Comprehensive Disaster Planning and Management

Abstract

Any disaster planning and management activities begin with the identification and understanding of the natural and other hazards likely to occur in the areas under consideration. The studies continue with the analysis and assessment successively of vulerability, element at risk, specific risk and, finally, risk itself. These terms have been defined as follows:

• Hazard meaning the probability of occurrence, within a specific period of time in a given area, of a potentially damaging phenomenon.

• Vulnerability meaning the degree of loss to a given element at risk or set of such elements resulting from the occurrence of a phenomenon of a given magnitude and expressed on a scale from O (no damage) to 1 (total loss).

• Elements at risk meaning the population, buildings and civil engineering works, economic activities, public services, utilities and infrastructure etc. at risk in a given area.

• Specific risk meaning the expected degree of loss due to a particular phenomenon and being a function of both hazard and vulnerability.

• Risk meaning the expected number of lives lost, persons injured, damage to property and disruption of economic activity due to a particular phenomenon and consequently the product of specific risk and elements at risk.

After general definitions of these technical terms we continue to the main topic.