If hazards are natural and disasters are not, does using the term natural disasters mean emergency management and natural hazards researchers and practitioners are avoiding the issues at the root of disaster risk?
The importance of the language used to describe hazards and disasters set the stage for Prof Cheryl Desha's opening remarks in a webinar hosted by Community Connector for Resilience on 29 August.
Natural Hazards Research Australia’s (the Centre) Science and Innovation Director reflected on the importance of using the right language when talking about natural hazards in a panel discussion that brought together disaster management experts to discuss why there’s no such thing as a natural disaster, what is needed to stop hazards from becoming disasters and how understanding of this important distinction can be shifted to help tackle the real disaster risk issues.
Joining Cheryl on the panel were emergency, disaster and natural hazard experts Steve Muncaster (Victoria State Emergency Services), Rosita Vincent (Neighbourhood Collective Australia) and John Richardson (AIDR).
Cheryl’s diverse cultural background, born in Mauritius to Indian and Welsh parents and now living in Brisban, has shaped her understanding of the vital role of language in shaping possibilities saying, “word creates world.”
The Science and Innovation Director role has allowed Cheryl the space to think about how we can ask the right questions to fund research that is useful, useable and used – including being clear about what is being asked, as words matter.
Cheryl gave the audience a lesson in terminology to clarify the natural disaster-free terminology:
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Hazards are things or situations that have the potential for harm, like injury, ill-health, property damage, environmental damage etc.
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Natural hazards include bushfires, floods, storm surges, cyclones, tsunamis, extreme heat, etc.
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Risk is the likelihood of people being exposed to the hazard and the impact that it will have on them.
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Disasters are the consequence of hazards becoming real, with big impacts "causing serious disruptions to the functioning of a community that exceeds its capacity to cope using its own resources" (IFRC - Int Federation of Red Cross).
“We’ve used natural disasters in the past, where perhaps we meant disasters caused by natural hazards,” Cheryl said.
This shift in language encourages thought about complications and implications, e.g. when disasters caused by natural hazards are further complicated by other disasters such as cyber security or biological hazards. This way of thinking opens opportunities to reduce the risk associated with disasters caused by natural hazards.
Cheryl said disasters cause serious disruptions to the functioning of a community.
“We may not be able to remove the natural hazard, but we might be able to reduce the size of the disaster,” she said. “We might be able to improve our ability to withstand our interaction with the natural hazard by protecting ourselves, our homes and our community.”
Watch the recording below: