Understanding Potential Disaster Risks and How to be Prepared for Them

Climate change has increased the potential disaster risks in almost every country recently. According to research, floods, landslides, and other natural hazards occurred more frequently in recent years than a few decades ago. Moreover, industrialism may cause man-made disasters.

Therefore, authorities must identify natural and man-made disaster risks in their countries. This understanding can help them have the best preparation to mitigate possible hazards. Consequently, they can reduce the impact of those catastrophes.

Potential Disaster Definition

Potential disasters are incidents triggering considerable disruption, displacement, loss of life, and damage. These calamities can be natural hazards or human-related catastrophes.

Moreover, they affect a community or a system for a particular time. Disaster risks come in various degrees of severity. These degrees depend on societies’ and authorities’ capability to deal with those threats.

A country with excellent social, economic, and environmental conditions may consider a potential hazard an acceptable risk. This is because those aspects allow the nation to mitigate the possible disaster successfully.

However, other countries with less favorable socioeconomic conditions may consider the same disaster risk a serious threat. Moreover, a potential natural catastrophe may have a long-term impact. Consequently, authorities must adopt a holistic approach to reduce the main disaster risk and long-term effects.

Examples of Potential Disasters

All countries are at risk of experiencing disasters. However, they don’t always struggle with similar types of catastrophes. Below are potential natural disaster examples and man-made hazard risks commonly found in most countries.

1. Geological Disasters

Many countries have high potential disaster risks on geological hazards because tectonic plates below them are exceptionally active. Geological catastrophes occur because of natural activities, such as tectonic plate subduction, in the earth’s crust. 

Those activities can trigger various natural disasters.

• Earthquakes: Earthquakes can cause significant damage and trigger other disasters. Japan, Indonesia, the Philippines, Chile, India, and other countries in plate subduction zones are vulnerable to earthquakes. 

• Volcanic Eruptions: Natural activities in the Earth’s crust may lead to the release of magma and gases from volcanoes. Volcanic eruptions are also damaging. However, they are more predictable than earthquakes.

• Tsunamis: A tsunami typically occurs several minutes after an earthquake. This natural hazard sweeps away coastal areas, generates seawater inundation on land, and triggers environmental damage.

• Landslides: In sloping areas, soil instability due to earthquakes, heavy rains, and other factors may lead to a landslide. This disaster can cause massive damage, especially in highly populated areas.

• Hydrometeorological Disasters

Hydrometeorological disasters occur due to atmospheric, oceanographic, or hydrological phenomena. Examples of these hazards are floods, blizzards, and heatwaves.

Those catastrophes are typically more predictable than most geological disasters. Therefore, authorities can reduce the risks of these hazards by adopting particular technologies in their disaster mitigation and early warning systems.

3. Biological Disasters

Viruses, fungi, bacteria, and other biohazards can trigger biological disasters. Examples of those biological disasters are outbreaks of covid-19, smallpox, yellow fever, influenza, and other infectious disease.

These disasters may also affect animals and plants. Biological disasters do not cause infrastructural damage. However, they can lead to loss of life, economic disruption, and environmental harm.

4. Industrial Disasters 

Industrial development increases the risk of industrial disasters. These hazards are the result of industrial accidents or negligence. Examples of industrial disasters are chemical plant explosions, fires, acid rain, and nuclear power plant disasters.

Those hazards affect the companies and employees working in the factory. They can also endanger communities, the environment, and the country’s economic condition. 

Therefore, companies must adopt the best business practices to minimize the potential disaster. Moreover, governments should ensure companies have adopted eco-friendly business practices.

Identifying and Mitigating Disaster Risk

Identifying potential catastrophic events will help authorities plan ideal mitigation strategies. This identification involves various aspects, such as risk assessment, vulnerability assessment, and impact analysis.

After knowing the size of potential disasters, authorities can take some actions to reduce disaster risks. One of the basic strategies to mitigate potential hazards is improving the disaster early warning system (EWS).

An excellent EWS that is integrated with a cell broadcast technology can save more people than an EWS with conventional communication technologies. The former works quickly and efficiently. Therefore, it gives people more time to take emergency responses and evacuate from hazardous areas.

Dealing with a potential disaster is not a difficult thing to do if authorities or local governments integrate cell broadcasters into their EWSs. Cell broadcast machines are effective and efficient tools for broadcasting disaster alerts. Purchase cell broadcasters now on smsbroadcaster.com.