StudentShare
Contact Us
Sign In / Sign Up for FREE
Search
Go to advanced search...
Free

Hazard & Vulnerability Analysis and Mitigation & Prevention - Essay Example

Cite this document
Summary
Emergency Management Plan (EMP) involves a cycle of six prominent phases: (1) Response, (2) Recovery (3) Mitigation (4) Risk Reduction, (5) Prevention and (6) Preparedness. These six phases often overlap each other (Wattegama 5). Any policy response with any one of these aspects, exclusively, may not lead us to desired results…
Download full paper File format: .doc, available for editing
GRAB THE BEST PAPER91.9% of users find it useful
Hazard & Vulnerability Analysis and Mitigation & Prevention
Read Text Preview

Extract of sample "Hazard & Vulnerability Analysis and Mitigation & Prevention"

Beyond the deadline, they will close this account, and if you need to get in touch with me, then my e-mail id is: bobsj@jesuits.net Hazard & Vulnerability Analysis and Mitigation & PreventionIntroduction: Emergency Management Plan (EMP) involves a cycle of six prominent phases: (1) Response, (2) Recovery (3) Mitigation (4) Risk Reduction, (5) Prevention and (6) Preparedness. These six phases often overlap each other (Wattegama 5). Any policy response with any one of these aspects, exclusively, may not lead us to desired results.

While efforts to address relief and recovery remain an ad hoc relief approach to address an emergency situation, a comprehensive plan designs for prevention, mitigation, risk reduction and preparedness can address the developmental aspects of an emergency management plan. On account of their interconnectedness, it can be stated that EMP is a holistic approach which links a disaster with development. As these different aspects of emergency management plan are robustly interlaced, mitigation as an isolated strategy, to deal with an emergency, is not comprehensible.

Mitigation It refers to plan strategies and programs to eliminate or reduce the effects of a disaster, and consequently to prevent the loss of property, personal injury or death. Hence, any effort to minimize the impact of a disaster can be termed as mitigation. Mitigation phase necessarily involves hazard identification and vulnerability analysis. Alternatively, it can be stated that without hazard identification and vulnerability analysis, it is not possible to mitigate an impending disaster.

Moreover, mitigation includes a response with a plan of action for disaster preparedness, and the consequent prevention and risk reduction. Hazard Identification Hazard identification requires preparation of a database of historical and archival information, analysis of the data, computer based simulations, preparation of a hazard map, and listing of all habitations and vital installations within a specific radius of the epicenter (Government of India 16). Some of the hazards include floods, storm, cyclone, earthquake, tsunami, volcanoes, fire, etc.

Some geographical regions are more prone to a specific type of hazard than others. Vulnerability Assessment It involves defining the vulnerability of various elements and mapping of the habitations, property, installations, etc., which are likely to be affected by the possible disaster. Accuracy of vulnerability assessment depends on the availability of remote sensing, weather forecast and geographical information. For example, in the event of a hurricane, information on the origin and location of hurricane, direction and the speed of wind, the likely target shore region and habitations, etc.

, are important data to analyze the degree of vulnerability. In addition, it becomes important to consider the environmental aspects in assessing the vulnerability in a disaster (UNEP 4).PreparednessPreparedness is the readiness to react appropriately and effectively in the event of a disaster. Preparedness is an overarching system covering policies for immediate public safety and property security, mitigation strategies, type of risk reduction and prevention approaches, recovery methodologies to be undertaken, etc.

Preparedness implies a mechanism is put in place to meet the emergency, so that system is ready with appropriate action, if and when an emergency occurs. The degree of preparedness depends on the identification of a hazard, and the severity of vulnerability, which is, again, the basis for a decision on mitigation strategy.Disasters can be broadly clubbed into two categories: (a) gradual and (b) sudden. A disaster such as hurricane is a gradual one, and it provides ample time and scope for hazard identification, vulnerability - risk assessment, preparedness, mitigation and appropriate response.

On the contrary, disasters such as earthquakes, major fires and explosions occur, suddenly. Preparedness for those disasters which strike without notice requires a systematic and well-designed plan with adequate human and capital resources to meet such eventualities. It may be emphasized that the different phases of emergency management plan are interconnected, for one cannot mitigate the disaster without addressing the other crucial phases, irrespective of whether a disaster is gradual or sudden.

Recovery:Recovery continues till normalcy is achieved. Recovery phase comprises of both short term as well as long term tactics. The short-term recovery deals with restoration of vital facilities such as water, medicine, food, temporary housing, electricity, communication network, etc., Long-term recovery involves complete redevelopment of damaged area, and thus making the phase stretched over a longer period of time. Although recovery as a phase begins with providing vital life support systems with bare minimum requirements, there is no demarcation between short term and long term recovery efforts.

Furthermore, recovery phase spreads over to mitigation efforts to avoid or prevent a future, but similar, disaster. One of the important aspects in the recovery phase is to identify and execute schemes to reduce the vulnerability of the society to better face a repeat of similar emergencies in the future. Thus, emergency phase includes mitigation efforts. Redevelopment is part of the recovery phase. Redevelopment or rebuilding refers to a complete replenishment of previous structures. Rebuilding efforts requires that the new structures to be rebuilt are free from similar future hazards, and that implies mitigation strategy to be adopted to reduce the impact of future disasters, and the ensuing prevention of loss of property, personal injury or death.

Thus, redevelopment necessarily envelops the mitigation phase.Conclusion:The interconnectedness between different phases of disaster management plan, as a cycle, underpins the fact that disasters, however foreseeable, can be managed through adequate hazard identification, vulnerability analysis, preparedness, mitigation, risk reduction, prevention, response and recovery. As these different aspects of emergency management plan are closely interwoven, mitigation as an isolated strategy, to deal with an emergency, is not feasible, even conceptually.

References:Government of India, Disaster Management - The Development Perspective, New Delhi: Ministry of Home Affairs, National Disaster Management Division, 2002.UNEP, "Environmental Management and Disaster Reduction", World Conference on Disaster Reduction, Kobe, Japan: Concept Paper, 18-22 January, 2005.Wattegama, Chanuka "ICT for Disaster Management", UNDP, Thailand: Asia-Pacific Development Information Programme, 2007.

Read More
Cite this document
  • APA
  • MLA
  • CHICAGO
(“Hazard & Vulnerability Analysis and Mitigation & Prevention Essay”, n.d.)
Hazard & Vulnerability Analysis and Mitigation & Prevention Essay. Retrieved from https://studentshare.org/miscellaneous/1500499-hazard-vulnerability-analysis-and-mitigation-prevention
(Hazard & Vulnerability Analysis and Mitigation & Prevention Essay)
Hazard & Vulnerability Analysis and Mitigation & Prevention Essay. https://studentshare.org/miscellaneous/1500499-hazard-vulnerability-analysis-and-mitigation-prevention.
“Hazard & Vulnerability Analysis and Mitigation & Prevention Essay”, n.d. https://studentshare.org/miscellaneous/1500499-hazard-vulnerability-analysis-and-mitigation-prevention.
  • Cited: 0 times

CHECK THESE SAMPLES OF Hazard & Vulnerability Analysis and Mitigation & Prevention

Emergency Response Plan for Irving, Texas

Planning and mitigation Drought is a natural occurrence characterized by a long period of decreased rainfall, and occurs in almost all parts of the world.... This shows that with the on-going climate change and global warming, Irving is not spared from this phenomenon and it is still best to have preparations and mitigation procedures even for the most unlikely disasters.... Preparation and mitigation are the key steps in helping ourselves and the community more vigilant in times of disasters....
3 Pages (750 words) Essay

The Role of Government in Ensuring Public Safety

Name: University: Abstract: Disaster mitigation involves the efforts of reducing the loss of life and property by reducing the impacts of the environmental disasters.... mitigation efforts include analyzing the risks, insuring the risks or reducing the risks.... The federal relief under the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has been expanded under the Stafford Disaster and Emergency Assistance Act of 1974 and Hazard mitigation Act of 2000....
9 Pages (2250 words) Essay

Concepts and principles of emergency management

To demonstrate a clear understanding of the different principles of emergency management by defining, explaining, and discussing what emergency/disasters are; the effects of emergencies and why emergency management; emergency prevention; the prepared community; command… Accidents – are unplanned events leading to unexpected consequences....
16 Pages (4000 words) Essay

The Purpose of Safety and Security for Preparedness and Prevention

This security model for preparedness and prevention has been designed to respond to terrorist threats.... The need for the preparedness and prevention is thus important because threats can considerably cause devastation of infrastructures.... The need for the preparedness and prevention model is due to the fact that people need to have awareness and training regarding how to counter terrorist threats.... Moreover, there are some of the preparedness plans and models for the prevention of terrorist attacks which are already in action....
9 Pages (2250 words) Essay

Intervention Strategies and Assessment for Disasters in Japan

According to Brillinger (2003) risk analysis can be defined as a way which is used for estimating the probabilities of some rare events and the magnitudes of damage that comes along with them.... The papers considered risk analysis of different natural disasters like earthquakes, floods and wildfires.... To analyze this relationship between trust and the hazard preparedness a regression analysis was conducted.... The way we look at the natural disasters is very important as it… In this article the author suggested that most researchers work on risk assessment but vulnerability can prove to help finding the context and this will in turn vulnerability is envisaged as both a biophysical hazard and a social response which is specific to a geographical domain....
5 Pages (1250 words) Essay

Industrial Hygiene Issues in Construction

Industrial hygiene entails the anticipation, recognition, control, evaluation, and prevention of vulnerability from work that result in injuries, illnesses, or negatively impact on the wellbeing of workers (Garrett et al.... 12).... Industrial hygiene poses a risk to the wellbeing of… workers and there is a need for the understanding of the issues behind the formulation and construction of safe workplaces for both workers and visitors....
6 Pages (1500 words) Research Paper

Privately Owned Critical Infrastructure

As such, it is important for a proper analysis to be carried out on the hazards that are particular to a given region to lay measures for the management of the various hazards.... For these measures to be well organized and prioritized, DHS came up with a methodology for assessment of risk, which involves an… ssment of the consequences likely to emanate from an attack, how vulnerable a facility is to an attack, and how likely an attack is to occur (Krausmann, Cozzani, Salzano, & Renni, 2011)....
7 Pages (1750 words) Assignment

Comprehensive Emergency Management

The study focuses on a sustainability framework for hazards, the interactive structure of hazard, and mitigation tools.... Emergency phases for all types of disasters and emergencies are usually four and they include; the mitigation, response, preparedness, prevention, and recovery phases.... hellip; Comprehensive Emergency Management (CEM) is based upon the pillars of Emergency Management which are; preparedness, mitigation response, and recovery....
7 Pages (1750 words) Research Paper
sponsored ads
We use cookies to create the best experience for you. Keep on browsing if you are OK with that, or find out how to manage cookies.
Contact Us