In Harm’s Way is founded on three guiding principles for disaster mitigation and relief:

Listen to the Earth – Assessing Risk

On any given project, In Harm’s Way determines which areas are most at risk of natural hazards through a combination of compiling historical records and geological evidence of past geophysical events. These data are used to construct hazard maps that inform those in harm’s way what is likely to happen.

Listen to the People – Communicating Risk

In Harm’s Way customizes specific natural hazards education with communities most at risk by involving community feedback through questionnaire surveys and town meetings.

Help People Listen to the Earth – Reducing Risk

The most important part of the three-pronged approach to listening is local communities listening to natural warnings from Earth.  These warnings include deposits from previous tsunamis, earthquakes and volcanic eruptive patterns.   In this way at risk communities become more self-reliant and function independently to continue implementation projects and trainings after we move on.

“Disaster mitigation has implications which are quite different—and much further-reaching—than those of disaster relief…Mitigation aims to increase the self-reliance of people in hazard-prone environments, to demonstrate that they have the resources and organization to withstand the worst effects of the hazards to which they are vulnerable. In other words, disaster mitigation—in contrast to dependency creating relief—is empowering.” – Boyden and Davis (1984)