Disaster vulnerability defined

The analysis of accidents and disasters in real systems makes it clear that it is not sufficient to consider error and its effects purely from the perspective of individual human failures. Major accidents are almost always the result of multiple errors or combinations of single errors with preexisting vulnerable conditions (Wagenaar et al., 1990). Another perspective from which to define errors is in terms of when in the system life cycle they occur. In the following discussion of the definitions of human error, the initial focus will be from the engineering and the accident analysis perspective. More detailed consideration of the definitions of error will be deferred to later sections in this chapter where the various error models will be described in detail (see Sections 5 and 6). 

For these reasons, high-risk, high vulnerability is the terminology chosen for this discussion, because it is both inclusive and accommodates those individuals and populations whose needs may not be clearly defined during the preparedness phase of the disaster continuum. It should be clear, however, that this choice does not settle the argument, which will continue indefinitely. 

According to most authors, risk and disasters are socially constructed phenomena and should therefore be studied in the contexts in which they occur (Rodriguez, 2005). In fact, at the level of the individuals and their communities responses to natural and technological disasters, the discussion between actual risk and perceived risk is put aside by the fact that social vulnerability and resilience, defined as the abilities to deal with disasters and to create new life styles in accordance to the conditions derived from them (Manyema 2006), depend almost entirely on the perception of risks. 

The South Asia Disaster Report (DNS and PA 2005) states that disasters are produced due to the weaknesses and vulnerabilities of communities, countries, and structures to withstand encountered hazards. Wisner et al. (2004) defines vulnerability as the lack of capacity to anticipate, cope with, resist, and recover from the impact of a hazard. The destruction and loss of human hves from the 2005 Kashmir Earthquake in Pakistan was primarily due to the collapse of inappropriately built structures constructed on earthquake-prone land using substandard building materials and designed with little earthquake resistance. Poorly planned and sometimes illegal developments and their resulting impacts on the environment worsened the damage from the Mumbai Floods in 2005. A similar situation was seen in Sri Lanka after the Indian Ocean Tsunami. 

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