One must question, in light of these new terms, whether there is any real difference between the traditional definitions of preparedness and mitigation and what is being conducted in light of the new terrorism hazard. As such, terms like terrorism prevention and terrorism preparedness have become more popular. The concepts of mitigation and preparedness have been altered since September 11, 2001, when terrorism became viewed as the primary threat facing America. Although preparedness activities do little to prevent a disaster from occurring, they are very effective at ensuring that people know what to do once the disaster has happened. Training and public education are the most common preparedness activities, and, when properly applied, they have great potential to help people survive disasters. In general, preparedness activities can be characterized as the human component of predisaster hazard management. Preparedness can be defined as a state of readiness to respond to a disaster, crisis, or any other type of emergency situation. Mitigation in terms of terrorism, which is a much more complicated process, is discussed later in this chapter. In terms of man-made disasters, however, there is a much greater range of opportunities to minimize both the probability and the consequences of potential incidents, and both are applied with equal intensity.
In general, however, mitigation efforts for natural hazards tend to focus on improved consequence management. In the case of natural disasters, the ability of humans to limit the probability of a hazard is highly dependent on the hazard type, with some hazards such as hurricanes or tornadoes impossible to prevent, while avalanches, floods, and wildfires are examples of hazards for which limiting the rate of occurrence is possible. By mitigating either of these components, the risk becomes much less of a threat to the affected population. Mitigation activities address either or both of the two components of risk, which are probability (likelihood) and consequence. In its classical meaning, mitigation refers to a sustained action taken to reduce or eliminate risk to people and property from hazards and their effects. The four classical phases of disaster management.
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