It is all about the prevention of disasters by learning basic knowledge about it.
By this, we can effectively take initiative by just taking small steps towards a better future for ourselves and for the generations ahead of us.
Let’s join hands to create a new and better world!
Below are some simple steps to get knowledge about disasters !
An earthquake is a sudden slipping or movement of a portion of the Earth’s crust or plates, caused by a sudden release of stresses.
Onset-type and warning:
Earthquake is a sudden onset hazard. It occurs at any time of the year, day or night, with sudden impact and without any warning sign.
Extensive research has been conducted in recent decades but there is no accepted method of earthquake prediction as on date.
Vulnerability:
An earthquake may last for seconds or minutes, while aftershocks may occur for months after the main earthquake. India has had a long history of earthquake occurrences. About 65% of the total area of the country is vulnerable to seismic damage of varying degrees.
Earthquake zones:
India is divided into the following 5 seismic zones:
Zone V: This is referred as a very high damage risk zone.
Zone IV: This is referred as a high damage risk zone.
Zone Ill: This is termed as a moderate damage risk zone.
Zone II: This is termed as a low damage risk zone.
Zone I: This termed as very low damage risk zone.
The most vulnerable areas, according to the Pre c zone map of India, are located in the Himalayan and sub-Himalayan regions, North-East Kutch and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands.
Typical effects:
• Physical Damage – Damage and loss of buildings and service structures Fires, floods may erupt due to dam failures landslides could occur.
• Casualties – Often high, near the epicenter and in places where the population density is high and buildings are not resistant to earthquake forces.
• Public Health – Multiple fracture injuries, moderately and severely injured is the most widespread problem Breakdown insanitary conditions and other unhygienic conditions could lead to epidemics.
• Water supply – Severely affected water supply due to failure of water supply distribution network and storage reservoirs If supply lines of fire hydrants arc vulnerable they could hamper fire service operations
• Transport network – Severely affected due to damage to roads and bridges, railway tracks, airport runways, and related infrastructure
• Electricity and communication – All links affected Transmission towers, transponders, transformers may collapse.
Main mitigation strategy:
• Engineering structures should be designed and built to withstand earthquakes, dependent on the soil type
• The Bureau of Indian Standards has published building codes and guidelines for safe construction against earthquake
• Building plans, me to be chocked by the Municipality as per the laid down bylaws.
• Public awareness needs to be created through sensitization and training programs
DOs:
• Drop cover, and hold Move only if necessary, to reach a safe place
• If indoors, stay there. Many fatalities occur when people run outside, only to be killed by falling debris from collapsing walls
• If outdoors, find a spot away from buildings. trees, streetlights and power lines, and overpasses. Drop to the ground and stay there until the shaking stops
• If traveling in a vehicle or driving yourself stop the vehicle at a clear location. Stay in the vehicle with the seatbelt fastened until the shaking stops
• If in a coastal area, move to higher ground. Earthquakes often generate tsunamis
• It is a mountainous area or near unstable slopes or cliffs, be alert for falling rocks and other debris that could be loosened by the earthquake Also, watches for landslides that could be triggered by the earthquake.
• Look for and extinguish small fires
• Avoid keeping potted plants in heavy earthen pots on terrace walls
• Help neighbors who may require assistance
• Tune to the TV and Radio News channel for emergency information and instructions.
• Inspect the home for damage Aftershocks can cause additional damage to unstable buildings. If there are major cracks in the foundation or the home or utilities have been moved by the earthquake, get everyone out of the home Take photographs of the home and its contents for insurance purpose
DONT’s:
• Don’t enter come back into the house immediately after an earthquake. Stay out in the open.
• Don t cook anything such as tea or snacks.
Immediately after an earthquake, there could be another shock in the next few minutes
• Don’t switch on or off any power plug gas cylinder etc.
• Don't go close to bridges, flyovers sheds, and covered porches during the shake. If you are on the main road or lanes, don't stand on footpath or close to the shops.
• Don’t drink well or tube well water after an earthquake until It Is tested scientifically. There could be traces of poisonous gases or minerals in the water that harm your health. Therefore, it is recommended that you always store enough water sufficient
for at least three days.
• Do not spread rumors.
Floods are temporary inundation of large regions as a result of an overflow of the reservoir, or of rivers flooding their banks because of heavy rains, high winds, cyclones, storm surge along the coast, tsunami, melting snow or dam bursts.
Onset-type:
Floods can happen gradually and take over hours, or can even happen suddenly due to heavy rains, breach of the water storage and control structures,
spillover, storm surge Warning. Except for flash floods, there is usually a reasonable warning period. Heavy rainfall will give sufficient time to anticipate the occurrence of floods in India, a warning is issued by Central Water Commission Irrigation and Flood control Department, and Water Resource Department.
Vulnerability:
Anything in flood plains will get inundated. Buildings built of earth, weak foundations, and water-soluble materials will collapse and endanger humans and property Basements of buildings are at risk.
Typical Effects:
Mitigation Strategy:
and Windows of the house, etc. Houses may be by raising them through structural means or the land. Buildings should be constructed the water bodies.
Do’s:
Don’ts:
contact with floodwaters, wash your hands with soap and clean water
noise. open a window, leave quickly, and call the gas company from a neighbor’s home.
Cyclones are violent storms often of vast extent characterized by high winds rotating about a calm center of low atmospheric pressure. This center moves onward often with a velocity of 50 km an hour.
Onset-type and warning:
Cyclones strike suddenly although it takes time to build up. Satellite tracking can track the movement since the build-up and the likely path can be projected Warning and evacuation are done along the projected path It Is difficult to predict the path of cyclones with accuracy. The Indian Meteorological Department issues warning against severe weather phenomenon like tropical cyclones heavy rains and snow, cold and heat waves, etc
Typical effects:
Cyclones in India generally strike the East Coast some of the Arabian Sea cyclones strike the West Coast of India as well, mainly the coasts of Gujarat and North Maharashtra. Out of the storms that develop in the Bay of Bengal, over 58 percent approach or cross the east coast in October and November.
Main Mitigation Strategies:
Hazard mapping: A hazard map will illustrate the areas vulnerable to the cyclone in any given year. It is an effective mitigation tool.
Land use control designed so that the least critical activities are placed in vulnerable areas. The location of settlements in the flood plains is of utmost risk. Vulnerable areas should be kept for parks, playgrounds or grazing lands.
You should evacuate under the following conditions:
DO’s:
DON’T:
Fire is part of our life. When handled incorrect manner, it is a workable tool in the kitchen, garden, factory laboratory, and jungle. If not handled properly the same beautiful fire turns into an inferno that may kill, damage or destroy people and property in no time. Therefore, it is necessary to learn about fire and take care before it goes out of control.
Easy to understand the Concepts and Parameters of severity:
In less than 30 seconds a small flame can get completely out of control and turn into a major fire. It only takes minutes for thick black smoke to fill a house. In minutes, a house can be engulfed in flames. Most fires occur in the home when people are asleep. If you wake up to a fire, you won’t have time to grab valuables because fire spreads too quickly and the smoke is too thick. There is only time to escape
Heat is more threatening than flames. A fire’s heat alone can kill. Room temperatures in a fire can be 100 degrees at floor level and rise to 600 degrees at eye level. Inhaling this super-hot air will scorch your lungs. This heat can melt clothes to your skin in five minutes a room can get so hot that everything in it ignites at once. This is called flashover.
Fire isn’t bright, it is pitch black. Fire starts bright, but quickly produces black smoke
and complete darkness. If you wake up to a fire you may be blinded, disoriented and unable to find your way around the home you’ve lived in tor years.
Smoke and toxic gases kill more people than flames do. Fire uses up the oxygen you need and produces smoke and poisonous gases that kill. Breathing even small amounts of smoke and toxic gases can even you drowsy, disoriented and short of breath. The odorless, colorless fumes can lull you into a deep sleep before the flames reach your door. You deep wake up in time to escape.
KNOW YOUR VULNERABILITY
What is more difficult than extinguishing a fire is to prevent a fire from occurring. In order to minimize the damage caused by fire, the fire-Fighting Departments of Local Self-Governments are actively promoting the review of fire-prevention equipment in new and existing residential and commercial buildings. In residential fires, the number of elderly people who fail to escape and lose their lives is increasing yearly. It is our urgent task to precisely analyze the state of damage caused by fire, to install fire prevention equipment, and to adopt measures for fire control which minimize damage. The use of fire indispensable for our daily life. On the other hand, if we
are careless in using fire, it may lead to a disaster, which damages or harms people and property.
DO’s:
There are time-tested ways to prevent and survive a fire. It’s not a question of luck. It’s a matter of planning ahead.
DONT’s:
Remember to escape first and then notify the department or proper local emergency number in your area. Never go back into a burning building for any reason. Teach children not to hide from firefighters. They are equipped to perform rescues safely.
Tsunami: A tsunami is a series of waves of extremely long wavelength and long periods generated in a body of water by an impulsive disturbance that vertically displaces the water. Tsunami is a Japanese word represented by two characters: “tsu” and “nami. The character “tsu” means harbour, and the character “nami” means wave.
Causes of tsunami:
There are many causes of tsunamis but the most prevalent is earthquakes. In addition, landslides, volcanic eruptions, explosions, and even the impact of cosmic bodies, such as meteorites, can generate tsunamis. Not all earthquakes generate tsunamis.
Onset-type and Warning:
Tsunami is a sudden onset hazard. It occurs during any time of the day and coastal areas are prone to be struck by tsunamis.
Typical Effects:
VULNERABILITY:
Most deaths caused by tsunamis result from drowning. Tsunamis are often most destructive in bays and harbors. Tsunamis are least destructive in deep, open ocean waters. Tsunamis can travel upstream in coastal estuaries and rivers, with damaging waves extending farther inland beyond the coast. A tsunami can occur during any season of the year and at any time, day or night. A tsunami can move hundreds of miles per hour in the open ocean and smash into land with waves as high as 100 feet or more.
The first wave of a tsunami is usually not the largest in a series of waves, nor is it the most significant. One coastal community may experience no damaging waves, while another, not far away, may experience destructive waves. Depending on a number of factors, some low lying areas could experience severe inland inundation. A major earthquake or landslide occurs close to hor· the first wave in a series could reach the beach in a few minutes, even before a warning is issued. Areas are at greater risk if they are less than 25 feet above sea level and within a mile of the shoreline
Mitigation Strategy:
D0’s:
DON’Ts:
Stampede is the sudden trampling of individuals in a crowded place ultimately resulting in injuries or even deaths.
Stampede is crowd without discipline and control, often occurring in places like temples, exhibitions, shopping malls, cinema staircases or stadiums where people start pushing and shoving each other to get through crowds. Stampede starts when people are tense and in a hurry to go somewhere while pushing others. If someone falls, many people also fall and get trampled by many more. It happens in a crowd when it becomes unmanageable and indisciplined. It could happen in a pilgrimage, during the procession, etc.
The main casualties in stampede are injuries and death.
With a few safeguards, you can eliminate many of the common dangers that may result in an accident. Remember an accident to a person or a child is no less than a big disaster we read in newspapers.
There are too many deaths and injuries caused by unintentional home injuries. Fall is the most common injury followed by poisoning, fire, choking, suffocation and drowning. Now is a good time to take a look around your home and eliminate the dangers to your family and friends. In India, there are several occasions when people celebrate with fireworks. It is a time-honoured tradition that unfortunately carries with it the risk of causing serious damage to the eyes and even causes fires. Despite many of the advances made in eye surgery, repair of the severely injured eye remains a challenge. Incidentally, the probability of accidents, especially among children is very high.
1. House
2. Children
3. Elderly people
4. Electrical and electronic gadgets
1. Theft
2. Short Circuit
3. Gas cylinder explosion
4. Fire breakout
5. Kerosene stove explosion
6. Hazardous cooking practices.
An alert Individual is Safe.
If fires, chemicals leaks or explosions occurs in industrial facilites, people are exposed to the following dangers:
1. Heatwaves
2. Poisonous chemical gas leak
3. Combustion of various products
4. Low oxygen levels
5. Falling of structural elements and machinery
6. Contamination of nearby environment viz. land, water, and air.
Industrial disasters are threats to people and life support systems that arise from the mass production of goods and services. When these threats exceed humans coping capabilities or the absorptive capacities of environment system they give rise to industrial disaster. Industrial hazards can occur at any stage in the production process, including extraction, processing, manufacture , transportation, storage, use, and disposal. lndustrial disasters generally involve the release of damaging substances (eg. chemicals, radioactive, genetic material) or damaging levels of energy from industrial facilities or equipment into the surrounding environment. This usually occurs in the form of explosions, fires, spills, leaks, or wastes. Release may occur because of factors that are internal to the industrial system (e.g. engineering flaws) or they may occur because of the external factors (e.g. extremes of nature). Release may be sudden and intensive, as in power plant explosion, or gradual and extensive, as in build-up of an ozone-destroying chemical in the stratosphere or the progressive leakage of improperly disposed toxic wastes. Most public policies for disaster reduction emphasize safer industrial technologies and upgraded working conditions in mines, on the foundry floor, in the machine shop and power station, or on the ships and railroads that transport a majority of industrial products.
If you experience any of these symptoms or the following, you are vulnerable to the risk of severe injury. It is necessary to go as far as possible from the spot, especially in the opposite direction of wind.
• Irritation of eyes.
• Irritation of throat.
• Burning sensation on skin
• Headache
• Funny smells
• Fumes and Visual fire
• Overturned truck or trailer with liquid or fumes leaking.
Onset in case of industrial disaster can be either rapid (minutes or hours) or sudden (no warning) depending on the nature of the occurrence. As there is a series of processes and reactions involved the onset may vary accordingly. Release of chemical may be the result of human error, technological failure or natural events like earthquakes, natural fires, and floods, etc. The industrial facilities should have monitoring and warning systems for fire and building up of dangerous conditions. Explosions in some of the cases can be anticipated.
• The industrial set up and its nearby environment is under immediate threat. Employees, residents, livestock and standing crops in the nearby vicinity are at risk.
• Hazardous substance released into the air or water can travel long distances and cause contamination of air and water supply, thus making it dangerous for humans. Large scale disasters would threaten the ecological system.
• Physical damage: This is damage to buildings and infrastructure.
• Casualties: The routes of exposure in chemical accidents are inhalation, eye exposure, skin contact, and ingestion. Health effects are described in terms of system or organ being affected and can cause cancer, heart failure, brain damage, dysfunction of the immune system, deformation, genetic disorders, congenital (present since birth) disorders, etc. Fire can spread to a large area. Many people may die of burn s and asphyxiation.
1. Hazard Mapping: Inventories and maps of storages should be known to all. The community in the nearby should be made aware of the hazards and vicinity possible side effects.
2. Land Use Planning: A densely populated area should be separated from the industrial area. A buffer zone should separate the industrial and residential one
3. Community preparedness: The community should be aware of the hazardous installation and know-how to combat the situation. Community members should participate in mock drills and monitor the pollution level of the industry.
4. Other possible risk reduction measures: Maintain the wind flow diagram of the region. Improve fire resistance and warning systems, improve fire fighting and pollution dispersion capabilities and develop emergency relief and evacuation planning of employees and nearby settlements. Limit the storage capacity of toxic substances. Get the plants insured and follow safety legislation.
When warm and moist air rises very quickly, deep cumulonimbus storm clouds form. Ice crystals and water droplets whirl around inside the clouds and bump into each other, making tiny electric charges. The charges build up until huge electric sparks flash from cloud to build up until huge electric sparks flash from cloud to cloud and down to the ground and back. The lightning flash heats up the air it passes. The air expands very rapidly and makes the noise we call thunder.
Onset-type and warning system: It is a sudden onset hazard.
When you see that a possible electrical storm is developing, and if you are standing alone on an open plot, farm, or road, first avoid or GO AWAY from the danger zone, which is a high exposed target area for lighting. Half of all fatalities occur out in the open, such as farm, playgrounds, beaches, hills and boats.
Most victims (two out of every three) survive a lightning strike. Injuries are usually limited to superficial burns since the skin is a high-resistance membrane and very brief charge flashes over the surface. Some victims require cardiac resuscitation because penetrating electric currents can depolarize and stop the normal electrically controlled heart rhythm. Neurological disturbances, including the brain, eye, and ear damage may occur, resulting in respiratory arrest and coma. Lightning often strikes the tallest object around, and you don’t want that object to be you. That’s also why isolated trees, picnic shelters, and covered bus stops offer no protection, and may actually increase your chances of being struck. If no other shelter is nearby, get into a car with metal sides and roof, and roll the windows up.
Physical effect: structures will be damaged or destroyed by the wind force, flooding, storm surge, torrential rains, heavy downpour, etc. Casualties and public health: Lightening and storms tends to damage roof buildings and lead to electrocution.
Water supplies: would get contaminated.
Crops: Standing crops may be ruined due to storms.
Communication: Severe disruption in communication links may occur. Transport facilities may get adversely affected.
Hazard mapping: A hazard map will illustrate the areas vulnerable to thunderstorms and lightning.
Management of traffic: Air traffic should be managed properly so as to avoid any kind of casualties during rough weather and thunders.
Coastal Area Plantation Program: To prevent stormy winds coming inland dense plantation along the sea coast would mitigate the effects of a storm.
Drought is a condition of deficient rainfall combined with significant fall in agricultural production.
For an area to be declared drought-affected, the government uses two key indicators: one, a significant reduction in the amount of rainfall received, compared to the normal rainfall of the region; and two, the annawari (estimate of crop production based on visual estimates and crop-cutting experiments) falls to below 37% 0f its normal value.
Famines are shortages of food in an area. Thus drought and famine are different phenomena, though the terms are used interchangeably. Droughts may lead to famine (or may not), depending on how they are handled.
Drought is a slow-onset disaster and it is difficult to demarcate the time of its onset and end. Nevertheless, a good time to take stock is to estimate the total rainfall at the end of the monsoon (usually October/November).
Drought adversely affects rain-fed crops to start with and subsequently irrigated crops. Areas with a minimum of alternative water resources to rainfall (ground and canal water supplies), areas subjected to drastic environmental degradation such as denuded forest lands and altered ecosystems, and areas where livelihoods alternative to agriculture are feast developed are most vulnerable to drought. Herdsmen, landless laborers, subsistence farmers, women children and farm animals are the most vulnerable groups affected by drought condition.
Drought, different from other natural disasters, does not cause any structural damages. The typical effects include loss of the crop, dairy, timber and fishery production; increase in energy demand for pumping water; reduced energy production; increased unemployment, loss of biodiversity, reduced water, air, and landscape quality; groundwater depletion, food shortage, health reduction and loss of life, increased poverty, reduced quality of life and social unrest leading to migration.
Drought monitoring is continuous observations of rainfall situations, water availability in reservoirs, lakes, rivers and comparing with the existing water needs of various sectors of the society. (Add picture/sketch depicting sources of water and uses of water). Water supply augmentation and conservation through rainwater harvesting in houses and farmers fields increase the amount of water available. Water harvesting by either allowing the runoff water from all the fields to the common point(e.g. farm ponds, see picture/sketch) or allowing it to infiltrate into the soil where it has fallen (in situ) (e.g. contour bunds, contour cultivation, raised bed planting, etc.) helps increase water availability for sustained agricultural production. The expansion of irrigation facilities reduces drought vulnerability. Land use based on its capability helps in optimum use of land and water and can avoid the undue demand created due to their misuse. Livelihood planning identifies those livelihoods which are least affected by drought. Some such livelihoods include increased off-farm employment opportunities, collection of non-timber forest produce from community forests, raising goats, and carpentry, etc.
Urban lifestyles are quite water-intensive. We like to use shower while bathing, we use sprinklers for lawns, a lot of water is required for washing vehicles, among a host of many other uses. The basic principle of conservation, viz. reduce, reuse and recycle can be effectively used to keep a check on the consumption of water. Besides water planning and continuous monitoring of the balance between the availability of water and the use of water is required.
Disaster in transport involves vehicles and people. Several aspects such as vehicle condition, neglect of the traffic rules, alcoholism, rash driving, and indisciplined pedestrians cause innumerable accidents every day. The death toll in traffic accidents is rapidly increasing all over India.
These are suddenly occurring hazards.
Casualties: the main damage is the deaths and injuries that take place in the accident.
Structural damage: the transport system may get disturbed and vehicles may get damaged.
Road network is laid for better connectivity and services but we find that the number of accidents is also on the rise. The main causes are violations of the traffic regulations, speeding, drunks driving and poor maintenance of the vehicles and the roads. All these reasons add to the rising number of accidents and road fatalities.
Many factors govern the safety of passengers in an aircraft. They include technical problems, fire, landing and take-off conditions, the environment an airline operates in (mountains terrain or frequent storms), factors like airport security in cases of hijacking, bombing attempts, etc.
Remember smoke rises. So try to stay down if there’s smoke in the cabin. Follow the track of emergency lights embedded in the floor; they lead to an exit. If you have a cloth, put it over your nose and mouth.
The most common type of rail accidents is derailment due to lack of maintenance, human error or sabotage. Various type of dangerous cargo is also transported such as fuel, oil products, etc.
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