Module 5

Mitigation Strategies:
A Prevention to loss of Lives and
Properties
Mitigation involves acting to reduce the risk of life or
property damage from a potentially dangerous incident.
There is no way to avoid natural disasters, but people and
organizations may take steps to minimize the harm and
losses that they cause. Furthermore, mitigation is defined by
Merriam Webster’s dictionary as process or result of making
something less severe, dangerous, painful, harsh, or
damaging. The National Academies Press describes
mitigation as actions taken to prevent or reduce the risk to
life, social and economic, and natural resources from natural
hazards.
Programs that intensify nation’s hazard mitigation
capabilities includes the following steps:
1.Protection of schools and hospitals
All new schools and hospitals should be located and
constructed to ensure that high-hazard areas are
avoided and that special provisions are made to reduce
the potential for damage by natural hazards.
Furthermore, existing school and hospital buildings
should be surveyed to determine their resistance levels
to relevant hazards.
2. Adoption of nonstructural measures
Businesses and households should adopt non-structural
mitigation measures to mitigate casualties from natural
hazards and property damage. For example, furniture
and equipment can be easily secured to reduce
earthquake injuries and damage. Other non-structural
steps are vegetation management to reduce damage
from wildfires, and structure position away from high-
risk areas.
3. Incorporation of mitigation into new development
Local jurisdictions should ensure that new developments are
located, designed and built to resist natural hazards. They
should use hazard and risk assessment information, land use
plans and zoning regulations to limit the development of
hazard-prone areas. Compatible uses of floodplains and other
hazardous areas should be incorporated into local planning
and zoning so that losses are reduced. Such areas could have
a high value for recreation, reserves for fish and wildlife, open
space, or other community use.
4. Protection of cultural properties
Mitigation preparation and intervention will include
preservation of libraries, landmarks, historic buildings,
art works, and other cultural resources.
5. Protection of natural resources
The mitigation plans and protection measures included
in the disaster response plans should identify particularly
valuable natural resources such as endangered species of
wildlife, fish, and plants. These natural resources are not
only present in the wild but also in zoos and parks.
6. Government leadership of mitigation
implementation
Government at all levels should set an example by
requiring that new facilities that they fund, regulate, or
lease be designed, built, and located in accordance with
modern building codes and sound.
7. Mitigation training
Training programs should be developed and offered with
a focus on contemporary challenges associated with
mitigation implementation.
8. Hazard-specific research
Recent disasters showed the advantages of
mitigation activities, thus emphasizing the
need for research to improve mitigation
practices.
Actions or plans to protect human lives and properties
1.Develop and rehearse a family disaster plan—what to do if
you are forced to leave home.
2. Include a communications plan—how to contact each other
if you become separated.
3. Put emergency supplies together, one set for your home
and one set for your car. Emergency supplies will contain food,
water, a kit for first aid, flashlights, a radio and several
batteries. The kit should also have flares and jumper cables
inside your car.
4. Know how to shut off your appliances and keep the
resources you need in hand. Make sure other family members
know how to do that, too.
5. Duplicate important documents such as wills, birth
certificates, financial statements, insurance plans and numbers
of credit cards. Keep the originals in a box for safe deposit.
6. Make a detailed inventory of your personal belongings,
home or an apartment, garage and surrounding property, with
photographs or videos and store it in a save place.
Precautionary Measures for Landslide and Sinkholes
Vulnerability and exposure to geohazards are
determined and validated through scientific tools, visible
signs, and maps. Communities are advised to take
precautionary measure to prevent unnecessary damage
to lives and properties
Landslides are also known as country slips. If your area
is prone to landslide, plant more trees, grasses, and
other vegetation for soil compaction and erosion
prevention. Build mudflow or debris flow diversion
channels to steer flow away from your property. Make
sure that diversion does not affect any neighbor or
property and/or result in more substantial damage. Do
not build your house on or near steep slopes, mountain
edges, drainages, or natural erosion valleys
Here are some steps to consider before, during and after a landslide:
A.Before a Landslide
1. Be familiar with your surroundings. Watch for any changes to
certain objects' presence or positions. When there is a sudden debris
flow, this could be a good indicator of an incoming landslide.
2. Avoid open storm-water drainage and runoff as these areas are
likely to receive debris and soil from higher elevations, especially
when there is a storm or heavy rainfall.
3. Be updated on news regarding the condition of your area.
4. Be aware of the disaster plans of your local government.
5. Learn and participate in emergency response and evacuation plans
for your community.
B. During a Landslide
1.Be attentive to unusual such as cracking objects, moving debris, and
rolling boulders.
2. Stay away from the path of debris. This is more dangerous if
mudflow occurs because it increases in strength as it meets more water
from ponds or streams and it could be aggravated by heavy rain.
3. Stay alert and awake. Listen for unusual sounds that might indicate
moving debris, such as trees cracking or boulders knocking together
4. Stay on an elevated and sturdy area. Avoid low-lying areas and steep
slopes.
5. If escape is not possible, curl into a tight ball and protect your head.
Find a structure that can serve to protect you from the flow of debris.
C. After a Landslide
1. Stay away from a slide area as there is still danger of more
landslides.
2. Listen for the latest emergency information.
3. Follow warnings and instruction from the local government.
4. If the landslide is caused by rainfall, watch out for flooding as
it will follow the same path taken by the debris flow.
5. Check for injured or trapped people near the slide, and
flooding as it will follow other potential hazards. Report these
immediately to the rescuers or authorities
Sinkhole, also known as a cenote, swallet, swallow hole,
or doline. The sinkhole is a depression or hole in the
ground caused by some form of surface layer collapse.
Most of them are caused by processes of karst-the
chemical dissolution of carbonate rocks or suffosion.
Sinkholes vary in diameter and depth from 1 to 600 m
(3.3 to 2000 ft) and vary in shape from soil-lined bowls
to bedrock-edged chasms. Sinkholes may gradually or
suddenly form, and are found all over the world.
In an event that sinkholes are not detected earlier and
it appears suddenly, do the following:
1.Find refuge in a stable ground or open area.
2. Wait until the structures on and around the sinkhole
stops moving. Do not attempt to go back and retrieve
your belongings.
3. Wait for the local government’s announcement when
it is safe to go back.
After a sinkhole’s appearance, here are the following steps to
do:
1. Stay away from the sinkhole.
2. Monitor the damages on objects. For example, if the crack
gets longer or wider the sinkhole may still enlarge.
3. Do not throw anything into the sinkhole. Anything thrown
into it may contaminate the groundwater.
4. Secure whatever is left of your properties and relocate to
safe grounds, preferably far from this location because the
same bedrock or soil profile may characterize the vicinities of
the sinkhole.
Activity 1 .
Instruction: As a grade 12 students like you, what are
the actions or plans should you take to protect you and
your family and property from future risks? Give 5
mitigation and precautionary measures for rainfall-
induced landslide and sinkhole.
Activity 2
Direction: Create your own informative flyer or brochure
about Mitigation Strategies on Rainfall-induced Landslide
and Sinkhole. Your output will be graded using the
rubrics below.