ABSTRACT
Various practical means of conceptualizing disaster are reviewed in this chapter, in a sequence that progresses from early preparedness, through short-term reactions, to long-term aftermaths. Any spatial aspect of disasters and hazards can be mapped, providing there is sufficient information on its distribution. Images which are useful for disaster and hazards studies are obtained from ground-based instruments, aerial surveys or space. The co-ordinator of emergency services should ensure that a disaster plan is drawn up, made known to all participants and tested before it has to be used. A mock emergency can be mounted as a form of field exercise, which is a good, if expensive, way of testing whether logistical arrangements actually function. As information is a prime requirement in disaster situations, so modern information technology has risen to prominence, for on it the storage, manipulation and transmission of information depend. In industrialized world and the more accessible parts of developing countries prefabricated buildings are commonly deployed after disaster.
