation Worksheet and
  complete it to manage all the disasters you have
  studied.