Guide on Disaster Management

Human life has so many threats—a few certain and a few uncertain, such as disasters. We have little idea of when a disaster may strike. When such situations occur, people face many challenges—lives are lost, people get hurt, and many lose their homes and become economically weaker.

Over the years, countries around the world have learned to handle disasters through planning and organisation. Rescue plans, mock drills and safety measures are followed to protect from uncertainty. In this article, we will discuss the guidelines of disaster management, let us know the disasters and their type.

Disaster

An event that is sudden, whose effect lasts for some time or for a long time, which has a huge impact on the people and a deep impact on the country’s economy, is called a disaster.

Types of disasters

There are two types of disasters.

Natural disasters These are the situations where nature is responsible for them. These situations occur due to:

• Floods
• Tsunamis
• Earthquakes
• Volcanic eruptions
• High temperatures
• Landslides
• Hurricanes
• Drought
• Cyclones
• Disease Epidemics

Many natural disasters like drought and climate change are also caused or worsened as a result of human activity. Deforestation and holes in the ozone layer are major causes. As a result, glaciers are melting, and heat is increasing.

Human-made disasters: Human activity also leads to a number of disasters such as:

• Road accidents
• Building
• Bridge collapse
• Terrorist attacks
• Spreading viruses
• Pollution
• War and conflicts
• Riots
• Complex emergencies (Food, water, medicine, curfews)

Disaster management

Disaster management is a set of activities taken to prepare for disasters and mitigate their impact. It can be any situation like economic, environmental, human or material. Each situation is different, but all are related to human beings. To prepare for those situations, we must know the aspects of disaster management.

Aspects of disaster management

Disaster management is to be prepared for every difficult situation. Rescue plans are made to lessen the impact of the disaster. People keep stocks of food and other important supplies. They follow a few steps to prevent future emergencies.

• Arrangements for emergencies

Disaster management authorities make evacuation programs, perform mock drills, arrange necessary tools, keep stock of food and supplements. They raise awareness about buying insurance and other medical plans to recover from pandemics or any such kind of loss which can affect them economically.

• Learning from the past tragedies

To reduce the chance of future emergencies. They learn the reason for its happening. They use special tools and techniques to focus on future emergencies and prepare themselves for man-made emergencies.

• Prepare for emergencies

They create social awareness about the helpline numbers, shelters and food supplies for the time of emergency. Hospitals to be used during emergencies, medical facilities, ambulance facilities, and many other facilities can help people survive and help authorities rescue people in emergencies.

Disaster relief

Disaster management teams are prepared to help the people by rescuing, relocating and providing them with food and shelter. Their main focus is to stop the losses. Their work is further divided into many ways:

• They rescue and relocate the people stuck in unsafe situations.
• They search for missing persons and help their families find them.
• They provide food and medical supplies to injured people and those in need.
• They help them to become economically well.
• They procure funding for projects.

The Government of India is taking action and making more and more reliable things to fight and rescue in such situations. The government helped in the Covid-19 pandemic by providing masks, sanitiser, food and other medical facilities to the people affected. They provided ambulance services, medical services, food and supply services at the doorstep and arranged funds for the people who needed money. 

Conclusion

Every country follows disaster management to find the causes and prevent them from happening in the future. The authorities make evacuation programs and keep things handy and updated. Disaster has a great impact on the economy of the country. The country and every citizen must follow the safety measures and precautions to be ready for future emergencies.