What is Risk
Hazards are part of the world around us and their occurrence is inevitable. Floods, landslides, wildfires, windstorms, and other hazardous events are natural phenomena in Colorado over which humans have limited control. These events result in periodic damage to the environment: fire can destroy forests, floods can erode stream banks and result in channel migration, and a host of geologic hazards can severely alter the natural landscape. However, despite their destructiveness, these occurrences are not unexpected, and can even reflect healthy regeneration of natural systems.
FEMA uses this Venn diagram to illustrate the concept of risk as the relationship, or overlap, between hazards and community assets (modified from USGS and Oregon Partnership for Disaster Resilience Models). Source - FEMA, Local Hazard Mitigation Handbook (2013)
It is only when the human environment intersects with these natural phenomena that a hazard risk is created and a so-called “natural disaster” may result. A disaster occurs when human settlement and infrastructure, such as buildings and roads, exists in the path of the forces of nature, resulting in potentially hazardous situations. Our built environment is not nearly as recuperative or resilient as the natural one. A hazard can result in physical damage, economic disruption, and other significant impacts to an entire community for many years following the event.
Disasters can also occur as a result of human activity, such as the storage or movement of hazardous chemicals, regardless of natural conditions. While the source or cause of risk and disasters may be natural or human-caused, this planning guide focuses primarily on Colorado’s most significant natural hazards.
While we cannot prevent natural hazards, we do have some means to anticipate their occurrence and manage what comes afterward—and we certainly can minimize the risk from human-caused hazards. Local planners in particular have a range of tools and techniques to minimize or avoid the potential adverse consequences from foreseeable hazards. The focus of this guide is to assist citizens in planning ahead before a hazard event occurs, so that communities can lessen risk and hopefully prevent hazardous events from becoming disasters.