Natural Disasters

~ Introduction to Disasters ~ "A disaster is a natural or man-made event that negatively affects life, property, livelihood or industry often resulting in permanent changes to human societies, ecosystems and environment."

As the definition suggests, disasters are highly disruptive events that cause suffering, deprivation, hardship, injury and even death, as a result of direct injury, disease, the interruption of commerce and business, and the partial or total destruction of critical infrastructure such as homes, hospitals, and other buildings, roads, bridges, power lines, etc. Disasters can be caused by naturally occurring events, such as earthquakes, hurricanes, flooding, or tornadoes, or they can be due to man-made events, either accidental (such as an accidental toxic spill or nuclear power plant event), or deliberately caused (such as various terrorist bombings and poisonings). Certain types of natural disasters are more likely to occur in particular parts of the world. For instance, areas near coastline, lakes or rivers are more likely to experience flooding problems than are land-locked areas. However, most every place you could live is prone to one type of natural disaster or another. No place is absolutely safe from natural disaster. And, of course it goes without saying, that no place is safe from the threat of terrorism and other man-made disaster events.

It may be impossible to avoid disasters, but it isn't impossible to plan ahead of time so as to minimize the impact that any given disaster might have on you or your family's health, safety and property. There are steps you can take ahead of time, including, purchasing the proper types of insurance, preparing a disaster kit and supplies, making a disaster plan and rehearsing it with your family, and staying informed so that you can do your best to get out of the way of predictable dangerous occurrences, that can help you, your family, and your property stay as safe as possible. The following documents describe various types of disasters that can occur, and outline the important steps to take to prepare for their occurrence.

A natural disaster is the effect of a natural hazard (e.g. flood, tornado , volcano eruption, earthquake, or landslide) that affects the environment, and leads to financial, environmental and/or human losses. The resulting loss depends on the capacity of the population to support or resist the disaster, and their resilience.This understanding is concentrated in the formulation: "disasters occur when hazards meet vulnerability."A natural hazard will hence never result in a natural disaster in areas without vulnerability, e.g. strong earthquakes in uninhabited areas. The term natural has consequently been disputed because the events simply are not hazards or disasters without human involvement.

NATURAL HAZARDS
A natural hazard is a threat of an event that will have a negative effect on people or the environment. Many natural hazards are related, e.g. earthquakes can result in tsunamis, drought can lead directly to famine and disease. A concrete example of the division between hazard and disaster is that the 1906 San Francisco earthquake was a disaster, whereas earthquakes are a hazard. Hazards are consequently relating to a future occurrence and disasters to past or current occurrences. Hazard is the probability of occurrence of a damaging phenomenon within a specified period of time and within a given area (Varnes, 1984). Natural disasters are of various types like earthquakes (tsunami), floods, landslides, forest fires, thunderstorms and volcanic eruption etc. The recent Tsunami induced earthquake of magnitude 9.0 of focal depth 30km, which was occurred with epicenter (3.298N, 95.779E) on 26th December 2004 (00:58:50 UTC), had swept thousands of

lives and property in the south-eastern countries viz., Indonesia, Sri Lanka, India, Thailand, Somalia, Myanmar, Maldives, Malaysia, Tanzania, Seychelles, Bangladesh, Kenya and South Africa (source: USGS). The epicenter of the earthquake was identified at off Sumatra Coast of Indonesia in the Indian Ocean. Apart from the tsunami generated casualties it is also likely that direct earthquake induced damages has also affected the Andaman and Nicobar group of islands. The earthquake has taken place in most active seismic region characterized by tectonic features of North South trending Indo-Burma ranges in the north, Andaman-Nicobar islands and the Sumatra fault system in the southeast. According to the available fault plane solutions (USGS) the event took place because of thrust type movement. The tsunami induced waves also causes the land erosion, cutting of unprotected shore edges. On the other hand landslides creating mass destruction in the hilly regions. In the Himalayan mountain areas Landslides are frequently triggered by rainfall in the human and environmental impacts. Freezing and thawing due to snow and swelling action of rainwater had built up shearing stresses to a level that exceeds the shearing resistance of the slope, forming weathered metaquartzites along with inner bedded sericite quartzite and a thin vencer of regolith along most vulnerable and weakest surface. Massive rock-fall taking place following incessant rains and cloud burst which widened the enlarged joints. Slope failure is also a major cause for these landslide disasters and was reported by many studies region under the influence of a monsoon climate and this is responsible for a variety of related to the Himalayan region. The advances in the field of Geographical Information System (GIS) improved the quality presentation with accuracy of positions in real coordinates. This latest technology has been used effectively for preparation of cadastral maps, town planning, flood assessment, landslide zonation maps, drought assessment, irrigation projects, telecommunications and other administrative purposes. The information generated in all the above could be used for Coastal Zone Management and further Tsunami related disaster management. Disaster Mitigation could be possible only through the proper understanding of the hazard occurrence phenomena, planning and management of natural resources.

LAND MOVEMENT DISASTERS Landslide

Ferguson Slide on California State Highway A landslide or landslip is a geological phenomenon which includes a wide range of ground movement, such as rock falls, deep failure of slopes and shallow debris flows, which can occur in offshore, coastal and onshore environments. Although the action of gravity is the primary driving force for a landslide to occur, there are other contributing factors affecting the original slope stability. Typically, pre-conditional factors build up specific sub-surface conditions that make the area/slope prone to failure, whereas the actual landslide often requires a trigger before being released.

Avalanche

A powder snow avalanche in the Himalayas near Mount Everest.

The toe of an avalanche in Alaska's Kenai Fjords.

A powder snow avalanche An avalanche is a rapid flow of snow down a slope, from either natural triggers or human activity. Typically occurring in mountainous terrain, an avalanche can mix air and water

with the descending snow. Powerful avalanches have the capability to entrain ice, rocks, trees, and other material on the slope; however avalanches are always initiated in snow, are primarily composed of flowing snow, and are distinct from mudslides, rock slides, rock avalanches, and serac collapses from an icefall. In mountainous terrain avalanches are among the most serious objective hazards to life and property, with their destructive capability resulting from their potential to carry an enormous mass of snow rapidly over large distances.

Earthquake
An earthquake (also known as a quake, tremor, or temblor) is the result of a sudden release of energy in the Earth's crust that creates seismic waves. Earthquakes are recorded with a seismometer, also known as a seismograph. The moment magnitude (or the related and mostly obsolete Richter magnitude) of an earthquake is conventionally reported, with magnitude 3 or lower earthquakes being mostly imperceptible and magnitude 7 causing serious damage over large areas. Intensity of shaking is measured on the modified Mercalli scale. At the Earth's surface, earthquakes manifest themselves by shaking and sometimes displacing the ground. When a large earthquake epicenter is located offshore, the seabed sometimes suffers sufficient displacement to cause a tsunami. The shaking in earthquakes can also trigger landslides and occasionally volcanic activity. In its most generic sense, the word earthquake is used to describe any seismic event whether a natural phenomenon or an event caused by humans that generates seismic waves. Earthquakes are caused mostly by rupture of geological faults, but also by volcanic activity, landslides, mine blasts, and nuclear experiments. An earthquake's point of initial rupture is called its focus or hypocenter. The term epicenter refers to the point at ground level directly above the hypocenter.

Measuring and locating earthquakes

Earthquakes can be recorded by seismometers up to great distances, because seismic waves travel through the whole Earth's interior. The absolute magnitude of a quake is conventionally reported by numbers on the Moment magnitude scale (formerly Richter scale, magnitude 7 causing serious damage over large areas), whereas the felt magnitude is reported using the modified Mercalli scale (intensity II-XII). Every tremor produces different types of seismic waves which travel through rock with different velocities: the longitudinal P-waves (shock- or pressure waves), the transverse S-waves (both body waves) and several surface waves (Rayleigh and Love waves). The propagation velocity of the seismic waves ranges from approx. 3 km/s up to 13 km/s, depending on the density and elasticity of the medium. In the Earth's interior the shock-

or P waves travel much faster than the S waves (approx. relation 1.7 : 1). The differences in travel time from the epicentre to the observatory are a measure of the distance and can be used to image both sources of quakes and structures within the Earth. Also the depth of the hypocenter can be computed roughly. In solid rock P-waves travel at about 6 to 7 km per second; the velocity increases within the deep mantle to ~13 km/s. The velocity of S-waves ranges from 23 km/s in light sediments and 45 km/s in the Earth's crust up to 7 km/s in the deep mantle. As a consequence, the first waves of a distant earth quake arrive at an observatory via the Earth's mantle.

Effects/impacts of earthquakes

1755 copper engraving depicting Lisbon in ruins and in flames after the 1755 Lisbon earthquake, which killed an estimated 60,000 people. A tsunami overwhelms the ships in the harbor. The effects of earthquakes include, but are not limited to, the following:

Shaking and ground rupture

Shaking and ground rupture are the main effects created by earthquakes, principally resulting in more or less severe damage to buildings and other rigid structures. The severity of the local effects depends on the complex combination of the earthquake magnitude, the distance from the epicenter, and the local geological and geomorphological conditions, which may amplify or reduce wave propagation.[24] The ground-shaking is measured by ground acceleration. Specific local geological, geomorphological, and geostructural features can induce high levels of shaking on the ground surface even from low-intensity earthquakes. This effect is called site or local amplification. It is principally due to the transfer of the seismic motion from hard deep soils to soft superficial soils and to effects of seismic energy focalization owing to typical geometrical setting of the deposits.

Ground rupture is a visible breaking and displacement of the Earth's surface along the trace of the fault, which may be of the order of several metres in the case of major earthquakes. Ground rupture is a major risk for large engineering structures such as dams, bridges and nuclear power stations and requires careful mapping of existing faults to identify any likely to break the ground surface within the life of the structure

Volcanic eruptions

An eruption begins when pressure on a magma chamber forces magma up through the conduit and out the volcano's vents. When the magma chamber has been completely filled, the type of eruption partly depends on the amount of gases and silica in the magma. The amount of silica determines how sticky (level of viscosity) the magma is and water provides the explosive potential of steam.

1. low water, low silica - runny lava flows (not viscous)

) 2. low water, high silica (very viscous) - pasty lava often building domes

3. high water, low silica(not viscous) - fountain of runny lava

4. high water, high silica (very viscous) - explosion

Obstacles also influence the type of eruption. When the pipe is blocked by a stopple or an accumulation of pumice, the pressure in the pipe will build up very high resulting in an explosion. When magma reaches earth's surface it is called lava. It may pour out in gentle streams called lava flows or erupt violently into the air. Rocks ripped loose from the inside of the volcano or torn apart by the gas may be shot into the air with the lava. These rocks blown out of a volcano are called pyroclastic rocks. The rock fragments fall back to earth in many different shapes and sizes:
Dust - particles less than 1/100 inch in diameter Dust particles may be carried great distances. In a powerful eruption they may be carried around the earth several times. Ash - fragments less than 1/5 inch in diameter Most volcanic ash falls to the surface and cemented together by water to form a rock called volcanic tuff. Bomb - A rounded piece of newly hardened lava which takes shape while flying through the air. Block - A piece of lava that has sharp corners. Cinder - Bubbly rock formed by liquid lava cooling in the air. Pumice - Cinder so bubbly that it floats in water.

Volcanic activity is classified by how often a volcano erupts. A volcano may be active, intermittent, dormant, or extinct. Active volcanoes erupt constantly. Intermittent

volcanoes erupt fairly regularly. Dormant volcanoes are inactive, but not long enough to determine whether they will erupt again or not.

WATER DISASTERS
Flood

A flood is an overflow or accumulation of an expanse of water that submerges land.[1] In the sense of "flowing water", the word may also be applied to the inflow of the tide. Flooding may result from the volume of water within a body of water, such as a river or lake, which overflows or breaks levees, with the result that some of the water escapes its normal boundaries.[2] While the size of a lake or other body of water will vary with seasonal changes in precipitation and snow melt, it is not a significant flood unless such escapes of water endanger land areas used by man like a village, city or other inhabited area. Floods can also occur in rivers, when the strength of the river is so high it flows out of the river channel, particularly at bends or meanders and causes damage to homes and businesses along such rivers. While flood damage can be virtually eliminated by moving away from rivers and other bodies of water, since time out of mind, people have lived and worked by the water to seek sustenance and capitalize on the gains of cheap and easy travel and commerce by being near water. That humans continue to inhabit areas threatened by flood damage is evidence that the perceived value of living near the water exceeds the cost of repeated periodic flooding.

Control

In many countries across the world, rivers prone to floods are often carefully managed. Defences such as levees,[5] bunds, reservoirs, and weirs are used to prevent rivers from bursting their banks. When these defences fail, emergency measures such as sandbags or portable inflatable tubes are used. Coastal flooding has been addressed in Europe and the Americas with coastal defences, such as sea walls, beach nourishment, and barrier islands

Deadliest floods
Below is a list of the deadliest floods worldwide, showing events with death tolls at or above 100,000 individuals. Death Toll 2,500,000 3,700,000[18] 900,000 2,000,000 500,000 700,000 231,000 Event 1931 China floods Location China Date 1931 1887 1938

230,000 145,000

1887 Yellow River (Huang He) China flood 1938 Yellow River (Huang He) China flood Banqiao Dam failure, result of Typhoon Nina. Approximately 86,000 people died from flooding China and another 145,000 died during subsequent disease. India (mostly in Tamil Nadu), Indian Ocean tsunami Thailand, Maldives 1935 Yangtze river flood China

1975

2004 1935

more than St. Felix's Flood, storm surge Netherlands 1530 100,000 100,000 Hanoi and Red River Delta flood North Vietnam 1971 100,000 1911 Yangtze river flood China 1911 Tsunamis Tsunamis, also known as seismic sea waves, are most common along the Pacific coast, but can strike anywhere along the U.S. coastline. Tsunamis are enormous waves caused by an underground disturbance such as an earthquake. They can move hundreds of miles per hour, and hit land with waves topping 100 feet in height. Tsunamis are ocean waves produced by earthquakes or underwater landslides. The word is Japanese and means "harbor wave," because of the devastating effects these waves have had on low-lying Japanese coastal communities. Tsunamis are often incorrectly referred to as tidal waves, but a tsunami is actually a series of waves that can travel at speeds averaging 450 (and up to 600) miles per hour in the open ocean. In the open ocean, tsunamis would not be felt by ships because the wavelength would be hundreds of miles long, with an amplitude of only a few feet. This would also make them unnoticeable from the air. As the waves approach the coast, their speed decreases and their amplitude increases. Unusual wave heights have been known to be over 100 feet high. However, waves that are 10 to 20 feet high can be very destructive and cause many deaths or injuries. Tsunamis are most often generated by earthquake-induced movement of the ocean floor. Landslides, volcanic eruptions, and even meteorites can also generate a tsunami. If a major earthquake is felt, a tsunami could reach the beach in a few minutes, even before a warning is issued. Areas at greatest risk are less than 25 feet above sea level and within one mile of the shoreline. Most deaths caused by a tsunami are because of drowning. Associated risks include flooding, contamination of drinking water, fires from ruptured tanks or gas lines, and the loss of vital community infrastructure (police, fire, and medical facilities).

Limnic eruption
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Lake Nyos, silty after a limnic eruption A limnic eruption, also referred to as a lake overturn, is a rare type of natural disaster in which carbon dioxide (CO2) suddenly erupts from deep lake water, suffocating wildlife, livestock and humans. Such an eruption may also cause tsunamis in the lake as the rising CO2 displaces water. Scientists believe landslides, volcanic activity, or explosions can trigger such an eruption. Lakes in which such activity occurs may be known as limnically active lakes or exploding lakes. Some features of limnically active lakes include:

CO2-saturated incoming water A cool lake bottom indicating an absence of direct volcanic interaction with lake waters An upper and lower thermal layer with differing CO2 saturations Proximity to areas with volcanic activity

Scientists have recently determined, from investigations into the mass casualties in the 1980s at Lake Monoun and Lake Nyos, that limnic eruptions and volcanic eruptions, although indirectly related, are actually separate types of disaster events

WEATHER DISASTERS
Blizzard
A blizzard is a severe storm condition characterized by low temperatures, strong winds, and heavy blowing snow. By definition, the difference between blizzard and a snowstorm is the strength of the wind. Ground blizzards are a variation on the traditional blizzard, in that ground blizzards require high winds to stir up snow that has already fallen, rather than fresh snowfall. Regardless of the variety of blizzard, they can bring near-whiteout conditions, which restrict visibility to near zero. Blizzards have a negative impact on local economies, and can paralyze regions where snowfall is unusual or rare for days at a time. Cyclonic storms

Polar low over the Barents Sea on February 27, 1987 In meteorology, a cyclone is an area of closed, circular fluid motion rotating in the same direction as the Earth[1][2]. This is usually characterized by inward spiraling winds that rotate counter clockwise in the Northern Hemisphere and clockwise in the Southern Hemisphere of the Earth. Most large-scale cyclonic circulations are centered on areas of low atmospheric pressure[3][4]. The largest low-pressure systems are cold-core polar cyclones and extratropical cyclones which lie on the synoptic scale. Warm-core cyclones such as tropical cyclones, mesocyclones, and polar lows lie within the smaller mesoscale.

Droughts
What causes Drought?
Droughts are caused by lack of rain over a long period of time. If rain does occur it usually isn't enough for the ground to absorb before it is evaporated again. Plants and animals need water to survive, so if there is not enough water they will eventually die from thirst and dehydration. Water is one of the main ingredients in the food chain, for example: If a plant dies from lack of water then the animal that eats that plant will also die, the cycle will then continue to die out. Most droughts tend to occur during summer, as the weather is hot and water is quickly evaporated. Droughts can last for years in most extreme cases. These types of droughts effect outback properties and can devastate crops and livestock. However, many crops are effected. If a farmer has lost his crop due to drought then he will get no money to pay for the next seasonal crop.

Where do Droughts occur?

Droughts usually occur in hot dry areas of land. In most cases the area is dry because there is very minimal rainfall. The rain that does fall will be quickly absorbed into the

ground or blown away by the dry air flow that moves along the ground. Therefore the land is very dry and not many things can live there.

Major Droughts
Year
1931 - 1938

Place

Cause

Destruction

1982 - 1983 1972 - 1974

1976

Severe wind storms Cars, homes and farms Great Plains of the dried out the land and destroyed in dust USA blew the top layer of storms soil away No rain for more than 60% of Australian Australia one year sheep and cattle died The countries financial Africa Decreased Rainfall business went down It did not rain from June 1975 to Water rationing was Britain September 1976. greatly needed in the Droughts are very larger cities of Britain rare in England

Hailstorms

Large hailstones up to 5 centimetres (2 in) in diameter with concentric rings Hail is a form of solid precipitation which consists of balls or irregular lumps of ice, that are individually called hail stones. Hail stones on Earth consist mostly of water ice and measure between 5 and 150 millimeters in diameter, with the larger stones coming from severe thunderstorms. The METAR reporting code for hail 5 mm or greater in diameter is GR, while smaller hailstones and graupel are coded GS. Hail is possible with most thunderstorms as it is produced by cumulonimbi (thunderclouds),[1] usually at the leading edge of a severe storm system. Hail is possible within 2 nautical miles (3.7 km) of its parent thunderstorm. Hail formation requires environments of strong, upward motion of air with the parent thunderstorm (similar to tornadoes) and lowered heights of the

freezing level. Hail is most frequently formed in the interior of continents within the midlatitudes of Earth, with hail generally confined to higher elevations within the tropics. Hail formation is preferred during the summer months in the afternoon and evening hours of the day

Heatwaves
A heat wave is prolonged period of excessively hot weather, which may be accompanied by high humidity. There is no universal definition of a heat wave;[1] the term is relative to the usual weather in the area. Temperatures that people from a hotter climate consider normal can be termed a heat wave in a cooler area if they are outside the normal climate pattern for that area.[2] The term is applied both to routine weather variations and to extraordinary spells of heat which may occur only once a century. Severe heat waves have caused catastrophic crop failures, thousands of deaths from hyperthermia, and widespread power outages due to increased use of air conditioning Fire disaster Before the 20th century, fires were a major hazard to urban areas and the cause of massive amounts of damage to cities. While a few of the most important wildfires or forest fires are included, this list is not the primary resource to refer to for the most severe wildfires, which is summarized in the List of forest fires.

"Not in history has a modern imperial city been so completely destroyed. San Francisco is gone."

DISASTER MANAGEMENT
Disaster management is a complex series of activities that include risk assessment, prevention measures, preparedness to cope with future disasters, emergency response to a disaster, recovery and reconstruction. Good development and community preparedness can reduce the impact of a disaster especially for the most vulnerable people, such as those living in hazard-prone areas with few financial resources to help them recover if they lose their means of livelihood.

Emergency Response
When disaster strikes the first response is to save lives (humanitarian action). While each disaster creates unique circumstances and the response needs to be tailored to meet the specifics of the situation the following general areas will usually form part of the response:

Search and rescue - finding those who may be trapped under debris; Assessment of needs - working out what is required, in what quantities, and for whom; Health providing medical care and preventing the spread of disease through immunisation, the provision of safe water and food, waste disposal and burial of the dead; Basic needs - procuring and distributing food, shelter and clothing; Gender - understanding the roles of men and women in families and communities to identify needs and ensure the fair distribution of resources; Livelihood and economy - assisting people earn a living to speed their recovery;

Emotional support - counselling and reuniting separated families; Logistics - transporting people and equipment; Finance - obtaining, allocating and accounting for money; Communication - providing affected people with information, informing the, fundraising; Infrastructure - rebuilding roads, electricity and telephone networks, water pipelines, and waste disposal systems.

Few countries have all the resources necessary to meet the demands of a large-scale disaster. International assistance can provide expert knowledge and resources, but survivors and people living in the area can also do much to help if they are prepared. . Any emergency response needs to be coordinated to ensure the survival of the maximum possible number of victims. Some of the issues to be considered in the disaster response include:

respecting local knowledge while using international best practice; meeting survival needs in a culturally appropriate manner (eg. types of food, clothing, shelter); limiting the effects of aid on the local economy; training people, organisations and communities to manage development fairly; prioritising the distribution of limited supplies; gaining funding for long-term redevelopment and disaster preparedness, rather than simply responding to the current emergency situation.

In the chaos of a disaster, the pressure to make quick decisions and balance the specific interests of victims, governments, Non Government Organisations (NGOs) and donors may mean that best practice standards are not always achieved.

Disaster recovery
Once the immediate danger is over, people may need assistance to rebuild their lives and their livelihoods. Communities may need to rebuild their social and physical infrastructure and revitalise the

economy. It takes time and money to plan and ensure that long-term redevelopment and future disaster preparedness are appropriate for everyone. Damaged structures and services may not necessarily be restored in their previous locations or forms as the disruptions can be an opportunity to make improvements. Seasonal factors must be considered; for example, seeds need to be distributed during the planting season and the type of temporary shelter used will depend on the climate and season.

Disaster preparedness
Much can be done to prepare for future disasters by:

modifying or removing the causes of any likely hazard - for example by building houses away from hazard prone areas, building levy banks in flood prone areas and upgrading stoves to reduce the risk of fire; taking measures to reduce the effects of a hazard - for example by building houses to standards that will protect people during a hazard, developing early warning systems that can function without power systems, developing response plans, defining the roles and training of emergency services personnel, collecting and storing resources and equipment to ensure a quick response, educating the public and rehearsing for a hazard (eg evacuation drill).

Development
Reconstruction after a disaster provides significant opportunities for improved development including:

planning the response and recovery to prepare for future hazards; upgrading infrastructure, including roads, communication networks and water and sanitation systems to withstand disasters and assist in emergency response; building hazard resistant public buildings and housing to reduce the impact of hazards;

developing the skills of local personnel to increase their capacity to respond to an emergency; poverty alleviation to reduce the vulnerability of those with limited resources; expansion and modernisation of the economic base.

Care must be taken to ensure that changes do not increase an area's susceptibility to disasters. For example environmental factors need to be considered when creating job opportunities so that the people do not move to hazard-prone areas such as floodplains or unstable hillsides; introduction of new agricultural practices needs to avoid leading to land degradation.

International responses
In 1994 concern about standards prompted the development of the International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies and seven NGOs to develop the Code of Conduct for The International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement and NGOs in Disaster Relief. which contains the following principles: 1. The humanitarian imperative comes first. 2. Aid is given regardless of the race, creed or nationality of the recipients and without adverse distinction of any kind. Aid priorities are calculated on the basis of need alone. 3. Aid will not be used to further a particular political or religious standpoint. 4. We shall endeavour not to act as instruments of government foreign policy. 5. We shall respect culture and custom. 6. We shall attempt to build disaster response in local capacities. 7. Ways shall be found to involve programme beneficiaries in the management of relief aid. 8. Relief aid must strive to reduce future vulnerabilities to disaster as well as meeting basic needs. 9. We hold ourselves accountable to both those we seek to assist and those from whom we accept resources.

10. In our information, publicity and advertising activities, we shall recognise disaster victims as dignified human beings, not hopeless objects.

Humans are main cause of disasters

Floods brought by Typhoon Morakot in August inflicted unprecedented damage on the nation. Taiwan, which is on the typhoon frontline and located in a seismic zone, cannot avoid such periodic damage. The government and civil organizations have repeatedly collaborated on disaster rescue and relief efforts. Senior government officials have also promised to finish post-disaster reconstruction as soon as possible. However, I cannot help but ask: After survivors have been rescued and houses reconstructed, who will save the planet? Many mountain villages were washed away by landslides in the worst-hit areas in Kaohsiung and Pingtung counties. Was the tremendous rainfall the only cause of those landslides? If we look at the Central Weather Bureaus typhoon archives for the past 100 years, we find that 666 typhoons hit Taiwan between 1897 and 1996, nearly a third of which brought rainfall of more than 2,000mm. Although less than a quarter of these typhoons caused great damage, they were concentrated in the post-1990 period. What do these numbers tell us? First, between six and seven typhoons on average hit Taiwan every year, but not all of them wreak havoc on the nation. Sometimes typhoons may even alleviate a drought, but such fortune is scarce and unpredictable. Taiwan cannot, however, change the fact that it will be hit by typhoons. Second, typhoons are bound to bring strong winds and heavy rain, but in recent years, rains have become fiercer than winds and caused more damage.

Taiwans topology is characterized by towering mountains, with 21 major rivers covering a drainage area of 9,500km 29.4 percent of the nations total area. When torrential rain pours down on these rivers, flash floods sweep toward the lower reaches at extremely high speeds. Excessive forest development aggravates soil erosion problems. Although natural disasters are inevitable, man-made calamities can be mitigated. Soil and water conservation is undoubtedly of great importance, yet the authorities seem to never take it seriously. Because heavy rainfalls wear away loose soil, sturdy trees are needed to hold the soil together. Instead, shallow-rooted betel nut trees and vegetables are planted on hillsides. Deciding between survival for the moment and sustainable development has always presented humanity with a Catch 22. With nature retaliating, how can people still be oblivious to the fact that they are the prime culprit of natural disasters. Morakot and the flooding in August 1959 were separated by 50 years. For the past half century, technology has made constant advances, yet the governments mindset has failed to keep pace. Even though it is well aware that typhoons are bound to cause great damage, the government still tolerates a mindset that relies on luck. In light of the Morakot devastation, I hope the government will review its policies on sustainable land development and take typhoons and earthquakes into account in its postdisaster reconstruction. Apart from that, the government must remain professional and not compromise as a result of public pressure. .

Conclusion:
Though developing countries in regions vulnerable to disasters received many development initiatives and investments, the increased frequency and magnitude of natural catastrophes associated with economic loss and human sufferings have considerably hindered those initiatives. This book has sought to derive conclusions from empirical evidence in order to integrate disaster risk management initiatives into development objectives. It can be seen in the preceeding chapters that human development and income levels of a country are crucial determinants for deciding upon how to effectively implement risk management approaches and post disaster management initiatives. In addition, it was found that participation by women in dynamic risk mangement process is imperative for any meaningful disaster counter measures, especially in the least developed countries. These generic phenomena can be seen not only in ADRC member countries but also through out Asia. The obvious vulnerability of this region to geo-physical and hydro-meteorological disasters in terms of demographic, socio-economic, and geo-physical factors justifies the need for prudent development policies and proactive risk mangement practices and also further investment for disaster reduction. This book also advocates the urgent need for country specific and regional initiatives to be integrated into cohesive disaster mangement approach with on going socio-economic development activities. Since disasters impact every single socio-economic characteristics of a country, it can be concluded that designing development-oriented disaster prevention measures that incorpoprate the strength of human and economic resources would be an appropriate method of ensuring effective and pragmatic sustainable development.