Disaster Management

Disaster:Disaster (or) calamities is a geological process and is defined as an event, concentrated in time and space, in which a society, or sub-division of a society undergoes severe danger and causes loss of its members and physical property.

Disaster

Natural Disaster

Eg.,Cyclones, floods, earthquakes, landslides

Man-made Disaster

Eg.,Accidents, pollution,fire

Types:

Important Disasters:Landslides Flood

Cyclone Earthquake

Tsunami Drought

Floods:Whenever the magnitude of water flow exceeds the carrying capacity of the channel within its banks, the excess of water over flows on the surroundings causes floods.

Causes of floods:

1. Heavy rainfall2. Sudden melting of snow3. Reduction in carrier capacity of channels

due to sediments4. Sudden release of excess water from dams5. Human activites like construction6. Deforestation

Causes of floods:

1. Houses and properties are washed away.2. Damge crops and livestock.3. Great economic loss and health related problems.

Flood management:

4. Encroachment of flood ways should be banned.5. Building walls prevent spilling out the flood water.6. Diverting excess of water through channels.7. Restoring wet lands.8. Instead of raising buildings on flood plains, it can be

used as wildlife habitat, recreational areas, etc.9. River networking.10.Satellite pictures and information.11.Optical and microwave data from IRS.12.Flood forecasts and flood warning.13.Afforestation

India Scenario – Floods:

40 million hectares are affected by annual floods. 20% of which is present in UP. UP, Orissa, Andra Pradesh, Bihar, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, Assam are flood prone areas.

Case Studies:

Flood in Bangladesh – 1974:

In 1075, nearly ½ of the country was flooded and stagnated for more than one month. Nearly 1500 people died and 2,80,000 people died from disease and starvation.4,50,000 house were destroyed and 35 million people have lost their belongings.

Thank you

Done by,K.A.Sakthi Krishna Bala,Dr.Sivanthi Aditanar College of Enigneering, Tiruchendur.