Risk and vulnerability assessment: A comprehensive approach

Disaster risk and vulnerability assessment depends on various factors such as appropriate theoretical concepts and quality and adequacy of information gathered. Accounting for people's perception and partnering with them in the process leads to deeper understanding of community vulnerability, which in turn provides better assessment of disaster risk. The purpose of this paper is to offer an integrated approach for risk and vulnerability assessment that includes theoretical concept, quantitative risk assessment method, and a component representing people's perception. The Pressure and Release (PAR) model framework is used for basic understanding of the progression of vulnerability through identification of root causes such as: limited access to power and resources; dynamic pressures – lack of education, urbanization and demographics; and unsafe conditions such as dangerous locations. To complement PAR, the Access to Resources (ATR) model is used that expands upon the dynamics of changing decisions, options, livelihood opportunities, available resources, and choices made by the population that is impacted by disaster(s) – in time and space. Conventional risk equation: R=H x V provides community risk profile. Using a working example, it is demonstrated that risk assessment can have significant influence by introducing an additional component to represent “community perception” in the fundamental risk equation. The proposed approach: Risk (R) = Hazard (H) x Vulnerability (V) x Community Perception (cp), provides a unique and comprehensive approach to evaluate disaster risk by taking people's perception into account.