natural disasters for project

Natural Disasters

Where and from which disasters do people die? What can we do to prevent deaths from natural disasters?

By Hannah Ritchie and Pablo Rosado

This page was first published in December 2022 and last revised in January 2024.

Natural disasters – from earthquakes and floods to storms and droughts – affect millions of people every year. However, we are not defenseless against them, and the global death toll, especially from droughts and floods, has been reduced.

While natural disasters account for a small fraction of all deaths globally , they can have a large impact, especially on vulnerable populations in low-to-middle-income countries with insufficient infrastructure to protect and respond effectively​. Understanding the frequency, intensity, and impact of natural disasters is crucial if we want to be better prepared and protect people’s lives and livelihoods.

On this page, you will find our complete collection of data, charts, and research on natural disasters and their human and economic costs.

See all charts on Natural Disasters ↓

Other research and writing on Natural Disasters on Our World in Data:

• Not all deaths are equal: How many deaths make a natural disaster newsworthy?

Natural disasters data explorer

Natural disasters kill tens of thousands each year.

The number of deaths from natural disasters can be highly variable from year to year; some years pass with very few deaths before a large disaster event claims many lives. On average, over the past couple of decades, natural disasters have annually resulted in the deaths of tens of thousands of individuals worldwide.

In the visualizations shown here, we see the annual variability in the number and share of deaths from natural disasters in recent decades.

What we see is that in many years, the number of deaths can be very low – often less than 10,000, and accounting for as low as 0.01% of total deaths. But we also see the devastating impact of shock events: the 1983-85 famine and drought in Ethiopia; the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami ; Cyclone Nargis which struck Myanmar in 2008; and the 2010 Port-au-Prince earthquake which resulted in approximately 70% of all deaths that year in Haiti. All of these events pushed global disaster deaths to over 200,000 – more than 0.4% of deaths in these years.

Low-frequency, high-impact events such as earthquakes and tsunamis are not preventable, but such high losses of human life are. We know from historical data that the world has seen a significant reduction in disaster deaths through earlier prediction, more resilient infrastructure, emergency preparedness, and response systems. Those at low incomes are often the most vulnerable to disaster events: improving living standards, infrastructure, and response systems in these regions will be key to preventing deaths from natural disasters in the coming decades.

Number of deaths from natural disasters

Annual deaths from natural disasters.

In the visualization shown here, we see the long-term global trend in natural disaster deaths. This shows the estimated annual number of deaths from disasters from 1900 onwards from the EM-DAT International Disaster Database . 1

What we see is that in the early-to-mid 20th century, the annual death toll from disasters was high, often reaching over one million per year. In recent decades we have seen a substantial decline in deaths. Even in peak years with high-impact events, the death toll has not exceeded 500,000 since the mid-1960s.

This decline is even more impressive when we consider the rate of population growth over this period. When we correct for population – showing this data in terms of death rates (measured per 100,000 people) – we see an even greater decline over the past century. This chart can be viewed here .

The annual number of deaths from natural disasters is also available by country since 1990. This can be explored in the interactive map.

Average number of deaths by decade

In the chart, we show global deaths from natural disasters since 1900, but rather than reporting annual deaths, we show the annual average by decade.

As we see, over the course of the 20th century there was a significant decline in global deaths from natural disasters. In the early 1900s, the annual average was often in the range of 400,000 to 500,000 deaths. In the second half of the century and into the early 2000s, we have seen a significant decline to less than 100,000 – at least five times lower than these peaks. This decline is even more impressive when we consider the rate of population growth over this period. When we correct for population – showing this data in terms of death rates (measured per 100,000 people) – then we see a more than 10-fold decline over the past century. This chart can be viewed here .

Number of deaths by type of natural disaster

With almost minute-by-minute updates on what’s happening in the world, we are constantly reminded of the latest disaster. These stories are, of course, important but they do not give us a sense of how the toll of disasters has changed over time.

For most of us, it is hard to know whether any given year was a particularly deadly one in the context of previous years.

To understand the devastating toll of disasters today, and in the past, we have built a Natural Disasters Data Explorer which provides estimates of fatalities, displacement, and economic damage for every country since 1900. This is based on data sourced from EM-DAT; a project that undertakes the important work of building these incredibly detailed histories of disasters. 2

In this visualization, I give a sense of how the global picture has evolved over the last century. It shows the estimated annual death toll – from all disasters at the top, followed by a breakdown by type. The size of the bubble represents the total death toll for that year.

I’ve labeled most of the years with the largest death tolls. This usually provokes the follow-up question: “Why? What event happened?”. So I’ve also noted large-scale events that contributed to the majority – but not necessarily all – of the deaths in that year.

For example, the estimated global death toll from storms in 2008 was approximately 141,000. 138,366 of these deaths occurred in Cyclone Margis, which struck Myanmar and is labeled on the chart.

What we see is that in the 20th century, it was common to have years where the death toll was in the millions. This was usually the result of major droughts or floods. Often these would lead to famines. We look at the long history of famines here .

Improved food security, resilience to other disasters, and better national and international responses mean that the world has not experienced death tolls of this scale in many decades. Famines today are usually driven by civil war and political unrest.

In most years, the death toll from disasters is now in the range of 10,000 to 20,000 people. In the most fatal years – which tend to be those with major earthquakes or cyclones – this can reach tens to hundreds of thousands.

This trend does not mean that disasters have become less frequent, or less intense. It means the world today is much better at preventing deaths from disasters than in the past. This will become increasingly important in our response and adaptation to climate change .

Injuries and displacement from disasters

Human impacts from natural disasters are not fully captured in mortality rates. Injury, homelessness, and displacement can all have a significant impact on populations.

The visualization below shows the number of people displaced internally (i.e. within a given country) from natural disasters. Note that these figures report on the basis of new cases of displaced persons: if someone is forced to flee their home from natural disasters more than once in any given year, they will be recorded only once within these statistics.

Interactive charts on the following global impacts are available using the links below:

• Injuries : The number of people injured is defined as "People suffering from physical injuries, trauma, or an illness requiring immediate medical assistance as a direct result of a disaster."
• Homelessness : The number of people homeless is defined as the "Number of people whose house is destroyed or heavily damaged and therefore need shelter after an event."
• Requiring assistance : The number of people requiring assistance is defined as "People requiring immediate assistance during a period of emergency, i.e. requiring basic survival needs such as food, water, shelter, sanitation, and immediate medical assistance."
• Total number affected : The total number of people affected is defined as "the sum of the injured, affected, and left homeless after a disaster."

Natural disasters by type

Earthquakes, earthquake events.

Earthquake events occur across the world every day. The US Geological Survey (USGS) tracks and reports global earthquakes, with (close to) real-time updates which you can find here .

However, the earthquakes that occur most frequently are often too small to cause significant damage (whether to human life or in economic terms).

In the chart below we show the long history of known earthquakes classified by the National Geophysical Data Center (NGDC) of the NOAA as 'significant' earthquakes. Significant earthquakes are those which are large enough to cause notable damage. They must meet at least one of the following criteria: caused deaths, moderate damage ($1 million or more), a magnitude 7.5 or greater, Modified Mercalli Intensity (MMI) X or greater, or generated a tsunami.

Available data — which you can explore in the chart below — extends back to 2150 BC. But we should be aware that the most recent records will be much more complete than our long-run historical estimates. An increase in the number of recorded earthquakes doesn't necessarily mean this was the true trend over time. By clicking on a country in the map below, you can view its full series of known significant earthquakes.

Deaths from earthquakes

Alongside estimates of the number of earthquake events, the National Geophysical Data Center (NGDC) of the NOAA also publishes estimates of the number of deaths over this long-term series. In the chart below we see the estimated mortality numbers extending back to 1500.

These figures can be found for specific countries using the "change country" function in the bottom-left of the chart, or by selecting the "map" on the bottom right.

At the global level, we see that earthquake deaths have been a persistent human risk through time.

What were the world's deadliest earthquakes?

The number of people dying in natural disasters is lower today than it was in the past, and the world has become more resilient.

Earthquakes, however, can still claim a large number of lives. Whilst historically floods, droughts, and epidemics dominated disaster deaths , a high annual death toll now often results from a major earthquake and possibly a tsunami caused by them. Since 2000, the two peak years in annual death tolls (reaching 100s of thousands) were 2004 and 2010. Both events (the Sumatra earthquake and tsunami of 2004, and the Port-au-Prince earthquake in 2010) are in the deadliest earthquake rankings below.

What have been the most deadly earthquakes in human history? In the visualization, we have mapped the top 10 rankings of known earthquakes which resulted in the largest number of deaths. 3 This ranking is based on mortality estimates from the NOAA's National Geophysical Data Center (NGDC). 4

Clicking on the visualization will open it in higher resolution. This ranking is also summarized in table form.

The most deadly earthquake in history was in Shaanxi, China in 1556. It's estimated to have killed 830,000 people. This is more than twice that of the second most fatal: the recent Port-au-Prince earthquake in Haiti in 2010. It's reported that 316,000 people died as a result. 5

Two very recent earthquakes — the Sumatra earthquake and tsunami of 2004, and the 2010 Port-au-Prince earthquake — feature amongst the most deadly in human history. But equally, some of the most fatal occurred in the very distant past. Making the top three was the earthquake in Antakya (Turkey) in the year 115. Both old and very recent features are near the top of the list. The deadly nature of earthquakes has been a persistent threat throughout our history.

Number of significant volcanic eruptions

There are a large number of volcanoes across the world that are volcanically active but display little or only very low-level activity. In the map, we see the number of significant volcanic eruptions that occur in each country in a given year. A significant eruption is classified as one that meets at least one of the following criteria: caused fatalities, caused moderate damage (approximately $1 million or more), with a Volcanic Explosivity Index of 6 or larger, caused a tsunami, or was associated with a major earthquake. 6

Estimates of volcanic eruptions are available dating back as early as 1750 BCE, however, the data completeness for long historic events will be much lower than in the recent past.

Deaths from volcanic eruptions

In the visualization, we see the number of deaths from significant volcanic eruptions across the world. Using the timeline on the map we can see the frequency of volcanic activity deaths over time. If we look at deaths over the past century we see several high-impact events: the Nevado del Ruiz eruption in Colombia in 1985; the Mount Pelée eruption in Martinique in 1902; and the 1883 eruption of Krakatoa in Indonesia.

This visualization – sourced from the NASA Socioeconomic Data And Applications Center (SEDAC) – shows the distribution of mortality risk from landslides across the world. As we would expect, the risks of landslides are much greater close to highly mountainous regions with dense neighboring populations. This makes the mortality risk highest across the Andes region in South America, and the Himalayas across Asia.

Famines & Droughts

We cover the history of Famines in detail in our dedicated entry here . For this research, we assembled a global dataset on famines dating back to the 1860s.

In the visualization shown here, we see trends in drought severity in the United States. Given is the annual data of drought severity, plus the 9-year average. This is measured by the Palmer Drought Severity Index: the average moisture conditions observed between 1931 and 1990 at a given location are given an index value of zero. A positive value means conditions are wetter than average, while a negative value is drier than average. A value between -2 and -3 indicates moderate drought, -3 to -4 is severe drought, and -4 or below indicates extreme drought.

Hurricanes, Tornados, and Cyclones

Long-term trends in deaths from us weather events.

Trends in the US provide some of the most complete data on impacts and deaths from weather events over time. This chart shows death rates from lightning and other weather events in the United States over time. Death rates are given as the number of deaths per million individuals. Over this period, we see that on average each has seen a significant decline in death rates. This is primarily the result of improved infrastructure and predicted and response systems to disaster events.

Intensity of North Atlantic Hurricanes

A key metric for assessing hurricane severity is their intensity and the power they carry. The visualizations here use two metrics to define this: the accumulated cyclone energy (ACE), an index that measures the activity of a cyclone season; and the power dissipation index of cyclones.

Extreme precipitation and flooding

Precipitation anomalies.

In the visualization shown, we see the global precipitation anomaly each year; trends in the US-specific anomaly can be found here .

This precipitation anomaly is measured relative to the century average from 1901 to 2000. Positive values indicate a wetter year than normal; negative values indicate a drier year.

Also shown is US-specific data on the share of land area that experiences unusually high precipitation in any given year.

Precipitation extremes

We can look at precipitation anomalies over the course of the year, however, flooding events are often caused by intense rainfall over much shorter periods. Flooding events tend to occur when there is extremely high rainfall for hours or days.

The visualization here shows the extent of extreme one-day precipitation in the US. What we see is a general upward trend in the extent of extreme rainfall in recent decades.

Extreme Temperature (Heat & Cold)

Extreme temperature risks to human health and mortality can result from exposure to extreme heat and cold.

Heatwaves and high temperatures

In the visualizations shown here, we see long-term data on heatwaves and unusually high temperatures in the United States.

Overall we see there is significant year-to-year variability in the extent of heatwave events. What stands out over the past century of data was the 1936 North American heatwave – one of the most extreme heat wave events in modern history, which coincided with the Great Depression and Dust Bowl of the 1930s.

When we look at the trajectory of unusually high summer temperatures over time (defined as 'unusually high' in the context of historical records) we see an upward trend in recent decades.

Cold temperatures

Whilst we often focus on the heatwaves and warm temperatures in relation to weather extremes, extremely low temperatures can often have a high toll on human health and mortality. In the visualization here we show trends in the share of US land area experiencing unusually low winter temperatures. In recent years there appears to have been a declining trend in the extent of the US experiencing particularly cold winters.

US Wildfires

How are the frequency and extent of wildfires in the United States changing over time?

In the charts below we provide three overviews: the number of wildfires, the total acres burned, and the average acres burned per wildfire. This data is shown from 1983 onwards when comparable data recording began.

Over the past 30-35 years we notice three general trends in the charts below (although there is significant year-to-year variability):

• on average, the annual number of wildfires has not changed much;
• on average, the total acres burned has increased from the 1980s and 1990s into the 21st century;
• The combination of these two factors suggests that the average number of acres burned per wildfire has increased.

There has been significant media coverage of the long-run statistics of US wildfires reported by the National Interagency Fire Center (NIFC). The original statistics are available back to the year 1926. When we look at this long-term series it suggests there has been a significant decline in acres burned over the past century. However, the NIFC explicitly states:

Prior to 1983, sources of these figures were not known, or could not be confirmed, and were not derived from the current situation reporting process. As a result, the figures prior to 1983 should not be compared to later data.

Representatives from the NIFC have again confirmed (see the Carbon Brief's coverage here ) that these historic statistics are not comparable to those since 1983. The lack of reliable methods of measurement and reporting means some historical statistics may in fact be double or triple-counted in national statistics.

This means we cannot compare the recent data below with old, historic records. But it also doesn't confirm that acres burned today are higher than in the first half of the 20th century. Historically, fires were an often-used method of clearing land for agriculture, for example. It's not implausible to expect that wildfires of the past may have been larger than today but the available data is not reliable enough to confirm this.

Long-term trends in US lightning strikes

This chart shows the declining death rate due to lightning strikes in the US. In the first decade of the 20th century, the average annual rate of deaths was 4.5 per million people in the US. In the first 15 years of the 21st century, the death rate had declined to an average of 0.12 deaths per million. This is a 37-fold reduction in the likelihood of being killed by lightning in the US.

Lightning strikes across the world

The map here shows the distribution of lightning strikes across the world. This is given as the lightning strike density – the average number of strikes per square kilometer each year. In particular, we see the high frequency of strikes across the Equatorial regions, especially across central Africa.

Economic costs

Global disaster costs.

Natural disasters not only have devastating impacts in terms of the loss of human life but can also cause severe destruction with economic costs. When we look at global economic costs over time in absolute terms we tend to see rising costs. But, importantly, the world – and most countries – have also gotten richer . Global gross domestic product has increased more than four-fold since 1970. We might therefore expect that for any given disaster, the absolute economic costs could be higher than in the past.

A more appropriate metric to compare economic costs over time is to look at them in relation to GDP. This is the indicator adopted by all countries as part of the UN Sustainable Development Goals to monitor progress on resilience to disaster costs.

In the chart, we see global direct disaster losses given as a share of GDP.

Disaster costs by country

Since economic losses from disasters in relation to GDP is the indicator adopted by all countries within the UN Sustainable Development Goals, this data is also now reported for each country.

The map shows direct disaster costs for each country as a share of its GDP. Here we see large variations by country. This data can be found in absolute terms here .

Link between poverty and deaths from natural disasters

One of the major successes over the past century has been the dramatic decline in global deaths from natural disasters – this is despite the fact that the human population has increased rapidly over this period.

Behind this improvement has been the improvement in living standards; access to and development of resilient infrastructure; and effective response systems. These factors have been driven by an increase in incomes across the world.

What remains true today is that populations in low-income countries – those where a large percentage of the population still lives in extreme poverty or score low on the Human Development Index – are more vulnerable to the effects of natural disasters.

We see this effect in the visualization shown. This chart shows the death rates from natural disasters – the number of deaths per 100,000 population – of countries grouped by their socio-demographic index (SDI). SDI is a metric of development, where low SDI denotes countries with low standards of living.

What we see is that the large spikes in death rates occur almost exclusively for countries with a low or low-middle SDI. Highly developed countries are much more resilient to disaster events and therefore have a consistently low death rate from natural disasters.

Note that this does not mean low-income countries have high death tolls from disasters year-to-year: the data here shows that in most years they also have very low death rates. But when low-frequency, high-impact events do occur they are particularly vulnerable to its effects.

Overall development, poverty alleviation, and knowledge-sharing of how to increase resilience to natural disasters will therefore be key to reducing the toll of disasters in the decades to come.

Definitions & Metrics

Hurricanes, cyclones & typhoons.

There are multiple terms used to describe extreme weather events: hurricanes, typhoons, cyclones, and tornadoes. What is the difference between these terms, and how are they defined?

The terms  hurricane ,  cyclone, and  typhoon all refer to the same thing; they can be used interchangeably. Hurricanes and typhoons are both described as the weather phenomenon 'tropical cyclone'. A tropical cyclone is a weather event that originates over tropical or subtropical waters and results in a rotating, organized system of clouds and thunderstorms. Its circulation patterns should be closed and low-level.

The choice of terminology is location-specific and depends on where the storm originates. The term  hurricane is used to describe a tropical cyclone that originates in the North Atlantic, central North Pacific, and eastern North Pacific. When it originates in the Northwest Pacific, we call it a typhoon . In the South Pacific and Indian Ocean the general term  tropical cyclone  is used.

In other words, the only difference between a hurricane and a typhoon is where it occurs.

When does a storm become a hurricane?

The characteristics of a hurricane are described in detail on the NASA website .

A hurricane evolves from a tropical disturbance or storm based on a threshold of wind speed.

A tropical disturbance arises over warm ocean waters. It can grow into a tropical depression which is an area of rotating thunderstorms with winds up to 62 kilometers (38 miles) per hour. From there, a depression evolves into a tropical storm if its wind speed reaches 63 km/hr (39 mph).

Finally, a hurricane is formed when a tropical storm reaches a wind speed of 119 km/hr (74 mph).

Difference between hurricanes and tornadoes

But, hurricanes/typhoons/cyclones  are distinctly different from tornadoes.

Whilst hurricanes and tornadoes have a characteristic circulatory wind pattern, they are very different weather systems. The main difference between the systems is scale (tornadoes are small-scale circulatory systems; hurricanes are large-scale). These differences are highlighted in the table below:

Volcanic Explosivity Index (VEI)

The intensity or size of volcanic eruptions is most commonly defined by a metric termed the 'volcanic explosivity index (VEI)'. The VEI is derived based on the erupted mass or deposit of an eruption. The scale for VEI was outlined by Newhall & Self (1982) but is now commonly adopted in geophysical reporting. 7

The table below provides a summary (from the NOAA's National Geophysical Data Center ) of the characteristics of eruptions of different VEI values. A 'Significant Volcanic Eruption' is often defined as an eruption with a VEI value of 6 or greater. Historic eruptions that were definitely explosive, but carry no other descriptive information are assigned a default VEI of 2.

Interactive charts on natural disasters

Data quality, number of reported disaster events.

A key issue of data quality is the consistency of even reporting over time. For long-term trends in natural disaster events, we know that reporting and recording of events today is much more advanced and complete than in the past. This can lead to significant underreporting or uncertainty of events in the distant past. In the chart here we show data on the number of reported natural disasters over time.

This change over time can be influenced by several factors, namely the increased coverage of reporting over time. The increase over time is therefore not directly reflective of the actual trend in disaster events.

Number of reported disasters by type

This same data is shown here as the number of reported disaster events by type. Again, the incompleteness of historical data can lead to significant underreporting in the past. The increase over time is therefore not directly reflective of the actual trend in disaster events.

EMDAT (2019): OFDA/CRED International Disaster Database, Université Catholique de Louvain – Brussels – Belgium

EM-DAT, CRED / UCLouvain, Brussels, Belgium – www.emdat.be (D. Guha-Sapir)

Since two events are ranked equally in 8th place, a total of 11 are included.

National Geophysical Data Center / World Data Service (NGDC/WDS): Significant Earthquake Database. National Geophysical Data Center, NOAA. Available at:  https://www.ngdc.noaa.gov/hazel/view/hazards/earthquake/search .

The death toll of the Haitian earthquake is still disputed. Here we present the adopted figure by the NGDC of the NOAA (for consistency with other earthquakes); this is the figure reported by the Haitian government. Some sources suggest a lower figure of 220,000. In the latter case, this event would fall to 7th place in the above rankings.

This data is sourced from the Significant Volcanic Eruption Database is a global listing of over 500 significant eruptions.

Newhall, C.G. and Self, S (1982). The volcanic explosivity index (VEI): an estimate of explosive magnitude for historical volcanism. Jour Geophys Res (Oceans & Atmospheres) , 87:1231-1238. Available at:  https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1029/JC087iC02p01231 .

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Your Ultimate Guide to the Great Outdoors

24 Types of Natural Disasters That You Need To Know

Fact: Regardless of where you live in the world, natural disasters are always a threat.

From hurricanes and blizzards to earthquakes and wildfires, natural disasters affect all of us on planet Earth. But, how much do you really know about the different types of natural disasters and the hazards that they can cause?

Whether you’re an avid storm chaser or you’re simply looking to prepare yourself before the next major environmental event, we’ve got all the information you need to know about the different types of natural disasters right here for you to check out.

In this article, we’ll do a quick run-through of the 24 types of natural disasters. Then, we’ll discuss some mind-boggling facts about these catastrophic events so you can learn more about the world around you.

Let’s get started.

What Is A Natural Disaster?

To kick-start our discussion on the types of natural disasters, let’s first take a step back and define what a natural disaster even is.

At its simplest, a natural disaster is any sort of naturally occurring adverse event. Now, that might sound like a bunch of technical jargon. But, the moral of the story here is that we can classify any negative event caused by natural processes (such as the weather or geologic activity) as a natural disaster.

Most of the time, natural disasters cause the loss of life or the damage of property, though there isn’t technically a minimum damage requirement for something to be considered a natural disaster. Indeed, since the severity of a disaster often depends on the infrastructure in a given location, classifying disasters solely based on their negative impacts is difficult.

We should mention, however, that while natural disasters are (usually) naturally caused, we would only consider them a disaster if they result in negative impacts on human life. 

For example, an avalanche that occurs deep in a remote mountain range without affecting any humans wouldn’t be considered a natural disaster. But an earthquake that destroys a town certainly is. 

So, a natural disaster can be defined as any event with an environmental cause or process that negatively impacts humans . Besides that, the definition is pretty open-ended.

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24 Extreme Types of Natural Disasters

Regardless of whether you live on a small island in the Pacific Ocean or in an urban area in central Europe, a natural disaster can strike at any moment.

Of course, we humans take steps, both at an individual and societal level, to prepare ourselves for the inevitability of natural disasters. But preparing for these events requires understanding the types of natural disasters, what causes them, and the dangers they pose. 

To help you better understand the types of environmental hazards that we all face, here’s a look at the 24 types of natural disasters that affect us on planet Earth, listed in alphabetical order:

1. Avalanches

First up on our list is an avalanche , which is defined as any large mass of tumbling, sliding, or flowing snow. Avalanches can be thought of as a type of landslide, particularly since they can also include boulders and other debris. However, avalanches primarily consist of snow, and they have different innate characteristics from other types of landslides.

Since avalanches require snow in order to occur, they are really only a threat to locations that receive a decent amount of snowfall each year. 

Places like the Rocky Mountains in North America, the Alps in Europe, and the Himalaya in south-central Asia, are all prime locations for avalanches. Nevertheless, anywhere where there is snow and at least a modest slope is at risk for an avalanche.

People who recreate in snowy, mountainous terrain are most at risk of injury or death from avalanches, but communities in alpine environments also face very real threats from these disasters. Burial under snow is generally the primary hazard of an avalanche as large slabs of snow can take out lodges or even entire towns.

Avalanche forecasting and mitigation is, in itself, an interdisciplinary field. Anyone going backcountry skiing or winter camping should check local avalanche forecasts before heading outside. Taking an avalanche safety and rescue course is also highly recommended for all winter sports enthusiasts.

2. Blizzards

Another winter-related hazard, blizzards are defined by the US-based National Weather Service as storms that last more than three hours and that feature: 

• Winds greater than 35 mph (15.7 m/s)
• Visibility of less than 0.25 miles (400 m)
• Large amounts of snowfall or blowing snow

As you can probably imagine, blizzards are only really a threat in locations that have cold enough temperatures to experience large amounts of snowfall. Technically speaking, snow doesn’t need to be falling for a storm to be considered a blizzard, but there needs to be enough snow on the ground to blow around and reduce visibility for an event to be truly blizzard-like.

Blizzards that are associated with major storm systems are fairly easy to predict by experienced forecasters, particularly if they are associated with an incoming low pressure system. However, in more remote locations, accurate forecasts can be hard to come by, putting people at risk.

In the mountains, blizzards can pose a hazard for hikers, especially if they lead to white-out conditions that can make navigation next to impossible. Blizzards are also a hazard for drivers as they can also lead to slick roads and near-zero visibility.

We should also mention that blowing snow associated with blizzards can also increase avalanche risk in the days following the storm. So, eveclon when the sun finally pops out through the clouds after a major blizzard, you should be wary of an increased avalanche risk in mountainous locales.

3. Cold Waves

A technical term for a period of very cold weather, a cold wave is a type of natural disaster where the temperature drops rapidly over the course of 24 hours. While cold weather in itself isn’t necessarily enough to cause a natural disaster, a rapid dropping of the temperature could lead to widespread problems for communities in a region.

Interestingly, there isn’t a precise temperature threshold that a weather event has to reach in order to qualify as a cold wave. Rather, cold waves are classified by how fast the temperature falls. Since what’s considered to be “cold” varies widely from region to region, local weather services will use local climate norms to determine if a weather event is actually a cold wave.

There are many reasons why a cold wave might occur. One of the most common causes of a cold wave is the arrival of a very strong high pressure system from the polar regions. Alternatively, movement in the jet streams can also drive very cold weather southward in just a matter of hours.

The primary danger of a cold wave is, indeed, the cold weather itself. This can lead to a higher risk of hypothermia and other cold-related injuries. Additionally, cold weather can cause ice and frost to build up quickly, damaging infrastructure.

Cold waves are also particularly dangerous for aircraft and other machinery. Extreme cold can drain vehicle batteries or cause diesel to gel. So, caution is needed whenever extreme cold is in the forecast.

4. Droughts

As with cold waves, droughts are somewhat difficult to define because they are subjective by nature. A drought is technically defined as an extended period of time where drier-than-normal conditions lead to a lack of water or other water-related issues.

However, “drier-than-normal” is a highly subjective phrase and what might classify as dry in one area might be very wet in another. What’s more, a single location, such as the monsoon-affected parts of southeastern Asia, might seem plentiful rainfall during one half of the year and minimal types of precipitation during the other months.

As a result, defining when a drought begins and ends isn’t always easy. Most of the time, climate scientists will identify a drought based on changes in rainfall patterns or on low water levels in local lakes and reservoirs.

But droughts can last anywhere from a few weeks to multiple years or even decades. In fact, as of 2021, there is an ongoing drought in Ethiopia that started around 2015. 

While it’s unclear how long the ground will last, humanitarian organizations already predict that tens of millions of people in the region will face food insecurity as a result. So, while droughts can be difficult to predict and identify, their human impacts are very real.

5. Earthquakes

One of the most unpredictable natural disasters, earthquakes occur whenever there’s a sudden and violent slippage of the Earth’s tectonic plates.

To understand how Earthquakes work, however, we first need to recognize that the Earth’s surface is not one continuous layer. Rather, the Earth’s crust consists of many plates that slip, slide, collide, and move past each other on a regular basis.

When these plates suddenly slip past each other, that movement can lead to very real shaking on the Earth’s surface. While small earthquakes happen dozens, if not hundreds of times a day, without issue, major earthquakes can cause catastrophic damage and loss of life.

Perhaps the most famous of the recent earthquakes were those in Nepal in 2015 and in Haiti in 2010, both of which destroyed countless homes and took thousands of lives.

Some earthquakes can also cause secondary, and sometimes even more catastrophic, natural disasters. In particular, earthquakes can also cause tsunamis , such as the Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami that took place in Japan in 2011, which triggered tsunami waves that were likely about 130 feet (40 meters) high.

Floods are any instances where water temporarily overflows onto land that is usually dry. This might seem like a very vague definition and, well, that’s because it is!

As with many types of natural disasters, what constitutes a flood in one place might not actually be a flood in another. That being said, many of us could identify a flood fairly easily in a photograph, particularly if we see large amounts of water in streets or other urbanized areas.

There are many reasons why floods might form, though heavy rainfall is usually a culprit. In other instances, like we’ll see later in this article when we talk about hurricanes, something called storm surge could also lead to flooding.

What’s important to keep in mind about floods, however, is that they are often much more dangerous than they might seem. Even a relatively small flood with about 6 inches (15 cm) of water depth could knock you off your feet and lead to injury.

The general rule with floods is that you should never try to travel through a flooded area, regardless of how minor the situation might appear. Trying to walk, drive, or swim through a flood is almost always a bad idea as rapidly changing currents can drag you into a dangerous situation.

7. Flash Floods

In a weather forecasting context, flash floods are defined as any type of flooding that begins within 6 hours of a period of heavy rain or other water-related cause.

Like regular floods, flash floods are normally associated with major storms. Indeed, hurricanes and other meteorological events can cause rapid flooding of an area in a short period of time.

However, the particularly dangerous thing about flash floods is that they can happen in places where it actually hasn’t rained. For example, many places in the desert southwest of the United States—particularly narrow canyons—can experience rapid surges of water and dangerous flooding when bluebird skies are overhead.

This type of flash flooding is normally associated with a thunderstorm upstream, but it may also be caused by a dam break or malfunction. Since there are few (if any) visual clues about these oncoming floods before they happen, they can be especially dangerous for hikers and canyoneers.

8. Hailstorms

Despite their name, many meteorologists wouldn’t necessarily classify hailstorms as their own distinct type of storm. Rather hail storms, or “significant hail events,” usually occur alongside major thunderstorms.

In some thunderstorms, particularly supercells, very strong updrafts (upward flows of air) can lead to the formation of hail. How hail forms can be a bit confusing, so if you’re interested in how it all works, check out this video from the folks at The Weather Channel:

Regardless of how hail forms, however, the reality is that hail can be particularly dangerous for humans and it can lead to widespread damage. Although most hailstones are somewhat small, large hailstones can injure unsuspecting passers-by on the ground.

What’s more, the Insurance Information Institute estimates that hail causes hundreds of millions of dollars worth of damage each year in the United States alone. In fact, one report even estimates that hail damage in 2019 alone led to more than $13 billion in damages. Who knew?

9. Heat Waves

Effectively the opposite of a cold wave, a heat wave is a prolonged period of exceptionally high temperatures. 

As with cold waves, there is no technical definition for what constitutes a heat wave as normal temperatures vary from location to location. But, any period of two or more days where the temperature is higher than the historical average for an area is a heat wave.

For example, multiple days of 100ºF (38ºC) temperature in Montreal, Canada during the summer would likely be considered a heat wave. But, those same temperatures in the scorching hot Lut Desert of Iran would be positively balmy.

In general, the danger of a heat wave is the risk of severe dehydration that can lead to a life-threatening condition known as heat stroke . Younger people, older people, and people who are immunocompromised tend to be the most vulnerable during heat waves, but severe heat-related illnesses can affect us all.

If a heat wave is in the forecast, staying cool and hydrated is of the utmost importance. This means drinking lots of water, seeking out air conditioning, and avoiding strenuous exercise whenever possible to limit the chances of developing heat stroke or any other similar condition. 

10. Ice Storms

A particularly dangerous type of winter storm, ice storms occur whenever there are substantial collections of freezing rain. The US-based National Weather Service generally classifies ice storms as any weather event that leads to the accumulation of 0.25 inches (6.4 mm) or more of ice on surfaces like trees, roads, and buildings, but ice accumulation totals are usually higher.

That being said, most ice storms are not particularly violent, like what you’d find in a major thunderstorm. 

Rather, ice storms happen when there’s a thin layer of warm air located a few hundred feet above the ground during a snowstorm. As the snow falls from the sky, it hits this layer of warm air and melts, but then refreezes when it enters the layer of colder air right along the surface of the Earth, leading to the formation of freezing rain.

As you can imagine, having ice covering surfaces, such as roads, isn’t exactly safe. Therefore, ice storms are particularly well known for causing traffic accidents, particularly in urban areas. The weight of the ice on trees and telephone poles can also cause major power outages and other similar damage, which only makes matters worse during a period of cold weather.

So, if an ice storm is in the forecast, do what you can to stay inside as much as possible. If you’re out camping, you’ll want to be careful of falling trees, but the real danger of these storms is on the road. Avoid driving whenever you can, and have emergency supplies on hand if the power goes out during a storm.

11. Impact Event

One of the few natural disasters on our list that’s caused by objects that don’t come from our planet Earth, impact events , or “asteroid impacts,” are collisions between astronomical objects. For our purposes here, however, the type of impact event that we’re concerned with is between a meteor and Earth.

Thankfully, impact events don’t happen that often on Earth. This is good news for us humans (and all of the other animals on our planet) because meteor impacts can cause massive damage.

The most recent major meteor event was that of the Chelyabinsk meteor in 2013 . The Chelyabinsk meteor entered the Earth’s atmosphere over Chelyabinsk Oblast in Russia and exploded about 14 miles (23 km) above the ground. 

While the impact of the meteor itself wasn’t actually the problem in this situation—it was the explosion itself—the blast from the meteor did destroy several buildings and lead more than 1,500 people to seek medical attention for their injuries.

However, an earlier impact event called the Tunguska event , which took place in 1908, did cause a major impact. This meteor arrived in what is now Krasnoyarsk Krai, Russia, and it flattened an estimated 80 million trees.

Although impact events aren’t that common, the fear is that they can cause massive amounts of damage, injury, and death. Indeed, the thought of a massive rock hurtling toward the surface of the Earth isn’t exactly a pleasant one. The good news is that many space organizations, like NASA , are developing technology to alert us if a meteor is on its way.

12. Landslides

The USGS defines a landslide as any large-scale movement of a mass of debris or rock down a slope. We would consider landslides to be a form of something called “mass wasting,” which is effectively the sliding of soil or rock as a result of gravity.

Landslides are unfortunately quite frequent in certain parts of the world and, depending on their size, they have the ability to wreak massive amounts of destruction. 

For example, the largest known recorded landslide in US history was the one caused by the eruption of Mount St. Helens in 1980. This landslide is estimated to have moved about 70–150 miles per hour (112–240 km/h) downslope, bringing with it more than 0.67 cubic miles (2.8 cubic kilometers) of debris.

Landslides can be caused by a wide range of events, including volcanic eruptions , earthquakes, and heavy rains. Scientists can sometimes predict landslide-prone slopes, but forecasting the exact time of a landslide isn’t always easy due to the many factors involved in landslide formation.

13. Limnic Eruptions

Limnic eruptions , or “exploding lakes,” are a very rare type of natural disaster where carbon dioxide very suddenly and violently erupts from the bottom of a freshwater lake.

If that sounds terrifying, well, it’s because it is: Limnic eruptions, while rare, have caused major destruction around two lakes—Lake Nyos and Lake Monoun—in west-central Africa, leading to the deaths of thousands of people and animals.

Basically what happens is that these two lakes, due to the geology of the bedrock around them, have dissolved a whole lot of carbon dioxide. This carbon dioxide gets highly pressurized at the bottom of these deep lakes as more carbon dioxide is dissolved into the water.

In normal situations, these lakes will simply keep absorbing carbon dioxide until they reach their saturation point. But, if something major happens in the nearby landscape, such as a landslide, this can cause the release of all that pressure in the lake, leading to—BOOM! A literal explosion.

Okay, this eruption isn’t as catastrophic as you might think, but that’s because it all happens within the air. What happens is that carbon dioxide emitted from the lake in one big poof ends up immediately displacing all the oxygen surrounding the lake because carbon dioxide is heavier than oxygen. 

This leads to asphyxiation for all the humans and other animals in the immediate vicinity of the lake. Oh, and the eruption of Lake Nyos in 1986 also created a tsunami wave about 60 feet (20 m) height (as if we really needed another natural disaster on top of an exploding lake).

So, what are we humans to do about this erupting lake issue? Well, scientists inserted a massive pipe under Lake Nyos after its last eruption in 1986. The hope is that this will prevent another eruption in the future, but only time will tell.

14. Mudslides

Mudslides are technically a type of landslide that includes mostly mud and other similar fast-moving debris. 

Like other types of landslides, mudslides have a whole host of different causes, including heavy rain and earthquakes. But, slopes where we humans have removed vegetation for agriculture or other development are particularly prone to mudslides due to the lack of structure within the soil column.

The worst mudslide in the US in recent memory was that of the 2014 Oso mudslide , which took place outside the town of Oso in Washington state. 

In the region around Oso, which was located along the North Fork of the Stillaguamish River, there were dozens of days preceding the incident that saw periods of heavy rain. There is still some controversy over what particularly caused the mudslide, but the extent of the disaster is clear: 43 people lost their lives and nearly 50 buildings were destroyed in the process.

Again, like landslides, scientists can’t always predict when mudslides will occur. But, they are developing new techniques so they can provide more accurate mudslide predictions in slide-prone areas.

15. Pea Soup Fog

Pea soup fog is essentially a popular term for yellowish-black smog that sets in over major urban areas. It’s basically a poisonous mix of fog, soot particulates, and sulfur dioxide that can settle down over a given area for hours, days, or even weeks at a time.

Now, we know what you’re thinking: Smog is human-caused! How can it be a natural disaster?

Well, while the soot and other particulates within the smog are, indeed, human-caused, the long-lasting fog itself is definitely a meteorological phenomenon.

Arguably the most famous instance of pea soup fog was that of the Great Smog of London in 1952, which is estimated to have killed anywhere from 4,000 to 12,000 people (government estimates at the time are believed to have been widely inaccurate).

The fog itself was caused by a large anticyclone that settled down over London and caused a widespread temperature inversion. This inversion trapped cold air under a layer of warmer air, preventing it from mixing with other parts of the air column.

On its own, this temperature inversion isn’t exactly bad—many cities around the world, including Denver, are famous for their frequent temperature inversions. But the inversion was mixed with soot and sulfur dioxide that resulted from the burning of coal for household warmth during the mid-century.

The banning of coal fires in most major cities, as well as advancements in technology, have minimized the risk of pea soup fog around the world. But, places with lots of air pollution and frequent temperature inversions are still at risk for this type of natural disaster.

16. Sinkholes

For many of us, the thought of the ground collapsing below our feet is the stuff of nightmares. But for people in some parts of the wodue to heavy rain fallsrld, sinkholes are a very real threat on a day-to-day basis.

Sinkholes are defined as any hole that forms below the land surface without an external draining. They can vary quite a bit in size, from just a few feet wide to more than 100 feet (60 m) in diameter.

Usually what happens is that the bedrock in an area is made of some sort of soluble material, like limestone, salt beds, or carbonate rock. 

As groundwater seeps through the bedrock, it slowly dissolves the rock, causing a hole to form underground. When enough pressure is applied over the growing hole, the ground will collapse, leaving behind a massive sinkhole in its wake.

Since sinkhole formation depends a lot on the underlying bedrock of an area, there are certain regions that are more prone to them than others. In particular, the state of Florida is known for its sinkholes. But, unfortunately, there’s not really a great way to predict them using current technology.

17. Solar Flares

Okay, okay, we know: Solar flares don’t exactly happen on Earth, but we promise that they do have real-life impacts on our lovely planet.

A solar flare is effectively a major explosion that happens on the surface of the sun. While our sun might be very far away, these solar flares can cause massive disruptions to our planet’s magnetic field.

In particular, solar flares and their associated geomagnetic storms can cause issues with electrical power outages and communications satellites due to the energy that they emit. These flares can also affect radio communications on Earth, which is pretty wild to think about.

One of the best-known instances of a solar flare affecting us humans was the geomagnetic storm that caused a power blackout in parts of Canada in 1989. The storm destroyed power transmission to more than 6 million Canadians around Quebec and even affected power transformers as far away as the US state of New Jersey.

Although technology has come a long way since the 1989 geomagnetic storm, we are still at risk of power and communications issues as a result of solar flares. This issue has long been a point of concern for space agencies around the world, but more research is needed to find a reliable solution during these natural disasters.

18. Subsidence

Subsidence is a type of natural disaster that’s quite similar to sinkholes but with a bit of a twist. Unlike sinkholes, which form as groundwater dissolves the bedrock, subsidence happens when large amounts of groundwater are depleted from the bedrock.

This sort of water loss is common in areas that use large amounts of water for irrigation, such as in the US state of California. Over time, this water loss causes the ground to literally fall on itself, lowering its elevation over time.

Oftentimes, land subsidence affects such a large area that you might not even know that it’s happening. But, it can cause major problems in urban areas, such as in Mexico City, where land subsidence led to the unlevel sinking of the old Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe—a cultural landmark. 

In these situations, engineers can sometimes construct a secondary foundation under the at-risk building to protect it slightly from further subsidence, but we don’t currently have a great solution for this issue.

19. Thunderstorms

Thunderstorms are often grouped together with natural disasters, but, interestingly enough, they aren’t really a disaster in their own right.

From a meteorologist’s perspective, a thunderstorm is a type of storm that results from deep, moist convection in the troposphere. These storms are labeled as thunderstorms when they produce lightning, which then produces thunder.

Despite this, thunderstorms aren’t a major threat in their own right, unless they also bring other aspects of severe weather, like damaging straight-line winds, flash flooding, hail, lightning, and tornadoes.

So, many of the natural disasters on our list actually come from thunderstorms. This means that a thunderstorm on the horizon could bring with it a whole host of issues. As a result, it’s important to pay attention to severe weather warnings before going to any outdoor activities such as camping , particularly in thunderstorm-prone areas, like Florida and the Great Plains of the US and Canada.

20. Tornadoes

Depending on where in the world you live, tornadoes might be a fact of everyday life. But, regardless of how often you might see or hear about them, tornadoes are most definitely a type of natural disaster.

A tornado can be defined as a violently rotating column of air. They extend from the base of a type of cloud known as a cumulonimbus and they can cause exceptionally fast wind speeds of hundreds of miles an hour.

That being said, while tornadoes are somewhat common in certain parts of the world (“Tornado Alley” in the US being one of them), meteorologists aren’t entirely sure what causes them. Predicting tornadoes is also a challenge, so it’s best to head any tornado “watches” or “warnings” you may hear in your area.

If you do get caught outside during a tornado watch or warning, immediately take shelter. A dedicated storm shelter underground is ideal, but any interior room with no windows on the lowest floor of the building is better than nothing. Then, get under a sturdy piece of furniture and protect your head and neck until the tornado warning ends.

21. Tsunamis

Long a part of the human imagination, tsunamis are massive waves that are caused by geologic activity. These waves are usually instigated by earthquakes or undersea volcanic eruptions, both of which can cause the propagation of seismic waves through the ocean.

However, contrary to popular belief, tsunamis don’t look like huge ocean waves. Rather, they look a lot like a large wall of water heading toward the shoreline like a rapidly rising tide.

Tsunamis are a threat whenever there’s some sort of geologic disturbance to the seafloor. But, the biggest ones are associated with volcanic eruptions or major earthquakes, like that of the 2004 Indian Ocean Earthquake and Tsunami .

The earthquake that triggered the tsunami was measured as a magnitude 9.1, and it struck in the middle of the Indian Ocean. This caused the formation of a devastating tsunami about 30 minutes later in places like Sri Lanka and Sumatra. More than 200,000 people died during the tsunami in 14 countries, making it one of the worst disasters on record.

Many tsunami-prone places have early warning detection systems and sirens in place to alert people to the possibility of danger. If you hear a siren or receive a warning about a tsunami, immediately stop what you are doing and seek out higher ground until the threat passes, and encourage others around you to do the same.

22. Tropical cyclone

Hurricanes, typhoons, cyclones , whatever you call them, they all mean the same thing: a tropical cyclone .

A tropical cyclone is defined as a rapidly rotating storm that forms over tropical areas where there is plenty of warm water and moist air. These storms develop into massive low pressure systems that can bring fierce winds, heavy rains, and spectacular storm surge to coastal and inland areas.

Places like the eastern US, the Caribbean, and Oceania are most prone to tropical cyclones that make landfall after traveling large distances over the ocean and building up energy along the way. 

These storms are called hurricanes in the Atlantic Ocean when they reach wind speeds of at least 74 mph (119 km/h). Meanwhile, they are normally called typhoons in the Pacific Ocean.

As we’ve mentioned, tropical storms can bring high winds, heavy rainfall, and storm surge. They often bring down power grids and cause widespread flooding, which can be disastrous in low-lying coastal regions.

Unfortunately, there is evidence that hurricanes are becoming more frequent and more severe with the changing climate. Although more research is needed to understand what precisely the changes will be, each successive hurricane season seems to bring new hazards and new record-breaking storms that pose a continuing threat to coastal communities.

23. Volcanic Eruptions

Volcanoes are openings along the crust of the Earth where lava, gases, and ash can escape. When these materials escape from the opening on the planet’s surface, we call this a volcanic eruption .

In popular culture, we think of volcanic eruptions as catastrophic events with shooting lava , rocks , and other debris. This actually isn’t too far from the truth for some types of volcanoes , but many volcanoes just aren’t as violent.

Indeed, some eruptions are decidedly not violent and they simply have a steady stream of lava flowing from their slopes. But, others like the Mount St. Helens eruption in 1980, can be disastrous. Meanwhile, others still can disrupt global air traffic due to particulates in the atmosphere, like the Eyjafjallajökull volcano eruption in 2010 in Iceland.

Researchers have become better at predicting eruptions; however, this is not an exact science. They will often know that a volcano is at threat of an eruption, but predicting the exact time of a volcanic event is still beyond our current capabilities.

24. Wildfires

Wildfires , which are unplanned and uncontrolled fires that burn in forests, bushlands, prairies, or grasslands, are an increasingly common threat in our lives.

In very dry parts of the world, like Australia and California, wildfires happen naturally as part of standard ecological processes. In fact, many plant species actually rely on fires to reproduce, such as the lodgepole pine and the eucalyptus, so the fires themselves can have some positive ecological consequences.

However, in areas with large human populations, wildfires can be devastating. These fires can move incredibly fast and burn large swaths of land in a matter of days. The fires pose a direct risk to human life and property, so many governments have systems in place to stop wildfires.

But, wildfires can be both natural and human-caused. Lightning strikes are one of the most common natural causes of wildfires while uncontrolled campfires, downed power lines, and arson are often the impetus behind human-caused wildfires.

Regardless of their cause, though, wildfires can be dangerous. So, know local fire regulations whenever you camp and be sure to check the current fire risk before heading out the door during prime wildfire season in your location.

You may also like : 24 Common and Extraordinary Cloud Types with Images, Surprising Facts, Infographic and Formations

Interesting Facts About Natural Disasters

Now that you know quite a bit about the 24 types of natural disasters, let’s talk a bit about some interesting natural disaster-related fun facts. So, here are some interesting facts that you ought to know to help you prepare for any eventuality:

1|Most Natural Disasters Are Weather-Related

According to the University of Colorado, some 80% of natural hazards are weather-related, including avalanches, wildfires, and hurricanes. The rest are geophysical hazards, such as tsunamis and earthquakes.

2|Natural Disasters Can Cost Billions Of Dollars

It’s hard to compare the cost of natural disasters due to regional discrepancies in the cost of living. But, in the US, the costliest disaster on record (so far) was that of Hurricane Katrina in 2005 , which cost a whopping $170 billion in damages.

3|Meteorological Natural Disasters Are Becoming More Common

Due to the effects of climate change, many meteorological natural disasters (e.g., wildfires and hurricanes) are becoming more common . For example, hurricane seasons are getting longer and more severe with each passing year as storms become stronger and more frequent.

You may also like: Find Out What Causes Tides: Complete with Illustrations, Explanations, Descriptions, and More!

Natural Disasters FAQs

Here are our answers to some of your most frequently asked questions about natural disasters:

How Can We Prevent Natural Disasters?

Unfortunately, there’s usually no way to prevent natural disasters from occurring. However, we can be more prepared to handle natural disasters by creating infrastructure that makes our societies more resilient, like reinforced buildings that can handle major earthquakes.

On a personal level, though, you can prepare yourself by having emergency supplies on hand at all times. You should aim to have enough food, water, and other supplies to survive at least 3 days in your home during a natural disaster—just in case.

Who Handles Natural Disasters?

Most countries and municipalities have government organizations that help with damage control and humanitarian aid after a natural disaster. On an international level, organizations like the UN and other non-governmental organizations also offer assistance to regions after a catastrophic event, such as a tsunami. 

Can Natural Disasters Be Man-Made?

Natural disasters can be man-made. The best example of this is a wildfire that’s started by humans with uncontrolled campfires. Additionally, human actions can make natural disasters worse over time, such as with the increasing risk of major hurricanes as a result of climate change.

You may also like:

• A Spectrum Of Electrons: What Color Is Lightning?
• How Climate Change Affected Our Natural Landscape
• What Are The Chances Of Getting Struck By Lightning?

About Gaby Pilson

Gaby is a professional Outdoor Educator, Climbing & Polar Guide, and Wilderness Medicine Instructor. Expert in Backpacking, Skiing, Climbing, Mountaineering, Sailing, and Wilderness Medicine. AMGA Climbing Wall Instructor Course Provider. Master's degree in Outdoor Education from The University of Edinburgh. Experienced in leading Arctic & Antarctic expeditions. Freelance writer, coffee enthusiast, and French existentialism reader. Bachelor's degree in Philosophy & Environmental Studies from Hamilton College. She enjoys helping others gain the knowledge and experience they need to get out and adventure in the mountains.

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• Conservation Stewardship Program Helps agricultural producers take their conservation efforts to the next level.
• Voluntary Public Access and Habitat Incentive Program Helps state and tribal governments improve public access to private lands for recreation.
• Agricultural Management Assistance Helps agricultural producers manage financial risk through diversification, marketing or natural resource conservation practices.
• Wetland Mitigation Banking Program Offers competitive grants to support wetland mitigation banks for ag producers.
• Conservation Reserve Program The Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) provides a yearly rental payment to farmers who remove environmentally sensitive land from agricultural production and plant species that will improve environmental health and quality.
• Agricultural Conservation Easement Program Helps producers protect wetlands, grasslands and farmlands for future generations.
• Wetland Reserve Easements Helps private and tribal landowners protect, restore, and enhance wetlands degraded by agricultural uses.
• Wetland Reserve Enhancement Partnership Brings together partners and producers to protect wetlands.
• Healthy Forests Reserve Program Helps landowners restore, enhance, and protect forestland resources on private and tribal lands and aids the recovery of endangered and threatened species.
• Agricultural Land Easements Helps private and tribal landowners, land trusts, and other entities protect croplands and grasslands on working farms and ranches.
• Emergency Watershed Protection Assists communities recovering from natural disasters.
• Watershed and Flood Prevention Operation Offers assistance to communities to address watershed resource concerns.
• Watershed Rehabilitation Rehabilitates NRCS dams to comply with design safety performance standards.
• Landscape Conservation Initiatives Accelerates conservation benefits through targeted efforts for water quality, water quantity and wildlife.
• Grazing Lands Conservation Initiative Nationwide collaborative process working to maintain and improve the management, productivity, and health of privately owned grazing land.
• High Tunnel Provides targeted assistance to promote use of high tunnels, which offer many benefits including longer growing season.
• On-Farm Energy Initiative Assistance to inventory and analyze farm systems that use energy and identify ways to improve efficiency through an Agricultural Energy Management Plan.
• Sentinel Landscapes Initiative The Sentinel Landscapes Partnership is a coalition of federal agencies, state and local governments, and nongovernmental organizations that work with private landowners.

Regional Conservation Partnership Program

The Regional Conservation Partnership Program (RCPP) is a partner-driven approach to conservation that funds solutions to natural resource challenges on agricultural land. 

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Technical guides are the primary scientific references for NRCS. They contain technical information about the conservation of soil, water, air, and related plant and animal resources.

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• Find a Service Center Access local services provided by the Farm Service Agency, Natural Resources Conservation Service, and the Rural Development agencies.
• Find An Employee Looking for a particular employee of NRCS? Find them in the USDA Employee Directory.
• State Office Contacts Our State Offices Directory provides contact information for NRCS State Office Representatives.
• NRCS Careers Looking for a career that can make a difference? Find information about NRCS career opportunities.
• National Information and Centers Find information about NRCS National Programs and Centers.

Disaster Recovery

From floods to drought, fire or hurricanes, NRCS provides disaster recovery assistance to farmers, ranchers, landowners and communities through a variety of USDA programs.

Assistance for Farmers, Ranchers and Landowners

Environmental quality incentives program.

The Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP) can help producers plan and implement conservation practices on land impacted by natural disasters. Eligible land includes cropland, rangeland, and non-industrial private forestland. Practices can include:

• Immediate soil erosion protection
• Minimizing noxious and invasive plant proliferation
• Protecting water quality
• Restoring livestock infrastructure necessary for grazing management
• Emergency animal mortality management.

If you are an agricultural producer affected by a disaster, please contact your local NRCS office.

Technical Assistance

NRCS can also assist impacted communities by providing technical information to help them repair damaged farms and ranches in the wake of a natural disaster. NRCS conservationists can offer advice on preventing future erosion, covering and protecting exposed soil, improving soil health, directing floodwater away from areas vulnerable to erosion, preventative wildfire measures, and more. More on conservation planning .

Other USDA Assistance

If your ag operation is impacted by a natural disaster, Farm Service Agency (FSA) and Risk Management Agency (RMA) also offer disaster assistance programs and Federal crop insurance. Contact your local USDA Service Center to report losses and learn more about program options available to assist in their recovery from crop, land, infrastructure and livestock losses and damages. On farmers.gov, learn more on our Protection and Recovery webpage or by using the Disaster Assistance Discovery Tool . 

Assistance for Communities

When natural disasters strike, the Emergency Watershed Protection (EWP) Program offers vital recovery options for local communities to help people reduce hazards to life and property caused by floodwaters, droughts, wildfires, earthquakes, windstorms, and other natural disasters.

Project funds address erosion related watershed impairments by supporting activities such as removing debris from stream channels, road culverts, and bridges; reshaping and protecting eroded banks; correcting damaged drainage facilities; repairing levees and structures; and reseeding damaged areas.

Sponsors must submit a formal request (via mail or email) to the state conservationist for assistance within 60 days of the natural disaster occurrence or 60 days from the date when access to the sites become available. For more information, they should contact their local NRCS office.  

Stay in Touch

Each NRCS state office has a plan in place to provide assistance efficiently and expediently. Stay in contact with your local NRCS for the most current information on accessing assistance in the event of a natural disaster. You can get email and text updates from your local NRCS and FSA offices related to program deadlines. Sign up here .

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Other federal assistance.

Once a federal declaration has been made, the Federal Emergency Management Agency  becomes the lead agency to provide immediate assistance to communities impacted by a federally declared emergency. The U.S. Small Business Administration also offers disaster assistance.

Find Your Local Service Center

USDA Service Centers are locations where you can connect with Farm Service Agency, Natural Resources Conservation Service, or Rural Development employees for your business needs. Enter your state and county below to find your local service center and agency offices. If this locator does not work in your browser, please visit offices.usda.gov .

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Disaster Risk and Resilience

For decades, the U.S. National Science Foundation has invested in fundamental research to understand and predict natural hazards and promote resilience.

Each year, extreme events — such as storms, wildfires, floods, heat waves, earthquakes and landslides — claim lives, devastate communities and strain social systems ranging from healthcare to food supplies.

While threats from natural disasters and other hazards cannot be eliminated, research can reduce vulnerabilities and increase community resilience.

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Brought to you by nsf, weather forecasting.

NSF–funded research has helped improve the capabilities of the national radar network, which produces weather forecasting and provides advanced warning of impending storms.

Earthquake monitoring

NSF is a part of the Global Seismographic Network, state-of-the-art sensors that extend across the globe and even to the oceans' depths — serving as an early-warning system for earthquakes and tsunamis.

Building standards for fires

Research funded by NSF and the National Institute of Standards and Technology led to the development of new drapery and construction standards that help save lives during fires.

Forecasting volcanic eruptions

NSF funded the development of Earth- and space-based technologies that help forecast and detect volcanic eruptions.

What we support

Fundamental research

We support research that yields insights into natural hazards — such as hurricanes, floods, wildfires, earthquakes, coastal erosion, severe thunderstorms and tornadoes, volcanoes, emerging epidemics, and disruption of the power grid by space weather — and methods to reduce their harmful impacts.

Research infrastructure

We support the development of state-of-the-art facilities and testbeds across the U.S. to expand knowledge of natural hazards and test new technologies for resilience.

Education and workforce development

We support the creation of a diverse workforce ready to design, implement and manage innovative solutions to natural disasters, hazards and climate change.

Partnerships to accelerate progress

We partner with other federal agencies, industry and nonprofits to share data, tools, expertise and other resources; strengthen workforce development; and translate research into products and services that benefit society.

Featured funding

America's Seed Fund (SBIR/STTR)

Supports startups and small businesses to translate research into products and services — including environmental technologies  — for the public good.

Biodiversity on a Changing Planet

Supports design and implementation projects studying functional biodiversity in the context of unprecedented environmental change.

Centers for Research and Innovation in Science, the Environment and Society

Invites planning proposals for interdisciplinary research to create evidence-based solutions that strengthen human resilience, security, and quality of life by addressing seemingly intractable challenges that confront society.

Civic Innovation Challenge

Supports planning and implementation of community-university partnerships for significant near-term impacts in one of two focus areas: building climate-resilient communities and bridging the gap between essential resources and services and community needs.

Combustion and Fire Systems

Supports research on combustion and fire prediction and mitigation. Priority areas include basic combustion science, combustion science related to clean energy, wildland fire prediction and prevention, and turbulence-chemistry interactions.

Confronting Hazards, Impacts and Risks for a Resilient Planet

Invites projects focusing on innovative and transformative research to advance Earth system hazard knowledge and risk mitigation in partnership with affected communities.

Engineering for Civil Infrastructure

Supports fundamental research in infrastructure materials and architectural, geotechnical and structural engineering. Focus areas include geomaterials and geostructures, structural materials, structural and non-structural systems, and building envelopes.

Humans, Disasters and the Built Environment

Supports fundamental research on the interactions between humans and the built environment within and among communities exposed to natural disasters, pandemics and other hazards.

Modeling of Catastrophic Impacts and Risk Assessment Due to Climate Change

Supports the creation of an industry-university research partnership focused on modeling catastrophic impacts and risk assessment of climate change, targeting the needs of the financial and insurance sectors of the economy.

Responsible Design, Development, and Deployment of Technologies

Supports research, implementation and education projects involving multi-sector teams that focus on the responsible design, development or deployment of technologies.

Smart and Connected Communities

Supports use-inspired research that addresses communities' social, economic and environmental challenges. Projects must work with community stakeholders on pilots that integrate intelligent technologies with the natural and built environments.

Strengthening American Infrastructure

Supports research that incorporates scientific insights about human behavior and social dynamics to better design, develop, rehabilitate and maintain strong and effective American infrastructure.

NSF directorates supporting disaster-related research

Engineering (eng), geosciences (geo), biological sciences (bio), social, behavioral and economic sciences (sbe), computer and information science and engineering (cise), mathematical and physical sciences (mps), stem education (edu), integrative activities (oia), international science and engineering (oise), technology, innovation and partnerships (tip), featured news.

Wildfires transform aquatic ecosystems, with implications for wildlife and water quality

New model adds human reactions to flood risk assessment

Scientists isolate early-warning tremor pattern in lab-made earthquakes

Additional resources.

• National Earthquake Hazards Reduction Program Strategic Plan Outlines a coordinated federal program of earthquake monitoring, research, implementation and outreach in collaboration with other organizations.
• National Ecological Observatory Network A continental-scale ecological observatory with sensor networks, instrumentation, observational sampling, natural history archives and remote sensing.
• National Center for Atmospheric Research Supports research in atmospheric and geospace science, environmental sciences and geosciences.
• National Windstorm Impact Reduction Program Strategic Plan Outlines a coordinated federal program of windstorm research, development, implementation and outreach in collaboration with other organizations.
• Natural Hazards Engineering Research Infrastructure Supports state-of-the-art research facilities, like the world's largest outdoor experimental earthquake facility, to study natural hazards.
• NSF CONVERGE Natural Hazards Center Advances the ethical conduct and scientific rigor of hazards and disaster research and strengthens networks between research communities.
• U.S. Global Change Research Program A coordinated federal approach to research on the forces shaping the global environment and their impacts on society.
• WIFIRE Uses Big Data from cameras, weather stations, topography and other sources to quickly predict where wildfires will spread.
• Wildfire Interdisciplinary Research Center Conducts wildfire research with the goal of improving tools and strategies used by communities and first responders to address wildfires.
• "CHIPS and Science Act of 2022" The act authorizes historic investments in use-inspired, solutions-oriented research and innovation in key technology focus areas.

Water Cycle

Weather & climate.

• Societal Applications

Building for Hurricanes: Engineering Design Challenge

This activity is a short engineering design challenge that can be completed by individual students or small teams. It can be done by students of all ages, although upper elementary school and above is best. The idea is to present a real-world problem, designing buildings for hurricane -prone areas, but in a simulated way that works in a classroom, after school club, or informal education setting. Students are given simple materials and design requirements, and must plan out and build a tower as tall as possible that will hold up a tennis ball while resisting the force of wind from a fan. For an extra challenge, a spray bottle can be used to simulate rain.  After the towers are built, the group comes together to test them. This is also an opportunity to discuss how there are often different ways to solve the same problem. If there is time after testing, which can be observational or framed as a contest between teams, students can redesign their towers to improve their performance, or simply discuss what worked well and what didn’t in their designs. Depending on how much time you give students to design and build (and possibly rebuild), this activity could be completed in as little as half an hour or up to an hour or more. 

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Natural Disaster

In 2022, the World Risk Report ranked the Philippines as the most disaster-prone country in the world. As such, the country is highly vulnerable to climate change, under which both the frequency and intensity of disasters are projected to increase. Yet, more frequent typhoons, rising sea levels, and loss of biodiversity will have especially severe consequences for communities living in fragile contexts experiencing conflict and environmental degradation. With this in mind, HHI and MSU-IIT have established a joint research area of focus: to expand and strengthen knowledge on the intersection of climate change, conflict, and the environment. Through a collaborative research initiative that examines this intersection in the BARMM, HHI and MSU-IIT seek to better inform practice and policy across the humanitarian, development, and peace and security sectors and ultimately support community resilience in conflict affected areas.

To launch this research initiative, HHI and MSU-IIT welcomed representatives from academia, local, national, and international NGOs, and community and local government leaders to MSU-IIT’s Iligan City campus for a two-day workshop entitled “Understanding Climate, Conflict, and Environmental Impacts in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao.”

This report documents the process of designing and implementing the workshop, summarizes its outputs, and discusses steps for continued engagement in research and practice at the intersection of climate change, environmental degradation, and conflict.

Nepal is a hotspot for natural hazards and has repeatedly experienced different geological, hydrological, meteorological, and biological hazards. The frequent changes in the type, magnitude, and frequency of these hazards exacerbated by changing phenomena of climatic extremes necessitate reviewing existing preparedness practices and suggesting more work on preparedness measures.

The HHI Program on Resilient Communities has undertaken a scoping study to review existing practices and identify opportunities for strengthening preparedness in Nepal. The scoping study is the first phase in a project that seeks to improve community resilience to disasters through applied research relevant to effective disaster preparedness and management.

The following report summarizes existing literature and highlights findings from a series of consultations with agencies working in disaster risk reduction and management in the country. These consultations found that despite significant progress in legislation and institutional arrangements for preparedness and risk reduction, there are still gaps in effective implementations of endorsed legislation, coordination among agencies, and resources (human, technical and financial).

The study highlights the need to capacitate government officials working at the local and national levels by enhancing understanding and knowledge of shifting patterns of hazards and its effective management techniques.

Similarly, the study also pinpoints the need for advanced trainings in search and rescue operations for key responders. The study concludes by highlighting the importance of coordination with academic and research institutions to project future scenarios of hazards for better management, indicating a need for national-level research and training programs and initiatives dedicated to disaster management.

This book addresses the operationalization of community resilience in the United Kingdom (UK) in connection with severe floods. Written for early academic professionals, students, and community practitioners, it investigates the educational and practical meaning and application of community resilience using a UK-centric local-level case study. Exploring the perceptions of both those who have been affected by a natural hazard and those who have not, the book reveals how trust, community resources, and neighborhood security can offer effective ways of bringing communities together after a natural hazard.

The author introduces the topic of community resilience as it applies to disasters in Chapter 1 and its implications for securing and improving the wellbeing of disaster-affected communities in Chapters 2 and 3. In Chapter 4, the lessons learned contributing to the available information and research on community resilience are reviewed. Finally, the author offers recommendations and outlines future directions in coping with the uncertainty and insecurity caused by natural hazards in Chapter 5.

Principled civil-military coordination in disaster response needed in the Philippines

By HHI Resilient Communities Program

A new study by the Harvard Humanitarian Initiative...

The Philippines is one of the most disaster-prone countries in the world and frequently ranks among the top three countries most impacted by disasters. Ongoing conflict with non-state armed actors results in scenarios where civilians are impacted by both conflict and natural hazards. The result is a situation where civilian relief agencies operate in proximity to the military. We argue that there is an important need for principled civil-military coordination in these contexts to ensure the integrity of security operations to support peace and stability while preserving the independence of humanitarian actors serving crisis-affected populations.

The research reveals significant challenges in protecting the integrity of independence of both military and humanitarian actors in areas impacted by both conflict and disaster and underscores the need for principled humanitarian civil-military coordination to avert threats to both humanitarian aid workers and disaster affected populations. The findings are particularly relevant to South East Asia where the use of military in disaster response is common. The findings also underscore the need for research on the role of militaries in responding to disasters in light of anticipated impacts of climate change. 

DRRM policies, financial aid needed in small island communities—HHI study

The report emphasizes the case of Pugad Island applies to disaster-prone small island communities in the Asia-Pacific and equatorial regions

The drivers of human displacement are becoming more and more complex, ranging from conflict and persecution to the increasingly pertinent variables of heightened mobility and social media influences. Of rapidly but appropriately escalating concern is the impact of climate change. While the intensity and severity of climate-induced disasters and climate-related migration will be unevenly distributed across space and time, the World Bank estimates that approximately 140 million people will be displaced globally due to climate-related reasons by 2050. The effects of climate change are expected to be particularly pronounced in Africa, where rising temperatures, unpredictable anomalous rainfall and high vulnerability to extreme natural hazards will continue to exacerbate conflict and harm local and regional human, economic, and environmental security.

In the East and Horn of Africa (EHoA) in particular, the dependence on rain-fed agriculture and pastoralism means that livelihoods and food security are inextricably linked and affected by long-term or sudden environmental changes and natural hazards. The extreme natural hazards that have struck EHoA in recent years have caused widespread hunger, displacement, loss of critical infrastructure and livelihoods, and death

In an effort to understand the complex variables that influence migration, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) developed the Displacement Tracking Matrix (DTM) to track and gather information about populations on the move. The Flow Monitoring Registry (FMR) captures a wealth of data about the migratory routes, the demographics and nationality of migrants, reasons for migration, modes of transportation used to facilitate movement, and vulnerabilities experienced by these populations. While the descriptive data provides a wealth of information, more can be done to analyze the complexities of and interactions between migration, conflict, environmental changes, and climate-related events. Climate projections further suggest that environmental changes will likely further lead to decreased water availability, lowered agricultural productivity, and increased disease transmission in the region, producing complex ramifications regarding local and regional conflicts, economics, politics, and migration.

The porous borders in EHoA have contributed to some of the highest volumes of cross border movement in the world. In 2020 alone, EHoA hosted 6.5 million internally displaced persons (IDPs) and 3.5 million refugees and asylum seekers.6 In the same year, the Horn of Africa experienced unusually high levels of precipitation leading to disastrous floods and landslides and creating ideal conditions for an detrimental locust plague towards the end of 2019 that devastated crops and disrupted livelihoods. The extreme precipitation experienced across much of the Horn in 2019 was preceded by anomalous rainfall the previous year. 2018 was particularly hot and dry in the Horn of Africa, with positive temperature anomalies of around 2°C and below-average precipitation contributing to drought-like conditions in Somalia, Eritrea, and Djibouti while Kenya and Sudan experienced above-average precipitation.8 The drought-like conditions in Somalia, Eritrea, and Djibouti contributed to widespread food insecurity that affected approximately 12 million people. These extreme weather conditions are increasingly exacerbating the already complex and interconnected factors driving migration in the Horn of Africa, and are only expected to escalate in the future.

For this study, the IOM RDH in Nairobi partnered with the Humanitarian Geoanalytics Program at the Harvard Humanitarian Initiative to leverage spatial analytics to investigate migration flows in the East and Horn of Africa and Yemen. Geospatial analytics hold tremendous potential to introduce new ways of thinking, build research capacity, study impacts, and facilitate costeffective programming. The adoption of geospatial methods into research oriented towards populations on the move, gives us the capacity to accurately characterize the spatial heterogeneity of migrating populations. Furthermore, by incorporating environmental variables into this spatial analysis, we begin to reveal relationships previously undiscovered that could contribute to a richer understanding regarding migration in the region.

The Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction (SFDRR) has helped to reduce global disaster risk, but there has been a lack of progress in disaster risk reduction (DRR) for people living in fragile and conflict affected contexts (FCAC). Given the mounting evidence that DRR cannot be implemented through conventional approaches in FCAC, serious efforts must be made to understand how to meet SFDRR's goals. This paper offers a case study of international non-governmental organization GOAL's programming that responds to the protracted crisis in Syria, with a critical discussion on SFDRR and how to adapt humanitarian relief and disaster resilience.

This paper presents the findings of a review of academic literature concerning the degree to which corruption worsens naturally-triggered disasters in the built environment. The research employed a ‘systematic literature review’ methodology to analyse leading academic databases, resulting in a detailed analysis of 59 peer-reviewed, published papers. It was found that while much of the literature focuses on earthquakes (relating to building and infrastructure collapse), the quality of governance and the drivers of corruption, there is presently limited scholarship concerning the general scope, reach and scale of how disasters are worsened by corruption.

The long-term needs of coastal communities

By Mark Toldo, Communications Specialist at HHI’s Program on Resilient Communities

One of the stark realities that the Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) pandemic has magnified is how frail the lives of the poor are in fragile settings, especially during...

Thailand's flood of 2011 was devastating for the communities and inhabitants of the country, affecting approximately 13 million people and causing damages totaling THB 1.43 trillion (46.5 billion USD). The presence of a natural hazards disaster such as this can magnify individuals' vulnerability to human trafficking, or mitigate it depending on the disaster risk reduction practices of the surrounding community. The Sendai Framework is the United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction's international framework for these situations, outlining targets and priorities for action to reduce negative outcomes, such as trafficking, from natural events. This study aimed to understand how a disaster risk reduction and preparedness lens, based on the Sendai Framework, in the context of the humanitarian response to this 2011 flood, could inform human trafficking prevention efforts for future disasters. Qualitative methodology, utilizing a content analysis approach, was employed. It was found that migrant workers and children were at the greatest risk for trafficking, and resiliency efforts by communities and families, in conjunction with coordinated initiatives by NGOs and the government, were essential in preserving individuals' well-being. Further, the Sendai Framework is a promising tool to address these areas of disaster response in which the windows of opportunity for traffickers can be closed and those at high trafficking risk can be protected. As disasters continue to occur, there remains a strong need to bring forth a more systematic disaster risk reduction and resilience-enhancing approach to trafficking prevention.

Technical and technological progress in the 21st century, especially emerging geographic information system (GIS) technology, offers new and unprecedented opportunities to counteract the impact of crisis situations and emergencies. Computerization and development of GIS enabled the digital visualization of space for interactive analysis of multiple data in the form of models or simulations. Additionally, computerization, which gives rise to a new quality of database management, requires continuous modernization of computer hardware and software. This study examines selected examples of the implications and impact of the GIS commonly used in Poland.

Erin Smith and Frederick M. Burkle Jr. 2/2020. “ Collective trauma is real, and could hamper Australian communities' bushfire recovery .” The Conversation. Read Publication

In August 2005, Hurricane Katrina swept through New Orleans and the surrounding communities, inflicting massive destruction and displacing hundreds of thousands. In the wake of the disaster, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security lifted minimum wage restrictions, thus creating an environment ripe for exploitation of both documented and undocumented workers by their employers. This study presents the experiences of laborers in the construction industry following Hurricane Katrina, and makes recommendations for how federal, state, and local authorities may protect Gulf Coast laborers against exploitation and unfair treatment.

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The Impacts of Natural Disasters: A Framework for Loss Estimation (1999)

Chapter: 4 conclusions and recommendations, 4 conclusions and recommendations.

This report has explained the gaps in our knowledge of natural disaster losses and why these gaps should be filled. Poor knowledge of the resulting economic losses hinders implementation of effective disaster mitigation policies and emergency response programs. Better loss estimates would benefit federal, state, and local governments, insurers, scientists and researchers, and private citizens (both as taxpayers and insurance purchasers).

It is clear that data on economic losses of natural disasters to the nation are incomplete and spread widely across the public and private sectors. Information on both direct and indirect costs is lacking. If data on uninsured direct losses are limited, our understanding of indirect losses is even more incomplete. These indirect losses are clearly difficult to identify and measure. However, in large disasters they may be significant and, within the immediately affected regions, potentially greater than the direct losses due to physical destruction, especially in large disasters.

Losses Versus Costs

In generating a national indicator of disaster damage, the focus should be upon the losses resulting from disasters, rather than costs. Losses encompass a broader set of damages than costs. Losses include direct physical destruction to property, infrastructure, and crops, plus indirect losses that are the consequence of disasters, such as temporary unemployment and lost business. Costs typically refer only to cash payouts from insurers and governments. The term "losses," as defined above, better portrays the true economic impacts of disasters.

Direct Losses: Data Collection, Reporting, and Agency and Organizational Roles

One step toward producing more complete loss estimates would be to assign one agency of the federal government to compile a comprehensive data base identifying the direct costs of natural disasters, as well as the individuals and groups who bear these costs. These data should be collected according to the framework described in Chapter 2 , for each natural disaster exceeding a given dollar loss threshold. The U.S. Department of Commerce's Bureau of Economic Analysis appears to have the capabilities to compile such a data base, with considerable input and assistance from FEMA and other relevant federal agencies. Whatever agency is selected should be given sufficient resources to accomplish this assignment.

The recommended loss estimate data base would be compiled from many sources, including organizations such as Property Claims Services and the Institute for Business and Home Safety (which compile data on paid insurance claims) and other federal, state, and local agencies. The assistance of relevant professional associations, such as the National Association of Insurance Commissioners, should be enlisted to obtain other relevant data. A synthesis report containing data on disaster losses should be published periodically, preferably annually. One way the federal government might make sure it receives at least the state and local data is by amending the Stafford Act, requiring the data to be submitted as a condition for future federal disaster aid.

A related recommendation is for the federal Office of Management and Budget, with advice from FEMA, to develop annual, comprehensive estimates of the payouts for the direct losses (due directly physical damage) made by federal agencies. These data should be divided into at least four categories:

• compensation payments to individuals and businesses (including subsidies on loans to help cover disaster-related expenses);
• response costs;
• losses to government-owned infrastructure (including state and local costs that are reimbursed by the federal government); and,
• payouts from federal disaster insurance programs (with annual premiums shown separately).

These data should be assembled for some historic period in order to provide information of trends of disaster losses and payouts. Such an effort is critical if the federal government and policymakers are to better plan for future disaster-related expenditures, including mitigation programs and activities.

The largest current gap in direct loss data involves uninsured losses borne by businesses and individuals. These data might be obtained through post-event sampling (in large disasters) and extrapolating these losses from other data

bases. Data from loan applicants to the SBA's disaster relief program or data from insurers like PCS would indicate the deductibles paid by insured businesses and individuals.

Indirect Losses: Modeling the Losses and Constructing a Loss Data Base

Indirect losses in natural disasters stem from the consequences of physical damage (direct losses). Physical damages in disasters typically initiate events that alter economic flows. Businesses may be disrupted after a disaster due to damaged infrastructure (power, water, transportation, communications), and many workers may be temporarily unemployed. These indirect losses have not been studied or measured as closely as direct losses, largely because they are notoriously difficult to identify and accurately measure.

Due to the limited sources of indirect loss data, statistical models are often used to compile indirect loss estimates. Though these models may help address problems due to a lack of available data, they must become more reliable if they are to be used as guides in setting mitigation and other hazard-related policies.

If this is to occur, however, accurate, firsthand (primary) data on indirect losses must be available for model calibration and validation. The recommended data collection and coordination program should thus also include surveys for the collection of detailed primary data on indirect economic losses from recent disasters (again, sufficient resources for this effort must be budgeted). Once a sufficiently reliable data base of these indirect losses has been generated, the agency should continue to collect indirect loss data on large disasters—those with model estimates of greater than $10 billion in losses. While the indirect loss data base is being constructed, efforts toward more effective uses of secondary data (data generated for purposes other than indirect loss estimation, such as unemployment insurance payouts) should be continued. We thus recommend that an assessment of methods for estimating indirect losses with secondary data be conducted.

It is important to understand the timing of economic disruptions that trigger indirect losses in order to plan for efficient emergency responses and to assess the cost-effectiveness of alternate mitigation strategies. The committee recommends that a microsimulation model be developed to create a timeline of regional commercial and industrial closures. Other models that should be devised include a formal restoration model and a comprehensive indirect loss model.

Moving Toward Better Knowledge of Disaster Losses

The lack of accurate information on these losses is a barrier to more effective hazard mitigation. As a step toward improving mitigation programs, efforts at centralizing these data and compiling better loss estimates must be strengthened. The federal government and private sector should combine their knowledge and data in providing better estimates of direct losses. The federal government must mount and back a significant data collection and research effort if better estimates of losses due to disasters are to be compiled, especially indirect losses. With a strong commitment, this could be accomplished within the next ten years. Until relatively accurate estimates are available, the true economic losses in natural disasters will remain poorly understood and the benefits of disaster mitigation activities only imprecisely evaluated.

We in the United States have almost come to accept natural disasters as part of our nation's social fabric. News of property damage, economic and social disruption, and injuries follow earthquakes, fires, floods and hurricanes. Surprisingly, however, the total losses that follow these natural disasters are not consistently calculated. We have no formal system in either the public or private sector for compiling this information. The National Academies recommends what types of data should be assembled and tracked.

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Information Saves Lives | Internews

Natural disaster projects.

Internews provides communities affected by natural disasters, such as hurricanes or earthquakes with information about where to find food, water and medical help.

• Hurricane Matthew Response (2016-2017) : Building on Internews presence in Haiti since 2006, after Hurricane Matthew in August 2016, Internews quickly adapted its activities on the ground to the needs of both local media and humanitarian organizations, providing coordinated and reliable two-way communication systems based on its own media partnerships.
• Earthquake Response (2010-2011) : Following the 7.0 magnitude earthquake that shook the country on January 12, 2010 that resulted in more than 200,000 deaths, Internews launched a daily 20-minute humanitarian radio program called ENFOMASYON NOU DWE KONNEN (News You Can Use), or ENDK. The program was prepared by a team of 12 Haitian journalists and focused on providing timely, relevant and actionable information ranging from where to access food and water, to hygiene and health tips, to useful guidelines for protecting a tent from flooding during rain and who to contact to replace lost identification papers.
• Tsunami Responses and Disaster Risk Reduction (2005-present) : When humanitarian response teams arrived in Aceh, Indonesia, in early 2005, they were met with a scene of utter devastation. The tsunami had torn through the province and smashed everything: lives, buildings, institutions. The survivors of the disaster were focused on locating their loved ones, and finding shelter, food and medical help.
• Earthquake Response (2015): In May 2015, just weeks after a major earthquake in Nepal, Internews conducted two needs assessment in the affected districts of Sindhupalchowk and Nuwakot. The assessments showed that there was an absence of communication between humanitarian actors working on earthquake response and the local communities.

“People are calling and asking for our reporters to come to them, because they know once their stories are heard they will get help.” — Fawad Ali – local radio journalist

• Flood Response (2010) : Internews worked with local radio stations in the hardest hit areas in Pakistan’s northwest region to ensure that journalists were able to continue reporting on the devastation and on the critical relief efforts underway.
• Earthquake Response (2005) : Within a week of the October 8 earthquake Internews launched the Pakistan Emergency Information Project to rebuild media capacities affected by the disaster in Kashmir and NWFP.

Philippines

• Typhoon Response (2013-2014) : Radyo Bakdaw was set up by Internews in Guiuan, Eastern Samar, after the typhoon Yolanda/Haiyan hit the Philippines on November 8th 2013. The typhoon passed through 9 provinces, killing at least 6268 people. An estimated 14 million people were affected by it with 4 million people displaced.
• Tsunami Response (2005) : Following the devastation of the December 26 tsunami, USAID / OTI / DAI Sri Lanka awarded Internews a grant for the Sri Lanka Relief Radio (SLRR) project. In three months, SLRR produced 98 programs to provide comprehensive coverage of issues affecting tsunami-damaged areas.

Our Mission

Learn more about the Climate Disaster Project’s mission, vision, and values.

Story. Community. Hope.

Climate change is already causing untold lives and livelihoods to be lost around the world. But too often there has been a failure to individualize and humanize the consequences of these disasters.

As a result, we can feel like climate change is something that’s happening somewhere else, to someone else, or to no one else but us – compromising our ability to form community and take action on the most pressing problem of our age.

The Climate Disaster Project is a solution to that problem. Based at the University of Victoria and led by faculty and students at post-secondary institutions around the world, our international teaching newsroom works with climate disaster survivors to share and investigate their stories.

We can survive this new age of disaster if we build empathy and solidarity around the experience of climate change. Because story creates community, and community creates hope.

Dian and Danie Brooks’s home was flooded during the 2021 atmospheric rivers that drenched the Pacific Northwest. (CDP/Jen Osborne)

How will we build a better future?

Your stories.

Your climate disaster story, no matter how big or small, can help others who have lived through similar disasters.

In Partnership

Our trauma-informed process recognizes this is your story not ours and gives you a voice over how it’s told.

Our Dedication

Our students and faculty are committed to sharing your story — and investigating the problems and solutions identified by disaster-affected communities.

Project Manifesto

Climate change is destroying lives and livelihoods..

The losses of those who have lived through floods, heatwaves, wildfires, and other extreme weather events are a testament to this destruction. We don’t know if all of those events are the result of climate change. But we do know their frequency and intensity has increased because of climate change.

That means we are all climate disaster survivors.

By the end of this century, climate change could cause at least 83 million premature deaths. At the same time, by 2050, up to three billion could be exposed to temperatures outside the conditions that have let humanity flourish. And, 50 years later, rising sea levels could result in up to two billion refugees. That means climate change will become the defining experience of our lives, both dividing and potentially uniting us.

But we don’t always see ourselves or others that way.

Instead, climate change can seem like it’s happening somewhere else or to someone else. In part, that’s because the coverage of climate change has focused on its political, economic, and environmental impacts. But we talk less about its human impacts, because there has been a failure to personalize the experience of climate change, beyond anecdotal and statistical accounts of the ongoing disaster we are living through.

So we feel alone in our climate change experiences.

And in this aloneness we suffer. Two-thirds of people in 50 countries believe climate change is a global emergency. Yet, we have individually and collectively failed to respond to this emergency with the urgency it requires. As a result, we have become frightened of the future tense. And that’s because we know what is happening in the present tense is a prelude of calamities to come.

Sharing our experiences can help us feel less alone and bring us hope.

The most powerful social movements of the now have been born from survivors who transformed their private experiences into public ones. In making those stories public, these survivors knew they weren’t alone. They knew they were part of a community. They knew they could make change together. Because, in the sharing of story, we can create community. And in creating community, we can find hope. Hope that we can create a more equitable society against the backdrop of climate change. Hope that we can create a more resilient society against the backdrop of climate change. And hope that we can, together, take the actions needed to survive climate change. This is the work of the Climate Disaster Project.

Stories Archive

‘We know that no matter what we have each other’

“I knew in the back of my head somewhere that Lytton was gone.”

“It’s like you could feel moss growing on your teeth.”

“It looked like this animal, a fire beast, just arms of fire going forward.”

When ashes rain down and you respond as best you can

Indigenous-led alert system, ‘Made for us, by one of us’

“We are not being told these stories that are happening right now — the people whose lives are being lost and whose livelihoods are being taken away — we don’t realize they exist. Even if we are told, we feel as if they are too far away.”

- Greta Thunberg, Fridays for the Future founder, 2020

We are all climate disaster survivors

Natural and Human-Made Disasters

Ronald Waldman

• Historical Highlights of the Use of Field Epidemiology in Humanitarian Emergencies
• Role of Field Epidemiologists in Humanitarian Emergency Response
• Common Issues

Every year, approximately 400 natural disasters occur worldwide. Added to these are 30–40 armed conflicts ( 1 ). Together, these and other emergencies imperil the health of hundreds of millions of people and substantially increase levels of morbidity and mortality. The future may bring more calamity to more places around the world; climate change is a scientific certainty, and with it comes an increased level of dangerous weather events in all coastal areas around the globe.

Natural events and human-made emergencies (e.g., armed conflict; climate change; and “development disasters,” such as those ensuing from flooding upstream of dam construction or excessive damage from earthquakes where structures have not been built to code) frequently occur in relatively remote, difficult-to-reach locations, often in the poorer countries of the world that are least able to cope. The tasks of field epidemiologists who participate in response efforts include (1) accurately determining the number of people affected, (2) calculating rates of morbidity and mortality, (3) assessing the health-related needs of the population, (4) establishing priorities for providing health services, (5) monitoring progress toward rehabilitation and recovery, (6) evaluating the results of emergency interventions, and (7) improving future responses by communicating the consequences of these emergencies.

The approach to the way supplies and services are delivered to emergency-affected populations has changed radically during the past 50 years. The application of epidemiologic principles to emergency response is generally considered to have begun during the massive international relief effort mounted during the civil war in Nigeria during the late 1960s. During that war, which resulted in widespread starvation, massive internal displacement, and high rates of mortality, epidemiologists developed methods to help determine the health status of the affected populations so that appropriate assistance could be delivered ( 2 ). Nutritional surveillance evolved over subsequent years, and, by the late 1970s, internationally approved guidelines for measuring nutritional status had been developed ( 3 ).

Toward the end of the 1970s, the genocidal practices of the Khmer Rouge regime in Cambodia resulted in a massive exodus of survivors to Thailand, where hundreds of thousands of people were given refuge in several large camps. These so-called “death camps” quickly became the sites of numerous outbreaks of disease, but the extent and principal causes of morbidity and mortality were measured in quantifiable terms only when epidemiologists from the Center for Disease Control (later Centers for Disease Control and Prevention), working together with colleagues from the International Committee of the Red Cross and a group of nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), instituted a formal disease surveillance system and conducted methodologically sound surveys ( 4 ).

Before the regular use of field epidemiology techniques, emergency response was guided mainly by the best intentions of relatively inexperienced medical and surgical teams with inappropriate skills and inadequate logistical support. Doctors would build makeshift clinics, throw open the doors, and provide services to people who were able to access them—in most instances, only a small proportion of the affected population. Available services frequently did not match the public health needs of the population. Planners and managers were in the unenviable position of directing major relief operations with little information to guide their efforts ( 5 ). However, as sound epidemiologic practices emerged and were more regularly applied, reasonably accurate denominators on which to calculate rates of illness and death were generated and a more disciplined approach to the delivery of humanitarian assistance in the health sector evolved.

Unfortunately, disasters that have needed more honed epidemiologic approaches have continued to occur regularly. Examples include repeated famines and conflicts (the two are not unrelated) in the Horn of Africa; cyclones and tsunamis leading to massive flooding in countries bordering the Bay of Bengal and elsewhere in the Indian Ocean; earthquakes and hurricanes in the Caribbean and Central America; and wars in the Balkans, the Middle East, and Central Africa. All of these required distinct responses, but eventually, because of the development and application of epidemiologic techniques, including more formal approaches to rapid assessment, surveillance, and impact evaluation, patterns of morbidity and mortality emerged. In addition, training programs were established that resulted in an emergency response workforce that was more knowledgeable, more sophisticated, and more capable of reducing illness and saving more lives in less time ( Box 22.1 ) ( 6 ).

One notable watershed occurred in the wake of the Rwanda genocide of 1994, when more than 500,000 refugees fled that country to then-Zaire, with many settling in a few camps near the northern tip of Lake Kivu. Within weeks, an estimated 45,000 refugees had died of cholera, despite the presence of hundreds of nongovernmental organizations, United Nations agencies, military medical contingents from at least nine Western countries, and many other public health officials ( 7 ). The collective failure to respond effectively to this situation clearly underscored the need for the emergency relief community to develop indicators for a successful intervention and to work to achieve those indicators in every emergency. This need led to development of the Sphere Project and its accompanying Handbook ( Humanitarian Charter and Minimum Standards in Humanitarian Response ) that remains obligatory reading for persons working in this field (8). In addition to establishing standards in key areas (shelter, food security, food aid and nutrition, water and sanitation, and health services, and the cross-cutting areas of gender and protection), the Sphere Project has provided opportunities for epidemiologists and other public health experts to agree on a relatively standardized approach to emergency relief. A fourth edition of this essential Handbook will be published in Fall, 2018.

More recently, notable humanitarian crises resulting from natural disasters have included a massive earthquake in Haiti (2010); flooding that displaced 20 million people in Pakistan (2010); several typhoons in the Philippines, including Typhoon Haiyan/Yolanda in 2013; and the ongoing (2017) severe drought in the Horn of Africa. Human-made emergencies commanding the attention of the international humanitarian community have included ongoing conflicts in South Sudan, Central African Republic, and throughout the Middle East. Although the peer-reviewed literature addressing responses to such disasters remains relatively sparse, field epidemiologists preparing to respond to future crises should be encouraged to learn from these case studies.

The principal objectives of epidemiologic field investigations and response in emergency settings are to

• Establish the magnitude and distribution of the public health consequences of the event.
• Assess the size and health needs of the affected population.
• Help provide and promote epidemiologically derived data as the principal basis for resource allocation.
• Help guide implementation of public health programs to minimize postemergency morbidity and mortality.
• Monitor progress of the relief effort.
• Evaluate the effectiveness of the relief effort.

The field epidemiologist is a core member of the emergency response team. Increasingly, the international response to emergencies is organized in a command-and-control manner, in accordance with the Incident Command System (see Chapter 16 ) or similar systems approaches ( 9 ). Knowledge of the organizational structure of the relief effort and identification of the decision-makers is important, as are being a team player and understanding the roles of other team members. In the face of tragedy, many unseasoned hands will adopt an “act first– think later” approach and view the methodical collection and analysis of data as a frivolous, time-wasting activity. In these instances, the field epidemiologist must be an affirmative voice of reason—strongly advancing an evidence-based approach to health interventions that maximizes benefit to the affected population.

Although no cookbook approach exists to emergency response, flexibility and sound judgment are hallmarks for the successful use of field epidemiology. Accordingly, a flexible framework of steps for the epidemiologist includes

• Determining the impact of the event on the public’s health by establishing rates of illness and death with an optimal attainable level of accuracy (note: “the perfect should not be the enemy of the good”). In doing so, it is, of course, essential to focus on the determinations of both numerators (cases and deaths) and denominators (total population and, wherever possible, age and sex breakdowns).
• Initiating disease surveillance as quickly as possible, beginning with a minimum amount of data to collect and augmenting as deemed appropriate and feasible.
• Identifying personal, household, and environmental risk factors for elevated rates of illness and death.
• Advocating for the early initiation of essential public health interventions and disease-control programs on the basis of knowledge of the actual and potential distribution of diseases in the population.
• Arguing forcefully that health actions of lesser priority be deferred.
• Becoming an essential member of the health response team by attending appropriate meetings; working with public health officials and other responders from different organizations, including government officials; and providing frequently updated reports about the situation to those who have a need to know.

This last point (i.e., providing situation reports) is critical; in emergency response, “consequential epidemiology” needs to be practiced ( 10 ). The contribution of epidemiologists reflects their ability to provide timely and accurate data in a way that decision-makers can easily understand, analyze, and use for action. The use of those data should enable effective implementation of appropriate public health measures. Conversely, collecting and providing potentially useful information that decision-makers do not act on might be viewed, in part, as a failure of field epidemiology, as is the implementation of health interventions that relevant data do not support. Thus, epidemiologic skills are necessary but not sufficient: equally critical are the abilities to communicate effectively, advocate successfully, and provide strong leadership in support of the policymakers directly responsible for consequential actions.

In its early stages, the emergency relief environment is always chaotic. However, every responder has the same essential needs: food, water, shelter, transportation, communication, and a place to sleep. Thus, the field epidemiologist’s first priority is to arrange to meet these basic needs. This is important because the more independent one can be, the less others will have to divert attention from their work to provide assistance.

Hiring staff is another early priority, especially in international emergency relief. Because field epidemiology is a population-based discipline, the epidemiology team should include members who know the local language, geography, and customs. Therefore, recruiting and retaining people who can be relied on to be effective liaisons with the local communities is a high priority. Although English-speaking translators are highly valued, because they do not always represent the community and are unlikely to be professionally trained, information they provide should be carefully assessed and verified.

Establishing Rates of Illness, Injury, and Death

In most emergency relief settings, accurate measurement of the size of the affected population and its current health status is missing and difficult to establish. For the field epidemiologist, though, it is critical to determine a reasonably precise denominator on which to base the calculation of rates, such as crude, age-, sex-, and disease-specific death; prevalence of moderate, severe, and global acute malnutrition in the affected community; incidence of high-priority conditions; and access to use of health services. Determining rates is essential for comparing population groups and prioritizing public health interventions. A variety of methodologic options can be used to calculate population size, ranging from the more basic, such as extrapolating from the number of people in a sample of dwelling units, to the more sophisticated, such as using aerial photography and/or satellite imagery. The field epidemiologist needs to consider the context in which the relief effort is occurring to select the best method—one that provides reasonably accurate numbers in a culturally and contextually sensitive way.

Rapid Assessment

In 1980, in one of the many emergencies on the Horn of Africa, women were observed to be wearing no jewelry, a sign that all valuables had been sold to purchase food that had become available at exorbitant prices. There was one exception, however: almost all women wore a thin string around their necks with a small, spoon-shaped pendant attached to it. The significance of this oddity eluded field epidemiologists assessing the health status of the population until a visiting ophthalmologist mentioned that this population suffered from an unusually high prevalence of trachoma. The spoon-shaped device, it was learned, was used to remove inverted eyelashes, an action that helped relieve the irritation and pain associated with the scratched and ulcerated cornea that are a feature of this disease. Their ubiquity was a testament to the importance of the disease—and keen observation was the key to diagnosing this public health problem.

__________ Source: R. Waldman, unpublished data.

Field epidemiologists play a key role in the earliest stages of any relief effort. In addition to an appreciation for quantifiable data and for how and when to collect it, the “shoe leather” component of epidemiology is valuable in and of itself for conducting an initial rapid assessment. A wealth of information can be gleaned from observation during a walk-through of the affected area if one knows what to look for and how to employ basic qualitative techniques.

• If commodities are being sold or traded in the marketplace, then their price, compared with preemergency prices, indicates their availability or scarcity.
• Black markets spring up quickly in postdisaster settings, and the willingness of people to make major sacrifices to pay for essential commodities indicates dire need.
• Indicators such as the amount of and type of jewelry being worn can be meaningful ( Box 22.2 ). The absence of traditional adornment in a society in which it is customary might signify food insecurity and that everything of value already has been sold.

Interviews with community leaders, transect walks through affected areas, and results from a constellation of methods that frequently are grouped as participatory rapid appraisals can be useful even before the analysis of survey data that might provide more accurate information but at the cost of timeliness. Of paramount importance for the field epidemiologist is reaching the disaster location as quickly as possible, visiting all affected areas and population groups, and helping the relief community gather, collate, and assess the value of all information. Postemergency settings are dynamic, but ultimately decisions about public health and health service delivery must be made from day 1 on the basis of existing evidence ( 11 ).

As valuable as nonquantitative data might be, the lack of routinely collected health information means that, as soon as is feasible, surveys will need to be conducted. A precise sampling frame will be difficult to establish at first, and careful judgment is needed to ensure that samples drawn from the population are representative. However, in most circumstances, a less than optimally representative systematically chosen sample will be superior to a convenience sample, especially if the results are to guide the equitable distribution of commodities and services.

A commonly used survey method is two-stage cluster sampling , first developed by the World Health Organization to measure vaccination coverage rates ( 12 ). The logistical demands of this method are far less than for either simple random sampling or systematic random sampling because relatively few clusters need to be visited to obtain statistically valid results with a reasonable degree of precision. Although sample sizes can be relatively large, the advantages of using this method usually outweigh the disadvantages. Nonetheless, two distinct disadvantages should be noted:

• Cluster sampling is not well suited for measuring characteristics that are not homogenously distributed in the population. For example, if malnutrition is clumped in certain areas, then cluster sampling might miss it entirely or, conversely, overidentify it, resulting in skewed, nonrepresentative values for the population as a whole.
• Cluster sampling can be difficult to explain to decision-makers.

Finally, a frequently overlooked problem with surveys is that nonsampling error is likely to be more important than the disadvantages of any sampling method. Surveyors need to be carefully trained to understand the objectives of the survey and the importance of collecting accurate and unbiased information. When people affected by an emergency have lost their possessions or suffered other shocks, they can be eager to please those they perceive to be in a position to help them by providing answers they think the surveyors want to hear, resulting in a sincere, but inaccurate, picture of reality. For example, people might not report household deaths because they fear having their rations decreased. Therefore, the field epidemiologist needs to be aware of the many real and potential biases in obtaining accurate information from an emergency-affected population and must take steps to ensure that none of the epidemiologic activities inadvertently contributes to further deterioration of the situation. For epidemiologists, as for clinicians, “do no harm” is an important rule.

Organizing Priority Interventions

The main goals of emergency relief are to save lives and restore individuals and communities to their preemergency conditions. Although individual-and population-directed health interventions are important in many settings, other types of interventions might take precedence. In the book, Refugee Health , the medical relief organization Doctors Without Borders suggested 10 top priorities in disaster response ( 13 ). Of the top five, only one—measles vaccination—is a health-specific intervention, and its importance might have diminished since publication of that book as more countries have achieved high measles vaccine coverage rates through routine health services. (In situations of protracted conflict, however, where primary healthcare services have been unavailable to the population for some time, vaccination coverage levels can fall dramatically. As a result, measles outbreaks have occurred increasingly throughout the Middle East and in migrant populations in Europe.) The other priorities are initial assessment; water and sanitation; food and nutrition; and shelter and site planning. Although these are clearly related to public health, in most international emergency responses they are considered to be distinct from the health sector.

Some humanitarian interventions address basic needs of the emergency-affected population slowly and even inadequately. For example, in the area of nutrition, field epidemiologists have been called on to identify, diagnose, and design appropriate interventions for rare conditions (e.g., scurvy, pellagra, and beriberi) while simultaneously implementing surveillance for acute moderate and severe malnutrition. Although relief team members who are experts on specific problems understandably will focus on those problems, the field epidemiologist needs to address the overall spectrum of the relief effort and promote the most appropriate interventions, regardless of the sectors to which the interventions might belong.

Public health surveillance is a critical element of disaster response, and its establishment usually becomes the responsibility of the on-site epidemiology team. In humanitarian settings, epidemiologists attempting to implement effective surveillance might have to address several challenges, including

• Balancing speed and accuracy in adverse conditions.
• Integrating multiple sources of sometimes conflicting data while determining which are credible and which are not.
• Soliciting others to participate in the surveillance effort when they might not assign it the same priority the epidemiologist does.
• Assisting decision-makers in using surveillance data to take action.

Rapidly established, well-monitored, and widely used surveillance systems have been instrumental in preventing deaths as, for example, in the aftermath of the Asian tsunami of December 1994, when on-scene, experienced epidemiologists helped conduct effective surveillance.

Conditions targeted for surveillance vary in relation to specifics of the setting. In most developing countries, at the start it may be sufficient to target a simple surveillance system toward syndromic presentations and easily recognizable conditions, such as acute lower respiratory illness (a proxy for pneumonia), acute watery or bloody diarrhea (cholera, dysentery), fever with or without stiff neck (malaria, meningitis), and measles. In other settings—especially in middle-and higher income countries—the focus might be on measuring the needs of chronically ill persons who might be cut off from their medications or procedures; in these situations, such conditions might be more prevalent than common acute communicable diseases. In all settings, surveillance should focus on the most vulnerable segments of the population (e.g., infants, children, older persons, women, destitute and underserved persons, and persons with special needs). To ensure they are not neglected, epidemiologists should disaggregate data to facilitate identification of health problems in these groups.

Coordination

Emergency relief almost always occurs in emotionally charged environments. Although the need for highly coordinated action is universally recognized (some have suggested that “poor coordination” should be recorded as a cause of death on death certificates), many responders might want to coordinate but not “be coordinated.” The most common scenario is for a health cluster to be established at the onset of the relief effort. Government officials, representatives of the World Health Organization, and a designated person from a nongovernment organization usually are assigned joint responsibility for chairing cluster meetings and overseeing their functioning. In large disasters, such as the Haiti earthquake of 2010, several hundred responders regularly attended health cluster meetings, many seeking guidance on how to respond effectively ( 14 ).

The epidemiologist, for better or for worse, frequently is thrust into a position of responsibility and authority because most responders will not be familiar with the published medical and/or public health literature and few will be able to view the chaos through the objective lens of unbiased data. Epidemiologists responding to an emergency for the first time might be unfamiliar and even uncomfortable with the amount of respect they are accorded.

Humanitarian response settings are the emergency rooms of public health. Lifesaving, irreversible decisions frequently are made in the early phases of the relief effort. A fundamental task of the field epidemiologist is collection and circulation of essential data on the health and nutritional status of the affected population as accurately as possible in the shortest possible time. The purpose of these data is to help first responders prioritize the interventions most likely to limit excess preventable death. The environment is often chaotic, uncoordinated, and characterized by logistical and resource constraints, but the epidemiologist needs to be calm, assertive, and able to convey the power of accurately collected and analyzed data. Ultimately, however, successful contribution to a disaster response will be measured not on the basis of the elegance of the epidemiologic investigations, but rather as a function of how many lives are saved ( 15 ).

• Centre for Research on the Epidemiology of Disasters. http://www.cred.be
• Brown RE, Mayer J. Famine and disease in Biafra: an assessment. Trop Geogr Med . 1969;21:348–52.
• De Ville de Goyet C, Seaman J, Geijer U. The Management of Nutritional Emergencies in Large Populations . Geneva: World Health Organization; 1978.
• Glass RI, Cates W Jr, Nieburg P, et al. Rapid assessment of health status and preventive-medicine needs of newly arrived Kampuchean refuges, Sakeo, Thailand. Lancet . 1980;1:868–72.
• Sommer A, Mosley WH. East Bengal cyclone of November, 1970. Epidemiological approach to disaster assessment. Lancet . 1972;1:1029–36.
• Toole MJ, Waldman RJ. Prevention of excess mortality in refugee and displaced populations in developing countries. JAMA . 1990;263:3296–302.
• Goma Epidemiology Group. What happened in Goma, Zaire, in July 1994? Lancet . 1995;345:339–44.
• The Sphere Project. Humanitarian Charter and Minimum Standards in Disaster Response . 3rd ed. Geneva: The Sphere Project; 2011.
• Southeast Alaska Petroleum Response Organization. What is the incident command system? http://www.seapro.org/pdf_ docs/ICS.Overview.pdf
• Field Epidemiology Manual Wiki. Field epidemiology manual. https://wiki.ecdc.europa.eu/fem/w/wiki/field-epidemiology
• Checchi F, Warsame A, Treacy-Wong V et al. Public health information in crisis-affected populations: a review of methods and their use for advocacy and action. Lancet . 2017;390:2297–313.
• Henderson RH, Sundaresan T. Cluster sampling to assess immunization coverage: a review of experience with a simplified sampling method. Bull World Health Org . 1982;60:253–60.
• Médecins Sans Frontières. Refugee Health—An Approach to Emergency Situations . London: Macmillan; 1997.
• World Health Organization. Global health cluster guide. http://www.who.int/hac/global_health_cluster/guide_glossary_of_key_terms/en/
• Waldman RJ, Toole MJ. Where is the science in humanitarian health? Lancet . 2017;390:2224–6.

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New NASA Disasters Funded Research Opportunities

Are you passionate about leveraging Earth science to make a tangible difference in disaster risk reduction, recovery, and resilience?

The NASA ROSES-2024 Solicitation, " A.42 Earth Action: Disaster Risk Reduction, Recovery, and Resilience, " is now open for proposals! NASA's Disasters program is looking for multidisciplinary projects that demonstrate a clear connection between scientific data and improvements in community safety and sustainability.

By addressing the critical elements of hazard, exposure, and vulnerability, we can pave the way to more resilient communities worldwide.     Join us in our mission to integrate Earth science information into decision-making processes for enhanced disaster management. Let's work together to safeguard communities and ecosystems against the impacts of disasters.

Proposals are due June 14, 2024.

See the A.42 Solicitation

Pre-proposal telecon.

Latest Updates

• The Frequently Asked Questions Document was updated on April 26, 2024, to reflect information shared during the pre-proposal telecon.
• There was a pre-proposal teleconference on April 11, 2024, at 1 p.m. EDT, which included a question-and-answer session. A recording of this telecon is embedded above. 
• On Feb. 28, 2024, changes were made to Section 4 of the text of ROSES-2024 A.42 Earth Action: Disaster Risk Reduction, Recovery, and Resilience (.pdf) to remove or modify erroneous text, and Section 4.8 has been focused on foreign participation and expanded. New text is in bold and deleted text is struck through. The due dates are unchanged.

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With help from NASA’s Earth-observing satellites, our community is making a difference on our home planet. Find out how by staying up-to-date on their latest projects and discoveries.

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When Disasters Strike, EDA is There for Communities

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“The country is here for you and with you.  We are not leaving until things are built back and built back better than they were before...We’ll be with you every step of the way.” President Joe Biden visiting Santa Cruz County, California after severe storms & flooding | January 2023

The U.S. Economic Development Administration (EDA) plays a unique role in assisting communities when catastrophe strikes.  As the only federal agency focused solely on economic development, supporting a community facing a significant, potentially devastating, economic event following a natural disaster is a critical role EDA is proud to support. 

Following the immediate triage after a disaster, federal partners work collectively to assist in both short- and long-term disaster recovery. EDA leads the Economic Recovery Support Function , which is part of the FEMA-led National Disaster Recovery Framework that supports local, state, and Tribal governments rebuild businesses and employment, and create economic opportunities to develop resilient communities. Our team works on the ground helping communities navigate federal revenue streams and envision a stronger future. 

Disaster recovery, much like traditional economic development, is not a one-size-fits-all approach. EDA’s place-based, locally led economic development approach and its existing network of national and regional partners—including Economic Development Districts (EDDs) , University Centers , and other stakeholders—ensures disaster-affected communities receive necessary support and investment. 

EDA believes the best economic success stories come from direct engagement with communities, keeping their recovery efforts locally driven.  This ensures the right help gets to the right people when it is needed most. Sometimes what a community needs most after a disaster is to know they are being seen and heard. 

“[EDA] came to us and asked, how can we support you?... To be there and to have a person answer those questions is completely mind blowing when it comes to disaster recovery. We had colleagues come from hours away to attend,” said Chelsea Irvine of 3CORE, following EDA’s support for California communities affected by the 2021 wildfires.

EDA’s History of Disaster Supplemental Funding 

Since the early 1990s, Congress has appropriated approximately $3.2 billion to EDA to support disaster recovery and resilience. This funding has resulted in hundreds of grants to communities across the country that have been affected by federally declared natural disasters. 

EDA received much of the disaster supplemental funding in the last six years through three specific opportunities, including two supplemental appropriations that provided $587 million each for communities affected by natural disasters in 2017 and 2018, and tornadoes and floods in 2019. 

The investments support a variety of projects including infrastructure improvements to prevent future flooding, workforce development to create jobs, and Revolving Loan Funds to provide support to small businesses.  

Just one example can be seen in Puerto Rico: a $4.4 million disaster supplemental investment is spurring innovation and entrepreneurship on the island after it was hit by back-to-back hurricanes in 2017. The funding helped to create the Forward Center, a 30,000-square foot STEM facility that can house up to 50 startups focused on science, technology, and manufacturing. Leaders say the center will help citizens who lost their jobs after the storms to start businesses of their own.  

READ MORE: EDA Supports STEM Technology Development in Puerto Rico Following Irma and Maria  

Meanwhile, following a devastating wildfire in Paradise, California, leaders leveraged EDA disaster supplemental funding to secure additional federal funding for the community. The 2018 Camp Fire is recorded as the single most devastating fire in California state history, killing 100 people and destroying 90 percent of homes in the area.  

EDA provided a $1.8 million investment to support development of a master plan to guide recovery and redevelopment of the community’s transportation infrastructure. Less than two years later, that planning and scoping allowed the city to qualify for a $200 million Community Development Block Grant-Disaster Recovery from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. Community officials credit the EDA investment. “There is no way the town would have been able to respond in the absence of the EDA grant. It’s been such an important part of our recovery curve,” Paradise City Engineer Marc Mattox said.  

READ MORE: Paradise, California Leverages $1.8 Million EDA Grant to Secure $200 Million Investment  

Newly Announced Disaster Recovery Investments 

EDA is currently accepting applications for its most recent disaster supplemental appropriation, the FY23 Disaster Supplemental , which provides $483 million to communities affected by natural disasters in 2021 and 2022. Funds are awarded on a rolling basis and can be awarded to assist a wide range of disaster recovery, including economic recovery and resilience strategic planning grants and public works construction assistance. 

Recently, EDA has announced awards from the appropriation to the city of Roseau, Minnesota for stormwater infrastructure improvements, creation of a business incubator to support workforce development at the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley, and reconstruction of an airport terminal destroyed by a tornado in Jonesboro, Arkansas, among others.  

MORE: Recently Announced FY23 Disaster Supplemental Awards  

As more natural disasters inevitably occur, so does the need for disaster recovery support so communities can build stronger for the future. EDA’s impact is evident through immediate economic recovery coordination, funding for strategic planning, economic recovery, and long-term resilience and preparedness, and our team stands ready to help states and communities deal with future disasters and emergencies. 

For more information on EDA’s Disaster Recovery & Resiliency Efforts, visit eda.gov .

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World Bank provides emergency support to Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil

Approximately US$125 million are available for immediate use and more funds are being agreed with the federal government

BRASILIA, May 10, 2024 - The World Bank is providing emergency support to the state of Rio Grande do Sul, heavily impacted by recent rains and floods. Approximately US$125 million (around R$625 million) in resources from ongoing projects are already available for immediate reallocation. The funds come from the projects “ Urban Resilience Program in Southern Brazil ”, “ Revitalization Program for the Central Area of Porto Alegre ”, and “ Support Program for the New Bolsa Família ”. In addition, teams from the institution are providing technical assistance in damage assessment, resource prioritization, and funds deployment.

Besides financial support, World Bank teams are also providing free technical assistance to help authorities at the federal, state and municipal levels deal with the high volume of decisions and actions required on numerous fronts. This assistance includes damage and needs assessments, action planning and ways to ensure the most efficient execution of funds. Prioritization is done based on the government's most urgent needs and in close coordination with other partners.

In addition, the institution is talking to the federal, state and municipal governments and the Regional Development Bank of the Far South (BRDE) about making new resources available on an accelerated basis. These resources will be used to finance recovery and provide technical assistance in structuring what is being called a “Marshall Plan” for rebuilding the state, including developing urban resilience and flood mitigation structures.

“ The World Bank stands in solidarity with the population of the state of Rio Grande do Sul, so affected by the recent disaster ,” said Sophie Naudeau, Acting Director and Operations Manager of the World Bank for Brazil . “ We have extensive experience in crisis management and reconstruction linked to natural disasters in several countries around the world and we are bringing this knowledge to bear on the state's rapid recovery. We are also ready to work together with the competent authorities to prevent future disasters like this from causing so much personal and material damage ,” added Naudeau.

Disasters like the one in Rio Grande do Sul are clear examples of the need for greater preparation for future climate-related events, which tend to be more frequent. Recently, the World Bank approved a new set of crisis response tools to allow countries to quickly redirect unused resources in their portfolio to make emergency relief easier and faster.  

Website : www.bancomundial.org.br Facebook : www.facebook.com/BancoMundialBrasil Twitter : https://twitter.com/bancomundialbr YouTube : https://www.youtube.com/bancomundialenamericalatina

Brasília Elisa Diniz [email protected]

Washington DC Yuri Szabo Yamashita [email protected]  

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Rehearsal for a Wedding Cake Disaster - Becca Napier

Performance

This performance piece of “Rehearsal for a Wedding Cake Disaster” is a performance of one making a wedding cake with an audience watching.

Artist website

Becca Napier

Becca Napier is a filmmaker and photographer, whose work has mostly been in narrative and silent work. Becca is currently a senior at the University of Colorado Boulder, she will be graduating in May of 2025 with a double degree in Media Production and Cinema Studies. She is originally from Marietta, Georgia, now attending the University of Colorado Boulder, with intentions to move to Atlanta Georgia with plans of pursuing a job at a production company. Becca has been awarded the Sons of the American Revolution, Daughters of the American Revolution, Air Commando Award, and Reserve Officer Award, American Legion General Military Excellence Award, Outstanding Inspection Commander, Top Inspection Commander, during her time in JROTC. Becca wants to make LGBTQIA+ films in the future and have her own production company.

Rehearsal for a Wedding Cake Disaster

In a captivating performance piece, a college student with a hobby in baking takes center stage to craft a wedding cake masterpiece, inviting the audience into the delicate artistry and heartfelt emotions behind each layer, while exploring themes of love, commitment, and the sweetness of life.

Artist talk

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Disability Inclusive Disaster Risk Management Manager

• CBM Global Disability Inclusion

Permanent contract /Full-Time

Reports to: Country Director

Job Overview The post holder is responsible for development of Disability Inclusive Disaster Risk Management plan - DRM (DRR, Climate change adaptation, Humanitarian response and resilience building) in line with the existing country strategy plan and oversees its implementation in highest risk geographies in Bangladesh. The position holder is accountable for implementing DiDRM Action components in line with the CBM Global Programme Strategy, the CBM Global Disaster Risk Management Framework, Economic empowerment and sustainable livelihoods Framework, and in close collaboration and coordination with relevant Thematic teams, Member teams, and partners. As a member of the CBM Global Country Programme team, success requires close collaboration to secure support and ensure a holistic and consistent approach to disaster risk management that takes a proactive role in the effective delivery of DiDRM projects, across all three vehicles of change detailed in the organisation’s programmatic strategy. S/he will support partners to achieve highest quality standards, in line with our Programme Quality Framework and will develop and nurture effective and authentic partnerships in line with our Approach to Partnership. S/he will engage in appropriate coordination forums, networks to promote disability inclusive disaster rsk management and will be responsible for developing strategic partnerships to support the implementation of the plan. S/he will promote strong capacity in project design, proposal development, effective project implementation, monitoring, evaluation and learning within CBM Global DiDRM activities. The role will support effective collaboration among the Country Office staff, partners, in-country stakeholders, Thematic Teams and Member teams and other departments within CBM Global. Key areas will be around Inclusive Disaster Prevention, Mitigation, Preparedness, climate change adaptation, humanitarian action and Resilience building efforts.

We welcome applications from those with the right to work in Bangladesh. This position is based in Dhaka, Bangladesh (With frequent visits to Cox’s Bazar and other operational areas along with full flexibility to be deployed in any emergency context)

Salary range :

The salary offered will be competitive, dependent on skills and experience. We offer a national contract.

Responsibilities and Duties

Strategic Support and Leadership:

• In collaboration with Country Director, lead the development of the DRM plan based on the existing country strategy plan (CSP).
• Support CSP review process by analyzing existing DRM work, humanitarian strategy and preparedness plan, a deeper situation analysis, including an overview of the humanitarian architecture, national/District level policies and guidelines, disaster scenarios/context analysis and stakeholder mapping of the sector.
• Provide recommendations on strategic partnerships for DRR, CCA, HA engagement in identified high-risk geographies (for climate and other hazard risks[1]) and ensure an integrated programming approach to DRM engagement in these geographies as per the Country Strategy Plan.
• Monitor on-going important risks including climate risk and present risk analysis and outlook for pre-positioning CBM Global along with strategic partners ahead of time.
• Develop team agreements and with pre-position CBM Global in strategic consortia to promote disability inclusion within identified funding cycles and donor engagement.
• Support other Country Team members to better understand disaster risks and embark of adaptive programming.
• Review and update the action plan for the “readiness for response” road map within the DRM plan and align with CBM Global’s overall approach to readiness for response and the Country Operational Plan.
• Engage with identified OPDs and mainstream DRM partners using innovative approaches to implement, monitor and review the plan on regular basis. Conduct annual learning reflection to document practices, keep the readiness aspects up to speed.
• In the event of a new emergency, provide strategic oversight for response operation, gather timely information, prepare sitreps and make recommendations on humanitarian response engagement possibilities through convening humanitarian management team meeting.
• Ensure support to inclusive monitoring, implementation, learning and evaluation of CBM Global humanitarian response activations as per the DRM framework.
• Contribute to identifying in country funding opportunities for DRM activities.
• Represent CBM Global in appropriate coordination and networking forums in country and proactively engage with identified UN clusters, humanitarian, DRR and climate networks and platforms with the objective to influence and promote disability inclusive DRM.
• Ensure effective and smooth coordination with the CBM Global Member Team, Technical Team, and partner organizations following three-wheel communication.
• Lead the DRM team including the Rohingya Response team of CBMG Bangladesh, clearly articulate a compelling vision and direction for the DRM team and inspire and guide the team towards achieving the organizational visions.

Capacity strengthening and knowledge management

• Identify the capacity development requirements of partners including organisations of persons with disabilities in disability inclusive Disaster Risk Management and ensure required capacity strengthening support including trainings, peer exchanges, webinars, clinics.
• Contribute to partner DRM assessments and establish a monitoring mechanism to measure the impact of partner capacity building initiatives.
• Support partners to participate in regular trainings and refresher exercises provided either by CBM Global or jointly with other humanitarian organisations on relevant standards and tools (e.g. Core Humanitarian Standard on Quality and Accountability (CHS), Humanitarian Inclusion Standards for Older People and People with Disabilities (HIS), IASC Guidelines on Inclusion of Persons with Disabilities in Humanitarian Action, etc., Inclusive Early Warning and Early Action checklist and guidelines, promoting disability inclusion in Sendai framework for Disaster Risk Reduction).
• Contribute towards collective learning within CBM Global through structured documentation of approaches, good practices and lessons learned on disability inclusion in Disaster Risk Management, and dissemination of these learnings within country of placement and other countries through CBM Global DRM community of Practice.
• As member of CBM Global DRM Community Of Practice, actively contribute to identified global work streams by bringing relevant evidence from community programmes.
• Provide competency based technical support (remote and on site) to other CBM Global countries as per request from CBM Global DRM unit and in discussion with and approval from the line manager.

Safeguarding Responsibilities

Understands the incident management framework and their first responder role in recording, responding and reporting incidents.

Understands the survivor-centred approach and how to apply it when receiving a complaint or responding to an incident. Knows local support services available in the community or region, and how to engage them.

Able to listen and accurately document reported concerns and complaints. Able to respect the confidentiality of safeguarding allegations. Able to appropriately apply the survivor-centred approach.

Treats the survivor and others involved in an incident with dignity and respect.

Be assertive in implementing the initial incident response protocols by gaining the trust and cooperation of parties involved.

Key outcomes expected from this role:

Disability Inclusion Disaster Risk Management Project Management Oversight

• Act as technical support/backstop on Inclusive DRR, CCA, Disaster Preparedness, Humanitarian Response and Post Disaster Resilience building efforts for partner OPDs and mainstream organizations, taking a systems approach that incorporates inclusion in policies, approaches and practices.
• Identifies current and emerging risk factors, their underlying causes, actions that could help reduce the impacts of future hazards, including service delivery analysis on assessment and response to protection requirements.
• Support OPDs and partner organisations to facilitate community consultations aimed at establishing locally owned action plans for capacity building to strengthen the community-based disaster risk reduction governance mechanisms and processes which support communities resilience building.
• Support OPDs and partners to establishes a road map to community resilience and link the DiDRM resilience to food security, climate smart livelihoods using inclusive market systems approach.
• Support OPDs to participate in DiDRM coordination and collaboration platforms at national/sub national level and within established consortia.
• Ensures timely and quality programmatic reporting and submission on CBM Global’s DRM interventions of Bangladesh to the Member Team and donors with the support of the Global technical Team.
• Build a high-performing and efficient team through management, technical support, coaching and monitoring.

Person Specification

All of the following requirements are essential, unless marked with a * when they are desirable, and will be assessed from a combination of information provided from the application form and interview process.

CBM Global welcomes applicants from diverse backgrounds and people with lived experience of disability.

· Minimum of seven (7) years of proven professional experience in DRR, Climate Change Adaptation (CCA), emergency preparedness, response and humanitarian programme management and oversight including (natural disasters, refugee/internal displacement contexts, conflicts, etc.).

· Solid experience in social inclusion gained at field level, preferably in disability inclusion.

· At least five (5) years of experience in partnership management, including international, national and Organizations with persons with disability (OPD) partners’ capacity strengthening on disability inclusion in DRR, climate change adaptation and humanitarian action through formal capacity assessment, trainings, mentorship, support visits, facilitating peer exchange/learning among partners.

· Proven experience of working with variety of stakeholders including UN, INGOs, government, donor agencies, sectors, clusters and Inter-Sectoral Coordination Group coordination etc.

· Experience in strategic planning and management of large and complex DRM projects and budgets.

· Demonstrated experience in strategic oversight, coaching and capacity building of program staff, and working with diverse teams.

· Demonstrated knowledge and experience of practical application of the Sphere standards and their foundational documents (the Humanitarian Charter, the Protection Principles, and the Core Humanitarian Standard, Humanitarian Inclusion Standards, IASC guidelines for inclusion of persons with disabilities in humanitarian action).

· Knowledge of the local humanitarian context especially Rohingya response activities and related emerging trends, including policy developments and national, regional and global levels.

· Understanding of disability inclusion and related legal frameworks and standards, especially with regards to Disability Inclusive Disaster Risk Management. *

· Experience in mainstreaming gender, age and disability in DRM. *

· Experience of humanitarian cash, social protection and early recovery including livelihoods an asset. *

· Familiarity and practical experience with DRM MEAL frameworks. *

Skills/competencies/personal qualities:

· Language Proficiency

o English (professional proficiency)

o Bangla (native)

· Core Values

o Commitment

o Diversity and Inclusion

o Integrity

· Core Competencies

o Communication

o Drive for Result

o Working with People

· Functional Competencies

o Analysing

o Deciding and Initiating Action

o Formulating Strategies and Concepts

o Leading and Supervising

o Persuading and Influencing

o Relating and Networking

Qualifications:

· University degree in Disaster Risk Management/humanitarian/development studies, social sciences, geography or related field.

Employee Benefits

· We offer flexibility and working from home arrangements.

· As part of our commitment with inclusion, CBM Global aims to encourage applications from people with disabilities and those with health conditions. We have a comprehensive equality and diversity policy.

Useful Information - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Shortlisting and Interviews

CBM Global is an equal opportunities employer, committed to ensuring all applications are treated fairly.

All applications are subject to our shortlisting process; if you are shortlisted we will contact you and invite you to attend an online interview. You will also be advised at this point if there will be any skills tasks to complete as part of the recruitment process.

Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis. Advertisements will end if a qualified applicant has been found for the post.

Diversity Policy Statement

Everyone has the right to be treated with consideration and respect. CBM Global is committed to achieving a truly inclusive environment for all, by developing better working relationships that release the full potential, creativity and productivity of each individual. CBM Global aims to ensure that all staff, volunteers, donors, partners, contractors, and the general public are treated fairly. This will be regardless of sex, sexual orientation, gender re-assignment, marital or civil partnership status, race (including colour, nationality, ethnicity, or national origin), disability, medical status, age, religion or belief, political opinion, social or economic status.

Employment Checks

CBM Global is committed to the safety and best interest of all children and vulnerable adults accessing CBM Global supported services and programmes. Relevant background checks including working with children, police and reference checks will be completed prior to the preferred candidate’s employment being confirmed.

All applicants must have the right to work in the relevant country. All offers of employment are made subject to the following criteria: Proof of eligibility and satisfactory employment screening, and three references satisfactory to CBM Global.

How to apply

More information about CBM Global Disability Inclusion can be found by visiting the CBM Global website: www.cbm-global.org

Closing date: Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis. Advertisement will end if a qualified applicant has been found for the post.

Use this link to apply.

Prepare your CV in English please, as you will need to upload it into our ATS system. Download and complete the Application Form in English please, as you will need to upload it into our ATS system.

No email applications will be considered. If you have any problems with the system, please redirect them to our email address [email protected] with the following format: Family Name First Name: ( Disability Inclusive Disaster Risk Management Manager, Bangladesh).

We also welcome informal enquiries, which should also be sent to the above email address.

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Consulting engineer who signed off plans for collapsed George building reported missing — later found

Athol Mitchell, who signed the plans for the 75 Victoria building disaster project, was found after an alert had been sent out on the Pink Ladies Facebook page.

A well-known Paarl-based consulting engineer, Athol Mitchell, who signed off on the plans for the ill-fated 75 Victoria project in George, was found after initially being reported missing on Thursday morning.

In a post on the Pink Ladies Facebook page placed on Thursday, it was reported that 76-year-old Mitchell had last made contact with his son on 8 May.

[caption id="attachment_2177317" align="alignnone" width="720"] The Pink Ladies Facebook Post. [/caption]

“Athol, who is considered extremely vulnerable, last made contact with this son on 8 May 2024 at 13h31 from the Botterberg Rd (off the N7 on the Philadelphia side).

“His cell is now off and he has not been seen or heard from since.”

Later an image of Mitchell’s vehicle, a Suzuki Grand Vitara, was captured heading “towards Durbanville past Mosselbank”. The post said he was believed to be heading to the Durbanville Vierlanden Estate.

Hours later the Pink Ladies posted that Mitchell had been found.

“Thanks to SAPS, family and friends, community and other role players. Kindly respect the family’s right to privacy” read the notice.

Involvement

Documents filed with the George Municipality show that Mitchell & Associates signed off the plans for Erf 15098, Victoria Street, on 14 March 2024.

This was after former George town planner Jan Vrolijk, now working privately and who was mandated by the owners of the land, Pacific Breeze Trading 91, was given approval for the project on 1 January 2024 by Clinton Petersen, senior manager of town planning in the George Municipality.

Earlier, in March 2021, Vrolijk, on behalf of Pacific Breeze, applied for the number of floors of the development to be increased from “four to five”.

[caption id="attachment_2177318" align="alignnone" width="720"] Part of the plans for Erf 15098 signed off by Mitchell & Associates. [/caption]

The same month, a local conveyancer certified that the title deeds contained “no conditions restricting the contemplated land use in terms of the Land Development Application”.

Apartments were originally pre-advertised with a price tag of R 1.7-million for a two-bedroomed unit by one agent in the area, with the start of construction earmarked for 1 April 2023, completion on 31 March, with 1 May 2024 as the occupation date.

The development, it was later announced, would be completed by July 2024 with occupation in August.

The apartment block was nearing completion when the horrific implosion occurred on Monday afternoon. The death toll has risen to eight, with 37 workers pulled from the rubble, 16 in critical condition.

The number of people who were on site at the time of the building collapse is now believed to have been 81. With 37 removed from the rubble as of Thursday morning, this leaves 44 victims unaccounted for, while time is running out.

Family, friends and relatives have been holding a vigil near the site located opposite the George Municipality headquarters.

Plans for 75 Victoria, as the development was named, had been in the pipeline for some time, a Daily Maverick investigation revealed this week.

Read more in Daily Maverick: What is known about Erf 15098, Victoria Street in George, the site of the deadly building collapse

In August 2020, the owner of a 1,228m² plot of land, Erf 15098, located on Victoria Street, sold the property for R2.07-million in a private sale to a company, Pacific Breeze Trading 91.

The deal was finalised on 4 November 2020, according to the Deeds Office. Directors of the company are Anton Booysen, Carel Swanepoel and Annette Swanepoel. Pacific Breeze was registered in 2005.

In November 2020, the George Municipality held a “pre-consultation” meeting with an official, Ilane Huyser, and then town planner Vrolijk, as the “pre-applicant” for rezoning and deviations for the planned development.

Records show that applications were made by Vrolijk for changes to the original plans. These included an extra level, turning an original three-storey plan into a four-storey block, as well as adding basement parking.

Earlier, in September 2020, a Land Use Planning Pre-Application Consultation Form had been completed and was re-submitted at the November meeting with the municipality.

Discussions then were about rezoning as well as various deviations, including building line relaxations, height, coverage, floor space and parking requirements.

It was proposed that the building would now include basement parking and that it would be increased from four to five storeys to include ground-floor parking, over and above the basement parking.

The building would be 14.45m tall and a roof garden (2.72m high) was proposed, which would raise the height to 17.17m.

The proposal also contained 66 parking bays with a ratio of 1.25 per unit and 0.25 per visitor, which would be housed in the basement. There were also proposals for the adjustment of building lines.

Investigations continue

A letter sent by the developers, Neo Victoria Developments, to Caxton Media Group provided a list of entities and individuals involved in the development and construction of the building:

• Owner of the land: Neo Victoria Developments Pty Ltd.
• Development co-ordination and management: Neotrend Developments Pty Ltd & East Africa Development Pty Ltd.
• The development contractor in control of the construction and building site: Liatel Developments Pty Ltd.
• Structural and civil engineer: Mitchell & Associates.
• Project architect: Deon van der Westhuizen Architects cc.
• Principal agent: Mitchell & Associates.
• Quantity surveyor: Matla Quantity Surveyors Pty Ltd.
• Health & safety officer: 4Front Safety and Security Consultants Pty Ltd.
• Electrical engineer: Clinkscales Maughan-Brown Pty Ltd.
• Fire engineer: Duane Hodges Consulting Engineer

A statement issued by the company stated that, “In as far as the media referred to Ice Projects Pty Ltd being involved in the development, it must be noted that is factually incorrect. This party is not involved in any capacity in the development.”

The statement added “We mourn the loss of life, the injuries suffered, and the bereavement of the loved ones and families affected. We are deeply moved by the actions of the rescue teams and authorities.”

The company said it would cooperate fully with authorities and any process in the current investigation.

An independent probe has been launched. Western Cape Premier Alan Winde told the media that specialist engineers had been appointed to investigate the collapse.

Anton Bredell, Western Cape Local Government, Environmental Affairs and Development Planning MEC, said the investigation would include input from several roleplayers, including forensic investigators, police and Department of Labour staff. DM

This is a developing story.