Introduction to Disaster Management
(DISASTER RECOVERY)
Department of Chemistry
ITER, S’O’A [ Deemed to be University] Bhubaneswar
OUTLINE
Medium term and long term recovery aspects
Identifying and ascertaining the impact of disaster
Community participation
Concept of participative rehabilitation
Importance of capacity building for reconstruction and
rehabilitation
Process of getting compensation
Various coping strategies and role of counseling and
psychological support
Disaster Recovery
Recovery is defined as an activity that is aimed
at helping a society distressed by disaster in
restoration of the physical infrastructure and
reinstallation of emotional, social, economic
and physical well-being
The objectives of recovery are as follows:
• Making the affected area fit for human habitation and
ensuring restoration of livelihood
• Preparing national, regional and local agencies in disaster
recovery so that they are well equipped to carry out a
post disaster recovery process in a timely and effective
manner.
• Educating people and generating awareness in the
community so that they can help in post-disaster
recovery.
• Co-ordinating and controlling stakeholders in recovery
process
• Making policies and plan that form the basis of recovery
processes and facilitate decision-making and
implementation of plans post disaster
• Planning a quick recovery of routines and facilities for
instituting normalcy as quickly as possible
• Chalking out policies and plans for linking medium and
long term recovery aspects by minimizing the
uncertainties that can lead to inappropriate decisions.
• Establishing the foundation for effective medium and
long term recovery
• Restoring sustainable livelihood, governance and
security within the affected community
• Helping in social, emotional, economic and physical
rehabilitation of the affected people and communities
• Minimizing the consequences of the disaster and
reducing the exposer to future risk
Disaster recovery involves a set of stages which
may occur sequentially or simultaneously.
These can be divided into 3 phases:
Phase I- Triggering of immediate recovery mechanism
This first step in the recovery process is providing the
affected community with relief supplies and housing
facilities. The efforts of recovery teams are aimed at
caring for the wounded and restoration of basic utilities
such as power, water, and sewerage.
Phase II – Damage assessment and response
After providing for basic amenities, the next phase
deals with ensuring the livability of the damaged
buildings, removing debris, and restoring
livelihoods. The aim is to restore critical functions of
the locality in the quest to bring normalcy.
Phase III – Reconstruction and rehabilitation
Every disaster comes with an opportunity to reduce
risks from future events. If buildings have been
destroyed by earthquakes, opportunities exist to
avoid building in the hazard-prone area or
congested areas. Similarly, if a community has
suffered considerable losses because of economic
or social factors such as a lack of insurance, future
assistance can include incentives to address their
vulnerabilities.
The recovery aspects revolve around four Rs.
They are reduction, readiness, response, and
restoration and are discussed as follows
• Reduction: It deals with reducing the impact of
disasters. The response mechanism works with an
aim to reduce further losses by trying to bring the
situation under control.
• Readiness: Readiness is a critical aspect of
response activities and includes three
elements that address recovery issues.
• The first aspect is training and learning.
• The second aspect includes educating the
public and generating awareness.
• The third aspect is enhancing community
capacity so that they are in a state of
readiness
• Response: The response in recovery plays a
significant role in minimizing the losses due to
disasters. It covers response planning which are
made to facilitate coordination between
individuals and agencies and ensure a provable
recovery capability.
• Restoration: It involves restoration of current
facilities to fulfill the current needs and to
address the future challenges. It is a time-taking
process because it involves planning, developing,
and implementing best practices in disaster
recovery.
Disaster recovery can be planned on the
basis of time frame and need.
Short time recovery addresses immediate disaster
response mechanism.
Medium and long term aspects need to be addressed
by
• Evaluation of the needs of the affected population.
• Establishment of long- and medium-term recovery
objectives.
• Formulation of the plans.
• Prioritisation of action on the basis of availability of
resources and institutional capacity
Medium-term recovery entails the
following:
1. Facilitate reinstatement of essential services.
2. Guarantee suitable transitional shelter.
3. Distribute tools and other goods and services that
help to revive socio-economic activities.
4. Provide temporary employment to members of the
affected community and strengthen the self-help
efforts and capacity of the affected population.
5. Restore the environment to facilitate the
rebuilding of livelihoods and social security.
6. Prevent risks from being recreated.
7. Identify goods and services that aid in the
restoration of sustainable livelihoods.
8. Foster equality and local capacity building to
prevent any kind of discrimination.
Long-term recovery aspects address the
following issues :
1. Community participation in overall development
of the region.
2. Provision for sustainable development of the
region by overall social well-being and economic
diversification.
Community Participation in Defining
Objectives and Their Priorities
• Community priorities would involve the restoration
of a community’s functions, social structures, and
systems after a disaster.
• A community cannot achieve this single-handed,
thus requires the help of all agencies in setting up
the social, economic, natural, and built
environments of the community.
The recovery priorities of an affected
community are as follows:
1. Shelter and safety: The foremost priority in any
recovery activity is to guarantee the safety of the
individuals and the community in the affected area.
2. Health: It includes services to affected/injured
individuals/groups who may have been exposed to
hazards (e.g., chemicals, dust, etc.) or traumatised
by their experiences
3. Physical and mental well-being:
After disaster strikes, the community and
individuals face a setback, both in terms of loss
of livelihood and death of loved ones.
It affects them mentally, physically, and
emotionally. Thus, psychological support is
required to ensure an individual’s emotional,
spiritual, cultural, psychological, and social
needs.
Identifying and Ascertaining Impact of Disaster
A systematic framework is required to identify and
ascertain the impact of the disaster.
1. Social environment: Classes of individuals who are most
affected, their cast, community, religion provide important inputs
for recovery planning
2. Economic environment: Post-disaster, people lose their
livelihoods and are left unemployed and their economic status is
severely affected. Economic activity of the affected area comes to a
standstill. So, insights into the primary occupation of the affected
community and their sources of income are required.
3. Natural environment: The natural environment, is affected
by disasters such as drought, flood, earthquake, volcanic
eruption, or storms. The ecological balance is disturbed and has
to be reinstated. So, an identification of damage caused to the
natural environment provides inputs for the exact nature of
recovery processes that have to be initiated.
4. Built environment: An identification of the quantum of
damage to infrastructure is required so that reconstruction
work can be initiated according to the needs. Hospitals, medical
centers, sanitation facilities, and education systems have to be
restored on a priority basis.
An identification of the impact of the disaster
for effective response and recovery measures:
1. Understanding the nature and extent of damage and
quantifying the losses in approximate terms.
2. Integrating the measurement of impacts and
subsequent needs of the population based on damage
estimates.
3. Making approximations of possible recovery costs.
4. Making plans according to the impact and
systematically applying recovery
Participative Rehabilitation: Physical and
Social Infrastructure
Participative rehabilitation is advocated in disaster
recovery because of the following reasons:
1. It involves the members of the affected community
during decision-making.
2. It can help in mobilising existing financial, material
and human resources for improvement of local health
and environmental conditions.
3. It generates commitment from agencies and provides
decision-making rights to the members of the affected
community on their lives and livelihoods.
4. It uses the experience of the local people
5. It can help the affected community develop technical
and managerial skills and thereby increase their
opportunities for employment.
6. It helps in ‘social learning’ for both recovery planners
and beneficiaries. A sense of partnership between parties
helps in developing teamwork, which helps in recovery.
Social and Economic Rehabilitation: Capacity
Building for Reconstruction and
Rehabilitation
Social and economic rehabilitation plays a crucial role in
disaster recovery, focusing on rebuilding lives and
communities after a disaster.
Social rehabilitations includes,
Restoring healthcare facilities and ensuring access to
medical services
Rebuilding schools and resuming educational activities
Offering psychological counseling and support to help
individuals cope with trauma
Special attention to women, children, and the elderly,
ensuring their safety and well-being.
Capacity Building for Reconstruction and
Rehabilitation
Economic Rehabilitations includes,
Supporting small businesses, artisans, and farmers to
regain their income sources.
Rebuilding roads, bridges, and utilities to restore
economic activity.
Providing grants, loans, or subsidies to affected
individuals and businesses.
Capacity Building for Reconstruction and
Rehabilitation
• Capacity building in terms of disaster management is defined
as the ability of individuals and communities to identify
limitations and to plan and manage disastrous situations
effectively and efficiently.
• Capacity building is the process by which individuals and
societies develop their capabilities individually and
collectively to identify and deal with their problems.
• Knowledge of existing capacities and marshaling them to
achieve a set of development goals is required. By making the
best use of existing capacities, the community can recover fast
from the disaster.
Recovery and Rebuilding works
Recovery of the built environment deals with repair,
reconstruction or relocation of various infrastructural
facilities to control damage. The recovery and rebuilding
works are related to the four elements:
1. Residential: After the disaster, the houses of the
affected people are damaged. These houses can be
completely damaged, severely damaged or partially
damaged.
2. Commercial: Disasters can cause damage to commercial
buildings and industrial properties. For continuation of
business, it is vital to restore these infrastructures on a
priority basis as it is essential for the economic viability
and sustainability of the affected area.
1. Public buildings and assets: Due to disasters, critical
public buildings such as hospitals and schools and
facilities such as sanitation and water treatment plants
suffer a setback. These have to be identified on a
priority basis.
2. Essential lifeline utilities: Essential lifeline utilities such
as modes of transport and communication have to be
recovered.
For effectively contributing to recovery, plans need to be
developed in advance for both the restoration of the
physical infrastructure and carrying out of rebuilding
activities.
Facilitating Compensations to be Paid
through Insurances and Government
Disasters impose significant financial burdens, but thoughtful
strategies can alleviate these costs. Advanced preparation, including
mechanisms like
disaster insurance,
pre-arranged emergency funds, and
early warning systems can significantly mitigate the financial
strain.
The rationale for this is to restarting a normal life.
Life insurance, health insurance, disability insurance and accidental
death insurances are some of the insurances that help an
individual to recuperate from the losses.
Apart from these, there are property insurances that cover
damages caused to property by fire and other accidents and
provide a shield to individuals by compensating for the losses to
physical property.
The main aim of insurance policies is to cover the risk of individual
loss in non-disaster settings, but they can also help in the event of
a disaster.
Moreover, the government can announce for the payment of
compensation from the relief funds to the members of the
affected community. The government can generate money by
encouraging collection of donations by providing tax benefits for
donors.
In addition, the government should create social insurance
programmes that come into play in the event of a disaster.
Coping Strategies: Providing Counseling and
Psychological Support
The ability of a community to revive involves a fruitful
interaction between the community's social, economic,
natural and built environments, which should be
supported by the local, regional and national agencies.
Whatever type and quantum of loss may be, individuals
need to be counseled for emotional and psychological
well-being.
It is important that the disaster management team
under-stands the psychological status of the victims.
The effect of disasters on the affected population can be as follows:
Physical effects such as dizziness, tightness in the throat and chest,
agitation, nervousness, fatigue and exhaustion, gastrointestinal
distress and nausea, change in appetite, and headaches.
Behavioural manifestation such as fretfulness, disturbing thoughts,
inability to express feelings, isolation or withdrawal from others,
increased use of alcohol and drug anxiety of protecting loved ones,
anger, rage and desire for revenge.
Emotional and psychological effects include sleep disturbances
and nightmares, jitteriness, hyper-vigilance, crying and tearfulness,
shock, disbelief, confusion and disorientation, poor concentration
and memory problems, irritability and short temper.
For tackling these problems, community involvement is essential.
The volunteers should be committed and motivated to promote
mental health and psychological well-being of the affected persons by
helping them lead a dignified life.
For providing support, the victims can be classified according to
the impact on the mental health into three broad categories as follows:
1. Very ruthlessly affected: Persons belonging to this category are
those who are severely affected by the disaster in terms of personal
loss due to death of family members.
2. Severely affected: Persons belonging to this category are those who
have suffered loss in terms of death of near and dear ones and loss
to property, but still they have relatives and children who were
saved.
3. Moderately affected: Persons belonging to this category are those
who have suffered physical injuries. They are witness to the gory
scenes, but they have not suffered death of any family members.
Due to the disaster, the entire structure of a community faces setback.
This has to be reinstated.
Thank you all
