 Hazards, Exposure, and Vulnerabilities from actual situations

Several countries, including the Philippines, have experienced disasters affecting the property, assets and lives of the
Filipino people , especially the COVID 19 Pandemic, which kills millions of people not only in the Philippines but
worldwide. Today, it’s important to be extra cautious and mindful all the time. The topic will eventually address concepts
of hazard, exposure and vulnerability and how they vary from each other and how important they are.

 Activity 1- Monday
Direction: Below is a picture of an incident in a mining community in Itogon, Benguet after the onslaught of the Typhoon
Ompong in 2018. Look at the picture then answer the questions after the image.

Guide Questions:
1. What is the hazard shown in the picture?
_______________________________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________________________

2. Which area is exposed to hazard?

_______________________________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________________________

3. What do you think is the cause of this incident?

_______________________________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________________________

4. If the portion of the mountain slides down towards the remaining residential buildings on the left, what part of the
community will be most affected?
_______________________________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________________________

5. Which part in the presented image will be least likely affected?

_______________________________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________________________

A Sample essay:
Back when I was 7 years old, when I still lived in the Philippines, I woke up in the middle of night to the sounds
of the trees near our home violently swaying against the house and the terrifying howls of the wind. Now, bear in mind,
that this was the Philippines. The 2nd country of the world to have the most typhoons. At first, we tried to ignore it,
thinking that it would pass by soon but we were quickly proven wrong though once we got a hold of the Wi- Fi and saw
online that this weather was labeled as a Signal No. 2. It meant that this certain typhoon was capable of generating
floods and strong waves. I became even more terrified when I saw my father get me and my sister down to the 1st floor
and in the extra bedroom. Throughout the walk, you could feel the house shake and tremble.
 Once we reached the room, with all honesty, I was sure that I was going to die. The thing, too, is that in front of
our house, stood a large tree. And during this event, it was swaying so violently that you’d expect it to fall directly
on our house. We were saying our prayers and my parents repeatedly told me and my sibling how much they loved us.
When the night passed by though, we were greatly relieved. We thought the bad fortune was over. Until we saw my
cousins’ house.
Flooded up to the 3rd floor. Their store collapsed. And barely any of their items were rescued. It saddens me, really,
recalling my older cousin, Ate Hannah, who was usually the calm one, sit by the stairs to our home, holding and crying
about her stuffed-toy. It was soggy, destroyed, and ruined.
In a way though, it brought our family closer together. My father and I actually also traveled to my cousins’
neighborhood and passed out clothes and mattresses. While I felt happy being able to help others, it’s sadder seeing some
of the families be so desperate.
And at the time, none of us really knew, that we have survived the second most devastating tropical cyclone in
the 2009 Pacific typhoon season of the Philippines; Typhoon Ondoy (Ketsana)
Chloe N. “Personal experience; lived in the Philippines”, January 24, 2017.
https://www.quora.com/What-is-it-like-to-experience-a-typhoon

 Activity 2- Tuesday
Direction: Analyze and answer the following questions after the given scenario.
SITUATION 1:
You are a mom. You live in Brgy. Aplaya, which is right next to Laguna de Bay. You have a 2-storey house, and the
ground floor where your sari-sari store is situated already flooded. You wrapped your baby and went to the second floor,
but the flood is fast rising and you are likely to get trapped. Your husband went to Barangay Hall, where they prepared
boats, but he has not yet come back.

1. Determine the hazards given in the story.

_______________________________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________________________

2. What are the possible ways to lessen the vulnerability of the exposed elements to hazard? Explain your answer.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________________________

SITUATION 2:
You are in grade 12, at your age you usually spend your time with your friends and go other places with them.
You are very much excited because this is the day where you and your friends have been waiting for, A moment later
President Duterte announced the Enhanced Community Quarantine in entire Luzon because of the COVID-19 Pandemic.
You and your friends decided not to continue your outing and change it into friends gathering party near you.

1. Determine the hazard given in the story.

_______________________________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________________________

2. What are the possible ways to lessen the vulnerability of the exposed elements to hazard?
_______________________________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________________________

Hazard is a harmful condition, substance, human behavior or condition that can cause loss of life, injury or other health
effects, harm to property, loss of livelihood and services, social and economic disruption or damage to the environment.
Any risk which is imminent is threat.
Exposure is the presence of elements at risk or chance of being harmed from a natural or man-made hazard event.
Elements include the individuals, households or communities, properties, buildings and structures, agricultural
commodities, livelihoods, and public facilities, infrastructures and environmental assets present in an area that are subject
to potential damage or even losses. The more a community is exposed to hazard factors, the higher is the disaster risk or
higher chance disaster occurrence.
Vulnerability means the characteristics and circumstances of a community, system, or asset that make it susceptible to
the damaging effects of a hazard and inability of a community to prevent, mitigate, prepare for and respond to hazardous
events.
Risk implies the probability of possible adverse effects. This results from the interaction of social and environmental
systems, from the combination of physical danger, and exposed item vulnerabilities.
Disaster is a serious disruption to the functioning of a community or society which causes widespread human, material,
economic or environmental losses that exceed the capacity of the community or society concerned to cope with the use
of their own resources. It results from the mix of hazards, risk conditions and inadequate capability or measures.
Exposure and vulnerability, on the other hand, are distinct. A certain community can be exposed but it does not mean
that it is vulnerable. Buildings and structures in Japan are exposed to earthquake, but they are not vulnerable since their
architectural and engineering designs are earthquake proof or resistant. However, to become vulnerable, it must be
exposed to hazard first.
Exposure to hazard can make a community vulnerable. But not all communities that are exposed to hazard can be
considered vulnerable. Vulnerability depends on the preparedness and readiness to a hazard of the community. It
depends mostly on how they mitigate, respond, and recover. If a certain community has the ability to reduce the
vulnerability by reducing the risk, the said community is already considered as less vulnerable or resilient.
Physical elements Population

Buildings: Urban land use, construction types, Density of population, distribution in space,
building height, building age, total floor space, distribution in time, age distribution, gender
replacement costs. distribution, handicapped, income distribution

Monuments and cultural heritage

Essential facilities Socio-economic aspects

Emergency shelters, Schools, Hospitals, Fire Organization of population, governance,

Brigades, Police, community organization, government support,
socio-economic
levels. Cultural heritage and traditions.
Transportation facilities Economic activities

Roads, railway, metro, public transportation Spatial distribution of economic activities, input-
systems, harbor facilities, airport facilities. output table, dependency, redundancy,
unemployment, economic
production in various sectors.
Life lines Environmental elements

Water supply, electricity supply, gas supply, Ecosystems, protected areas, natural parks,
telecommunications, mobile telephone network, environmentally sensitive areas, forests,
sewage system. wetlands, aquifers,
flora, fauna, biodiversity.

 Activity 3- COMPLETE ME! (Wednesday)

Directions: Complete the following sentences by giving the appropriate answer needed in the blank.
Vulnerability is___________________________________________________________________________________
Exposure refers to____________________________________________________________________while hazard is
defined as______________________________________________________________________________________
Hazards may be caused by__________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________________________
and can be mitigated through__________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________________________The
difference between hazard, exposure and vulnerability among each other is
Hazard__________________________________________________________________________________________ exp
osure _______________________________________________________________________________________
vulnerability______________________________________________________________________________________
It is significant to understand hazards, exposure and vulnerabilities because
__________________________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________________

 Quiz- Thursday
_______1. It is a harmful event, material, human behavior, or disease that may cause loss of life, injury or other health
effects, harm to property, loss of livelihood and services, social and economic disturbance, or damage to the
environment.
a. Disaster b. hazard c. risk d. vulnerability
_______2. Signifies the possibility of adverse effects in the future. It is derived from the interaction of social and
environmental processes, from the combination of physical hazard and the vulnerabilities of exposed elements.
a. Disaster c. risk
b. Hazard d. vulnerability
_______3. A serious disruption of the functions of a community or a society causing widespread human, material,
economic or environmental losses which exceed the ability of the affected community or society to cope using its
own. What is it?
a. disaster c. resiliency
b. hazard d. risk
_______4. It is the characteristics and circumstances of a community, system or asset that make it susceptible to the
damaging effects of a hazard.
a. Disaster c. hazard
b. disaster Risk d. vulnerability
_______5. It refers to the element at risk from a natural or man-made hazard event.
a. exposure
b. hazard
c. risk
d. vulnerability
_______6. Which group belongs to the most vulnerable?
a. Employees b. professional c. indigenous people d. small entrepreneurs
_______7. Which of the following is not a man-made hazard event?
a. Drought d. leakage of toxic waste
b. wars and civil strife d. environmental pollution
_______8. Disaster Management includes:
a. mitigation
b. reconstruction
c. rehabilitation
d. all of the above
_______9. Which among the following groups of people is more vulnerable in the event of disaster?
a. men, women, girls
b. men, women, boys
c. men, boys, old people
d. women, children, old people
_______10. Which of the following elements is exposed to hazard?
a. human Beings
b. building structures
c. public transport system
d. all of the above
_______11. Hazards can arise during excavations due to the fact that there are many cables and pipelines buried in the
ground. This is why ‘rules for careful excavation’ have been established. What is one of these rules?
a. When using an excavator always use a toothed excavator bucket.
b. Never dig in areas where cables or pipelines are known to be buried in the ground.
c. First, manually dig trial trenches close to the specified location of the cables or pipelines.
d. All of the above
_______12. Which belongs to the elements exposed to hazard?
a. environmental Assets
b. dwellings of households
c. agricultural commodities
d. all of the above
_______13. Which is not an example of types of mitigation measures?
a. hazard mapping
b. flood plain mapping
c. raising of homes in flood-prone areas
d. implementing and enforcing building codes
_______14. It is the action of reducing the severity, seriousness or painfulness of something.
a. Migration b. misconception c. mitigation d. mutation
_______15. Which do not belong to the General classification of elements at risk?
a. population c. essential facilities
b. infrastructures d. transportation facilities