Phases of Disaster
1. Mitigation
2. Preparedness
3. Response
4. Recovery
Mitigation Mitigation involves steps to reduce vulnerability to disaster impacts such as
injuries and loss of life and property. This might involve changes in local building codes to fortify
buildings; revised zoning and land use management; strengthening of public infrastructure; and
other efforts to make the community more resilient to a catastrophic event.
Structural and non-structural measures undertaken to limit the adverse impact of natural hazards,
environmental degradation, and technological hazards and to ensure the ability of at-risk
communities to address vulnerabilities aimed at minimizing the impact of disasters. Such measures
include, but are not limited to, hazard-resistant construction and engineering works, the
formulation and implementation of plans, programs, projects and activities, awareness raising,
knowledge management, policies on land-use and resource management, as well as the
enforcement of comprehensive land-use planning, building and safety standards, and legislation.
Land use planning - the process undertaken by public authorities to identify, evaluate and decide on
different options for the use of land, including consideration of long-term economic, social and
environmental objectives and the implications for different communities and interest groups, and the
subsequent formulation and promulgation of plans that describe the permitted or acceptable uses.
Types of disaster mitigation
Disaster mitigation measures may be structural (e.g. flood dikes) or non-structural (e.g. land use
zoning). Mitigation activities should incorporate the measurement and assessment of the evolving
risk environment. Activities may include the creation of comprehensive, pro-active tools that help
decide where to focus funding and efforts in risk reduction.
Other examples of mitigation measures include:
Mapping
o Hazard map
o Resource map
o Vulnerability map
Adoption and enforcement of land use and zoning practices
Implementing and enforcing building codes
Raising of homes in flood-prone areas
Disaster mitigation public awareness programs
Insurance programs
Preparedness the knowledge and capacities developed by governments, professional
response and recovery organizations, communities and individuals to effectively anticipate, respond to,
and recover from, the Impacts of likely, imminent or current hazard events or conditions. Preparedness
action is carried out within the context of disaster risk reduction and management and aims to build the
capacities needed to efficiently manage all types of emergencies and achieve orderly transitions from
response to sustained recovery. Preparedness is based on a sound analysis of disaster risk and good
linkages with early warning systems, and includes such activities as contingency planning, stockpiling of
equipment and supplies, the development of arrangements for coordination, evacuation and public
information, and associated training and field exercises. These must be supported by formal
institutional, legal and budgetary capacities.
pre-disaster actions and measures being undertaken within the context of disaster risk reduction and
management and are based on sound risk analysis as well as pre-disaster activities to avert or minimize
loss of life and property such as
Organizing community
Training
o QCDRRM
o RED CROSS
Planning
o All stakeholders are represented
Sectoral Representatives
Equipping
o Inventory
o Purchasing
Stockpiling
o Tie-up with the establishment owners like hardware, groceries, drugstore
Insuring of assets
Public information and education
Early warning system - the set of capacities needed to generate and disseminate timely and
meaningful warning information to enable individuals, communities and organizations
threatened by a hazard to prepare and to act appropriately and in sufficient time to reduce the
possibility of harm or loss. A people-centered early warning system necessarily comprises four
(4) key elements:
o Knowledge of the risk
o Monitoring
o Analysis
o Forecasting
Communication or dissemination of alerts and warnings; and local capabilities to respond to the
warnings received. The expression "end-to-end warning system" is also used to emphasize that warning
systems need to span all steps from hazard detection to community response.
Response any concerted effort by two (2) or more agencies, public or private, to provide
assistance or intervention during or immediately after a disaster to meet the life preservation and basic
subsistence needs of those people affected and in the restoration of essential public activities and
facilities.
Saving lives
o Search and rescue
o Triage
o EMS/EMT
Meeting humanitarian needs
o Food
o Temporary shelter/evacuation area
o Clothing
o Health
o Safety/security
Cleanup
Resource distribution
o Relief operation
As the response period progresses, focus shifts from dealing with immediate emergency issues to
conducting repairs, restoring utilities, establishing operations for public services (including
permitting), and finishing the cleanup process.
RDANA Rapid Damage Assessment and Needs Analysis
Rapid Damage Assessment and Needs Analysis (RDANA) is a disaster response tool that is used
immediately during the early and critical state of onset of a disaster. It aims to determine the
immediate relief and response requirements. It identifies the magnitude of a disaster by focusing on
the general impact on the society and the people’s coping capacity.
It answers the 2 questions:
1. What has happened?
2. What needs to be done?
RDANA should be conducted immediately at the early stage of a disaster based on alert
levels and triggers.
Conduct RDNA In disaster- stricken areas that need rapid assessment of the impacts and
require immediate response operations.
Recovery Recovery is the fourth phase of disaster and is the restoration of all aspects of the disaster’s
impact on a community and the return of the local economy to some sense of normalcy. By this time, the
impacted area has achieved a degree of physical, environmental, economic and social stability.
The recovery phase of disaster can be broken into two periods. The short-term phase typically lasts from six
months to at least one year and involves delivering immediate services to businesses. The long-term phase,
which can range up to decades, requires thoughtful strategic planning and action to address more serious or
permanent impacts of a disaster. Investment in economic development capacity building becomes essential to
foster economic diversification, attain new resources, build new partnerships and implement effective
recovery strategies and tactics. Communities must access and deploy a range of public and private resources
to enable long-term economic recovery.
