ABSTRACT
There is no such thing as a typical disaster or a catch-all disaster definition. Some disasters highlight geographical and environmental factors (earthquakes or floods). Others are located in man-made, complex industrial systems (Flixborough chemical explosion, Chernobyl Nuclear Plant explosion). Disasters may be of a sudden type, for example, a plane crash or a bomb. Others, often known as creeping disasters, may affect similar numbers of victims but exert their influence over a much longer time scale. Definitions of, and attitudes towards disasters, are located within a wider political and legal agenda in a culture of risk, blame, grief, anger and frustration (see Scraton et al, 1995; Wells, 1995b).
