Declaration of disaster

By admin_wla | Tue, 4 Feb 2014 - 12:13
Official issuance of a state of emergency or calamity upon the occurrence of a large-scale event (hazard), in order to activate measures aimed at responding to the needs arising as a consequence of the disaster. The declaration of a disaster by a government is the official way in which it is expressing that it cannot really cope with the effects of such a disaster and hence requires humanitarian assistance from other governments outside its jurisdiction. Hence, a municipal government declares a disaster to request the support of the provincial or national government. The national government, when declaring a disasters, is making a statement that it is requesting the support of the international community.