Analyst for FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency)

Name
Instructor
Course
Date
Disaster Management Model
Disasters occur when extreme events exceeds the ability of a community to contain them. Therefore, it is important to understand how disasters affects the community. Fist, the information is important to identify what factors make the community vulnerable to the disasters. Second, the information helps to identify what community segments are likely to experience severe impacts. Third, the information helps in identifying factors or events in the community that determine the level of impact. Finally, the information allows planners and disaster response team to identify the best interventions to mitigate the impact. The impact of disasters to the community can be explained through the use of a model.
There are three conditions and three event specific conditions that are considered when choosing the best model to use. They include; hazard exposure, physical vulnerability and social vulnerability. Event-specific conditions include; characteristics of the event, disaster intervention responses, and disaster recovery responses. Characteristics of the events and disaster intervention responses together with pre-impact conditions result in physical impacts. Social impacts results from the combination of both physical impacts and recovery responses.
PRE-IMPACT CONDITIONS
Hazard Exposure
This is as a result of people occupying certain geographical areas which are prone to events that threaten their lives and properties. In case of natural hazards, this exposure is due to people living in geographical areas that are vulnerable to these disasters such as occupying floodplains. In case of technological hazards, exposure to disasters will be as a result of people moving into areas which are vulnerable to explosions. In general, being exposed to hazards is measured by the probability of an event to occur, but it can be difficult to obtain these probabilities if there is insufficient historical data. This is experienced when attempting to estimate the probability of social hazards such as terrorism since their occurrence depends on the dynamics of the social system, which cannot be modeled like physical systems.
Physical vulnerability
Human vulnerability. Human beings are vulnerable to temperatures, chemical exposures that can cause injury or illness and pressure. For every agent such as wind, toxic chemicals or water, responses vary among the exposed people. In the same level of exposure, some people may die, others get severe injuries, and others get slight injuries while others may not be affected. In general, the most affected people in case of any disaster are the young, very old, and people whose immune system is weak.
Agricultural vulnerability. Like human beings, animals and plants are susceptible to environmental extremes. Also, the level of impact varies among the plants and animals. However, this is more complex since there are different species of plants and animals that need to be assessed and each has its own response mechanisms to environmental stressors.
Structural vulnerability. This happens when materials that are not able to resist extremes are used in the construction of buildings. Any construction is guided by codes which are aimed at protecting the safety of those who will occupy those buildings.
Social Vulnerability
This has been defined as people’s “capacity to anticipate, cope with, resist and recover from the impacts of natural hazard” (Wisner, Blakie, Canon & Davis, 11). Social vulnerability varies across the communities.
The model described in the class provides a framework on how to understand various risks in the community and prepare disaster management team to implement the emergency management interventions. Therefore, I am going to describe how FEMA can use this model to guide assessments of disasters. I am going to focus on how FEMA can use this model to assess hazard vulnerability and who should be involved. Hazard vulnerability analysis provides important information for hazard mitigation and emergency response and recovery strategies.
Jurisdictions across the country vary in terms of hazard exposure. The objective of FEMA is to identify the hazard that a certain region is likely to experience to integrate it in its program. The good thing is FEMA has mapped hazard exposures across this country; therefore, it does not need to redo it again. This saves the resources that can be deployed to do the mapping and be used in different areas. With the maps, FEMA is able to know which area is more likely to be affected by a certain risk in terms of recurrence intervals and magnitude of the event. However, this maps do not provide the probability of extreme events occurring in areas where they are likely expected to occur. They only provide information of areas where for example buildings are likely to collapse. This enables the authorities to know which hazard require more attention that the other. Therefore, this model is important in this case.
FEMA officials should remember that certain disasters can initiate others. For example, earthquakes and volcanic eruptions can cause fires and release of hazardous materials due to ground shaking. The map can be used to identify areas that are vulnerable to these disasters and determine what are the possible events can be triggered by their occurrence in a community. Our model can be used to determine this, for example if an earthquake occurs, fires are likely to occur and if its occurrence is low a different event will occur. With the help of the model, FEMA will be able to plan its interventions that correspond with the magnitude of the risk.
Hazard exposure should be supplemented by information of the impacts of risk to people and environment. This will be done by identifying all the structures and groups of people that occupy a geographical area that is exposed. All the structures in an area are vulnerable to disasters due to inadequate designs and constructi...