natural hazard: An event that threatens property and life. Disasters often result from natural hazards and ocur unpredictabily in the atmosphere.

Examples: earthquakes and tropical storms

Risk: Potential threat hazardous events pose on people, posessions, and the built environment.

Vulnerabilty: potential for loss in a physical hazard. It can vary over time and can be influenced by social groups, geographical factors etc.

Perception: The way in which individuals/groups view the threat a natural hazard has. Therefore determining the course of action and expectations.

• Fatalism: The perspective of a hazardous event suggesting that people cannot resolve or influence the outcome. Nothing can be done to mitigate.

• Adaptation: Attempts by a communities/people to adjust to living with a hazard. Then reducing their vulnerability.

Community preparedness/Risk sharing: There are prearranged measures that aim to reduce property damage and loss of life.

Integrated risk management: Social, economic and political factors are all involved in risk analysis then evaluating the expected damage. In order to reduce disruption and damage.

Distribution: The spatial coverage of the hazard, referring to the area affected by the event.

Frequency: distribution a hazard has over time.

Magnitude: the size of the impact of a hazard event.

Prediction: Where it is possible to give warnings (as a result of monitoring), in order to enable action to prepare.

Resilience: Ability of individuals/communities to utilise available resources in order to respond, withstand and recover from the effects of natural hazards.

Park model (disaster response curve): A model that demonstrates how hazard events have varying impacts over time. Showing pre disaster, when the disaster happened, response and post-disaster.

• Disaster relief: (part of the park model) involves rescue services, medical attention and general care. Lasting between a few hours-days.

• Disaster rehabilitation: (next stage of the model) People provide shelter, food and water for those affected to try and resume to some sort of normality. Lasting between a few days-weeks.

• Disaster reconstruction: Where property and infrastructure is repaired/rebuilt, crops are regrown etc. People use this time in order to learn from that event for the future.

Hazard management cycle: