The pressure and Release model (PAR) is a tool meant to show that disaster occurs when vulnerable individuals are affected by hazards. The model provides disaster managers with an interpretation of disaster vulnerability frameworks and mechanisms of minimizing the disaster. PAR describes disaster as an occurrence of two opposite forces: on one end are aspects that create vulnerability. On the other end are processes of natural hazards that could at time be gradually unfolding. A rise in pressure can occur on either end, but relieving the pressure requires a decrease in vulnerability (Awal, 2015).
The PAR model consists of three parts that illustrate vulnerability and hazards: root cause, dynamic pressures and unsafe conditions. Root causes refer to the set of widely distributed political, economic and demographic processes within the society and global economy that lead to the emergence of vulnerability and affect how resources are allocated and distributed among various people. They demonstrate how power is spread out in society and their connection to state power operations. Dynamic pressures are the activities that change root causes’ outcomes into vulnerabilities. They direct root causes into specific types of insecurity that need considerations regarding the nature of hazards affecting the vulnerable population. Unsafe conditions are particular forms through which vulnerable individuals express their vulnerability in line with the hazard (Rauken & Kelman, 2010).
My home area has been faced with river floods after heavy rains that lead to the river pouring its water into the surrounding farms. Our economy hardly relies on the river as farming has forever been technologically advanced by utilizing irrigation and fertilizers. Our countries governance structure is well decentralized, with local authorities having the mandate to make appropriate decisions that alleviates the risk hence minimizing the vulnerability.
References
Awal, M. A. (2015). Vulnerability to disaster: Pressure and release model for climate change hazards in Bangladesh. International journal of environmental monitoring and protection, 2(2), 15-21.
Rauken, T., & Kelman, I. (2010). River flood vulnerability in Norway through the pressure and release model. Journal of Flood Risk Management, 3(4), 314-322.
