Category:

Disaster & Management

From locusts to cyclones: the human cost of interlinked disasters

The huge locust swarm which hit the Horn of Africa in the Spring of 2020, and Cyclone Amphan, which struck the border region of India and Bangladesh in May that year, might not seem, on the face of it, to be connected, but a report released on Wednesday by UN University, the academic and research arm of the UN, shows that there were connected underlying causes: greenhouse gas emissions from human activity, which are affecting the environment in unpredictable ways, and a lack of sufficient disaster risk management.

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‘It’s connected to you’: Shared causes fuel surge in disasters

From Arctic heat and wildfires to Texas cold-weather power outages and Amazon deforestation, threats around the world that may seem unrelated are increasingly compounding each other, United Nations researchers said in a report released Wednesday.

The underlying causes of the rising risks – from climate change to lack of cooperation among governments and ignoring the value of nature in economic decision-making – are common across many of them, researchers said.

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At least 50 missing after boat capsizes on Brahmaputra in Assam

Jorhat district police chief Ankur Jain said that the police and the disaster management personnel located the capsized boat about 350 metres from the riverbank.

“We have rescued around 20 people on board the boar from various places downstream. However, around 50 people are missing till late evening,” he told the media adding that the searches for the missing people are on.

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Trinidad and Tobago receives $2.4 million parametric payout as excess rainfall claims 

Due to different hazard risk profiles for each of the islands in the twin-island republic, the Government purchases two separate CCRIF policies for excess rainfall – one for Trinidad and one for Tobago. This payout is being made on the excess rainfall policy for Trinidad.

Since Trinidad and Tobago purchased coverage for excess rainfall in 2017, the country has received payouts under its excess rainfall policy each year – five payouts totalling US$12.5 million. The Government of Trinidad and Tobago also has cover for tropical cyclones (one policy for Trinidad and one for Tobago) and for earthquakes.

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Marsh launches Flood Risk Index, Indonesia,Brazil,India,Russia and Mexico most vunerable

Over 2.2 billion people are exposed to flooding globally.1 Since 1980, over 4,500 flood disasters resulted in over $1 trillion in damages, accounting for 40% of natural catastrophe losses globally.
The five G20 countries with the largest shares of population and economic assets exposed to flooding are:China,India,Argentina,Russia,Germany

In the event of flooding, the five G20 countries where people and economic assets are most vulnerable to harm are:Indonesia,Brazil,India,Russia,Mexico

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Weather disasters becoming more frequent and costly, UN agency says

“Thanks to our early warning service improvement we have been able to have a decrease of the casualties at these kind of events, but the bad news is that the economic losses have been growing very rapidly and this growth is supposed to continue,” WMO Secretary-General Petteri Taalas told a press conference.

“We are going to see more climatic extreme because of climate change and this negative trend in climate will continue for the coming decades,” he said.

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Hurricane Ida lashes Louisiana, knocking out power in New Orleans

U.S. President Joe Biden declared a major disaster in Louisiana, ordering federal assistance to bolster recovery efforts in more than two-dozen storm-stricken parishes. Ida slammed ashore around noon near Port Fourchon, Louisiana, a hub of the Gulf’s offshore energy industry, blasting the coast with hurricane-force winds extending 50 miles (80 km) out from the eye of the storm. Landfall came 16 years to the day after Hurricane Katrina, one of the most catastrophic on record, struck the Gulf Coast.

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Lloyd’s forms partnership to deliver faster claims service through geospatial technology

The GEO platform will provide the Lloyd’s market with real-time analysis of global perils including storms, wildfires and flooding. The data, which includes innovative resolution drone imagery, allows Lloyd’s market insurers to instantly assess damages at a time when physical access to the risk location may be limited following a natural catastrophe. 

Satellite imaging combined with other intelligence data sources is an innovative way of assessing damage to insured infrastructure and businesses. The technology will help insurers support customers around the world during periods of crisis, whilst reducing operational costs and the carbon footprint of insurers.

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