What is a Disaster?

While this may seem like a simple question, organizations have offered multiple definitions.

World Health Organization 

“A disaster is an occurrence disrupting the normal conditions of existence and causing a level of suffering that exceeds the capacity of adjustment of the affected community.”

International Federation of Red Cross

“Disasters are serious disruptions to the functioning of a community that exceed its capacity to cope using its own resources.”

United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction

 “A serious disruption of the functioning of a community or a society at any scale due to hazardous events interacting with conditions of exposure, vulnerability and capacity, leading to one or more of the following: human, material, economic and environmental losses and impacts.”

Bottom Line

The common theme that runs throughout all of these definitions is that a disaster is some kind of disruptive event that creates a scenario where:

NEEDS > Resources / Capacity