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close this bookAn Overview of Disaster Management (Department of Humanitarian Affairs/United Nations Disaster Relief Office - United Nations Development Programme , 1992, 136 p.)
close this folderPART ONE: HAZARDS AND DISASTERS
close this folderChapter 2. Disaster terminology and phases
close this folderPhases of a disaster
View the document(introduction...)
View the documentRapid onset disasters
View the documentSlow onset disasters

Rapid onset disasters

The definitions below correspond to the time sequence following the occurrence of a rapid onset disaster. See Figure 2.1.


Figure 2.1 Rapid onset disaster management continuum

Relief phase

The relief phase is the period immediately following the occurrence of a sudden disaster (or the late discovery of a neglected/deteriorated slow-onset situation) when exceptional measures have to be taken to search and find the survivors as well as meet their basic needs for shelter, water, food and medical care.

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Rehabilitation

Rehabilitation is the operations and decisions taken after a disaster with a view to restoring a stricken community to its former living conditions, while encouraging and facilitating the necessary adjustments to the changes caused by the disaster.

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Reconstruction

Reconstruction is the actions taken to reestablish a community after a period of rehabilitation subsequent to a disaster. Actions would include construction of permanent housing, full restoration of all services, and complete resumption of the pre-disaster state.

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Mitigation

Mitigation is the collective term used to encompass all actions taken prior to the occurrence of a disaster (pre-disaster measures) including preparedness and long-term risk reduction measures. (Mitigation has been used by some institutions or authors in a narrower sense, excluding preparedness.)

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Preparedness

Preparedness consists of activities designed to minimize loss of life and damage, organize the temporary removal of people and property from a threatened location, and facilitate timely and effective rescue, relief and rehabilitation.

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