Living with Disaster Risk

What is disaster risk? What are its sources? Can it be avoided? These are some of the questions that many people in different locations and at different levels ask. Disaster risk is the likelihood of harmful consequences, or expected loss (of lives, people injured, property, livelihoods, economic activity disrupted or environment damaged) resulting from interactions between natural or human-induced hazards and vulnerable/capable conditions. Losses can happen to individuals, families, companies, communities, cities, countries, or regions. 

What are the sources of this risk?

Disaster risk emanates from the environment we live in everyday. Major losses of lives and economies have been experienced following the occurrence of natural hazards such as earthquakes, tsunamis, volcanic eruptions, cyclones, floods, wildfires, and drought. Tens of thousands of lives were lost during the Haiti earthquake disaster at the beginning of the new millenium. More than 200,000 people perished and 1,8 million lost their homes as result of the 2004 tsunami which affected the South and South East Asia regions.  Millions of people have been affected by famine and civil unrest in the horn of Africa. Hundreds of lives were lost in Zimbabwe and Mozambique as a result of the Cyclone Idai disaster in March 2019. Currently we are mourning the many lives that were lost in KZN as a result of floods. On the other hand there are also manmade hazards such as wars, airplane crashes, road traffic accidents, man-made fires, chemical and other biological hazards. Millions of lives have been lost throughout history simply because parties disagreed and decided to war. It goes without saying, the losses of lives and wealth that are currently being experienced because of hostilities between Russia and Ukraine. Man-made hazards occur when a man either decides to fight or attack (as in bandits, rebels or robbers) or when they fail to take due care and diligence. For example, a plane crash can occur because the engineers did not take due diligence in maintaining the aircraft or a road traffic accident can occur because the driver was negligent. Furthermore, a whole house and property can burn down because somebody was careless with the use of electricity in it. Think about it, a whole forest with valuable timber trees and homes can be reduced to nothing, simply because someone threw the remains of a cigarette into a bush and it caught fire. Some buildings catch fire because the electrical installation was not done properly. As an individual, losses can happen if one fails to take due care and diligence. 

Managing disaster risk

Can disaster risk be prevented? Absolutely yes! What if it is coming from natural hazards? It can still be managed and losses reduced significantly. There is little that can be done to prevent the occurrence of some natural hazards such as tsunamis, cyclones, or earthquakes but there is much that can be done to reduce their impact on us.

Knowledge. The first major thing is to know the hazards around us, their characteristics, and how they can affect us. Secondly, we need to fortify ourselves against them, as in building resilience. Historically our ancestors lived in the bushes and lived with wild dangerous animals such as lions, elephants, cheaters, and hyenas. They mingled with them as they did their day-to-day activities and moved from place to place. Their safety was guaranteed by knowing the characteristics and behaviour of each animal so that they would know how to deal with them when they met them. For example, they knew that if they met a hyena they could save their lives by climbing a tree because a hyena cannot climb a tree. They however could not use the same strategy for an elephant because it can actually uproot a tree. In that case, one had to run in a zig-zag way to save their life. The story was different for the lions.  Some people expose themselves to hazards because they go to live on their path, especially for economic reasons. Many decide to live close to rivers or dams to benefit from fishing or cropping on fertile alluvial soils. However, in the process, they expose themselves to floods.

Forecasting and early warning. At a national level governments are required to put in place robust and reliable systems of predicting and forecasting natural events. Preparedness and disaster response plans are mandatory to reduce disaster risk. This should be coupled with early warning information dissemination using different media platforms such as radio, television, or newspapers. However, the question is, how many people listen or read? And of those who listen how many of them take the recommended action? If the government recommends evacuation before disaster strikes, how many would be ready to be evacuated? Furthermore, how many people would actually cancel a trip after a forecast for a storm is issued? And, how many companies would advise their staff to work from home in response to impending torrential rains and flooding? The degree to which citizens seriously consider early warning information depends on the accuracy of past predictions. This is a big challenge to national governments. Historically trumpets were sounded to alert people of impending danger and they would know what action to take depending on how the trumpets were sounded. To a large extent this managed to save their lives.

Safety Standards. Most governments have come up with safety standards and building codes as a way of promoting safety among their citizens. The question is, to what extent are these standards enforced? What is the role of corruption? Don’t we have many sub-standard constructions being approved for a bribe? How can a sense of responsibility and accountability be instilled in the officials? How can an individual or a family build a culture of safety?

Risk transfer. Insurance is a good way of transferring risk. It can be of much help if individuals insure their movable and immovable properties against damage and also their lives. How many individuals would opt to buy insurance for different things? Food for thought. Of late the governments of Africa have instituted insurance against drought.

Questions to ponder:

1. Have you identified potential sources of disaster risk for your area and business?
2. Are you prepared to respond and manage disaster risk appropriately?
3. Do you have forecasting and / or early warning systems for disaster risk?
4. Have you insured your property or valuable items against loss or damage?

Written by Ellen Jaka
Master of Disaster Management (UFS)
Founder and Director of Building Resilient Communities (BRC) Trust