Disaster mitigation and preparedness

Habitat’s Disaster Response program works with the global Habitat community in the areas of disaster mitigation, preparedness, shelter and long-term recovery initiatives. We help communities protect themselves against future threats in disaster-prone areas.

Disaster Response provides Habitat affiliates and partners with tools that enable them to reduce the impact of disasters on homeowners and communities while increasing their level of preparedness for future disasters.

Using educational materials and training, Habitat works with affiliates and partners to build local capacity in disaster mitigation and preparedness, with particular emphasis on disaster-prone geographical locations.

Defining disaster mitigation and preparedness

• Disaster: A situation in which the means of a community to sustain life with dignity have failed as a result of a natural or human-made event, requiring external assistance to overcome.
• Mitigation: Measures (structural and non-structural) taken prior to the impact of a hazard or disaster in order to reduce or minimize its effects.
  
  Mitigation is about prevention—preventing loss of life, preventing property damage, preventing damage to infrastructure, preventing economic losses. Instead of reacting to the damage after a disaster has wreaked havoc on a community, mitigation is the proactive choice.
  
  Mitigation projects have helped reduce damage in communities. For example, building a bio-fence can break or slow down powerful winds to reduce the impact of damage on a community. Mangroves, which grow in the inter-tidal area and estuary mouths between land and sea are rated to be one of the most productive and bio-diverse wetlands on earth. The roots of mangrove trees stabilize the sand and mud that serve as a natural buffer for strong winds and waves produced by cyclones. They can also provide protection against a tsunami.
• Preparedness: Measures taken in anticipation of a disaster event to ensure that appropriate and effective actions are employed.
  
  Disaster preparedness deals with long-term policies and programs to minimize the impact of disasters. Legislation, urban and physical planning, and building and public works are examples of long-term planning.
  
  With the support of legislation, short-term preparedness planning consists of relief operations, stockpiling supplies and emergency funding. These activities must be supported with an early warning system, vulnerability analysis and evacuation planning.
  
  Preparedness during a disaster consists of sheltering evacuees and maintaining and protecting critical services such as communications, critical lifelines and facilities. Security is also an issue that must be dealt with in the aftermath of a disaster.
  
  Disaster preparedness is a complex concept that starts well before a disaster strikes and can continue into the emergency itself. A well-planned disaster preparedness plan will have been practiced and learned by government agencies, churches, NGOs and the local citizenry, so that in the event of a disaster everyone knows how to act, where to go and what to do.