# Presentation: 137423

## Early Hazard Categorization

- In the early days of Civil Defense:
- 1.  Attack, and
- 2.  Natural Hazards

## E.L. Quarantelli

- “To the category of natural hazards. . . has been added the relatively new category of technological accidents and mishaps.  These are the disasters brought about by human error and the collective mistakes of groups.”                      						(Quarantelli, 1984)
- Thus:  	(1)  Attack
- 	(2)  Natural Hazards
- 	(3)  Technological Hazards

## “Man-Made” Hazards

- “Miller and Fowlkes (1984) have argued that the term ‘technological disaster’ renders such events too impersonal in origin.  They believe that such ‘accidents’ are due mainly to the _excessive priority given to industrial profits_ and advocate the term _‘man-made disaster’ to indicate corporate responsibility_.”      	     (Smith 1996)

## Post-Cold War Taxonomy

- 1.  Natural
- 2.  Technological
- 3.  Man-made

## Dr. David McEntire

- Natural
- Atmospheric
- Geologic/Seismic
- Hydrologic
- Volcanic
- Wildfire

- Environmental
- Biological
- Disease Outbreaks
- Infestations
- Technological
- Human Induced/Civil

## John Carroll

- Weather
- Man-Made
- Transport and Communication

- Medical
- Major Disturbance
- Energy

## Laurie Pearce, Gerard Hoetmer

- _Pearce (2000)_
- 1.  Natural
- 2.  Diseases,  epidemics,
-      infestation
- 3.  Person-induced

- _Hoetmer (1991)_
- 1.	  Natural
- 2.	  Technological
- 3.	  Civil
- 4.	  Environmental

## ISDR 2002

- 1.  Natural
- 2.  Technological
- 3.  Environmental Degradation

## “Environmental Degradation”

- Land degradation
- Deforestation
- Wildland fires
- Loss of biodiversity

- Pollution of land, water, and air
- Climate change
- Sea-level rise
- Ozone depletion

## Temporal Components

- _Rapid Onset_:  Flash floods, tornadoes, earthquakes
- _Slow Onset_:  Drought, heat waves, cold waves
- _Medium-Term Onset_:  Flooding, hurricanes

## Spatial Components

- _Diffuse Hazards_:  Droughts, heat waves
- _Concentrated Hazards_:  Chemical spills, train derailments

## The “Loss” Component

- Expected or possible human and material loss:
-   Low
-   Medium
-   Heavy

## Data Limitations

- Vague/inaccurate
- Unavailable
- Poorly collected
- Difficult to collect

- Sketchy
- Exaggerated
- Underestimated
- Minimized

## Today’s Threefold Distinctions

- Natural
- Technological
- Man (or human) Made (or caused) or Civil or Willful

- Natural
- Man-Made
- Hybrid (combined natural and man-made)

## Hazard Classification Trends

*Disagreement--whether to:*
- _Expand_ classification schemes.
- _OR_
- _Reduce_ hazard classifications.

## On Classification by Origin

- “ . . . in many parts of the world, deforestation has resulted in increased runoff, which then leads to catastrophic downstream flooding.  Is this a natural or a socially induced hazard?  Or consider the use of technology to control nature, such as dams and levees. . . Is a wet-year levee break and the subsequent flooding that follows a technological, natural, or environmental hazard?”                                                     (Cutter, 2001)

## On Classification by Origin

- “Although I stopped using the natural/technological disaster distinction long ago, I have always felt that there are other features that might be used to start to distinguish certain categories of disasters.
- 	. . . no single dimension is enough on which to base a typology.”
-  (Quarantelli, 1998a)

## On Classification by Origin

- “As we have done a number of times before, we want to restate that to pursue the current popular fad of distinguishing between so-called natural disasters and technological disasters is to pursue an unfruitful path.
- 	There are differences between disasters, but they do not result from their supposed source in nature or technology, a simple minded common sense distinction at best.”                                                 (Quarantelli, 1987)

## On Classification:  Other Criteria

- “. . . disasters caused by technological agents constitute a distinct genre because the _social and behavioral patterns_ that occur in emergencies and disasters involving technological agents differ from those that are commonly observed in natural disasters, and because _the two types of events tend to differ in their short- and longer-term consequences_.”
- (Tierney, Lindell and Perry, 2001)

## On Classification:  Other Criteria

- “. . . Natural hazards result from a _lack_ of control, whereas technological hazards result from a _loss_ of control.”
- (Pearce, 2000)

## Areas of Distinction

- 1.  _Causation_ differs.
- 2.  _Reactions_ differ.
- 3.  _Consequences_ differ.

## Continuation of Distinctions

- Assists in thinking about _causes, sources_, _consequences and differing reactions_ to hazard types.
- Broadens awareness of fuller range of _hazards_ and _stakeholders_.
- Assists in moving forward with areas such as _risk_ _assessments_ and _communicating with the public_.

## McEntire:  Hazard Relationships

- A.	Natural hazards may initiate other
- 		natural hazards.
- B.	Natural hazards may initiate other
- 		technological hazards.
- C.	Technological hazards may initiate other 	natural/environmental hazards.

## McEntire:  Hazard Relationships

- D.	Natural/environmental hazards may
- 		initiate other biological/natural hazards.
- E.	Human-induced/civil hazards may 		initiate other technological/biological 		hazards.
- F.		Other unique combinations.