Our World Foundation

Disasters

If temperatures increase by up to 5.8C by 2100, this would be almost TEN TIMES the increase of 0.6C that has occurred in the last 100 years. It is impossible to estimate the scale of catastrophes that could occur to our world and its peoples -

c. UNEP /Topham Picturepoint

DISASTERS OVERVIEW

DISASTERS DATA

DISASTER TREND GRAPHS

DISASTERS 1991 - 2001

Disasters Overview

Increase In Disasters

Things appear to be getting worse in two ways: natural disasters appear to be becoming more frequent and their effects more severe. (WEO2000) UNEP
The number of great natural catastrophes has almost tripled since the 1960s, increasing the overall cost to the world's economies 7.3 fold, and the cost to the insurance industry 13.9 fold between the 1960's and 1993-2002. (Munich Re 2003)
The number of disasters has increased more than four fold since the 1960's from an average 44 disasters each year in the 1960's to an average 181 disasters each year in the 1990's. (EM-DAT: The OFDA/CRED International Disaster Database - www.em-dat.net - Université Catholique de Louvain - Brussels - Belgium)
The 1990's decade saw 86 major natural catastrophes, including floods, earthquakes and hurricanes, that required outside assistance because of extensive deaths. By contrast, there were only 20 such events in the 1950s and 47 in the 1970s. (Worldwatch www.worldwatch.org/features/climate/ www.worldwatch.org )
Since the 1960's, the number of windstorms have increased five fold and the number of floods have increased almost six fold. (OFDA/CRED Data)
Hydro-meteorological disasters (drought, windstorms and floods) have caused 90% of the total number of natural disasters reported in the 1990's. (IFRC/WDR2001)
1998 was the hottest year on record and produced more than 700 'large loss events' compared with between 530 and 600 during previous recent years. The most frequent natural catastrophes were windstorms (240) and floods (170), which accounted for 85% of the total economic losses. (Munich Re 1998)
Higher temperatures add to the heat energy that fuels thunderstorms, tornadoes, and hurricanes. (Worldwatch www.worldwatch.org/features/climate/ www.worldwatch.org ) Gerhard Berz of Munich Re recently said, "A further advance in man-made climate change will almost invariably bring us increasingly extreme natural events and consequently increasingly large catastrophe losses."

The Human Cost - Fatalities

Deaths from natural disasters fell from nearly 2 million in the 1970's to just under 800,000 in the 1990's due to better preparedness. However these figures do not reflect global discrepancies for apart from Africa and Europe, where the number of people, who died from natural disasters fell during these periods, through the rest of the world substantial increases in fatalities were reported in the past two decades. In Oceania deaths tripled from one decade to the next, while in Asia deaths increased 41% and in the Americas increased 32%. (IFRC/WDR2002)
From 1991-2000 two-thirds of those killed came from countries of low human development, while just 2% came from highly developed countries. (IFRC/WDR2001)
Of those killed by natural disasters 83% were Asians. (IFRC/WDR2001)
During the past decade over 90% of those killed by natural disasters lost their lives in hydro-meterorological events such as droughts, windstorms and floods. (IFRC/WDR2001)

The Human Cost - The Number Of People Affected

Between 1981-1990 an average of 147 million people each year were affected by disasters. Between 1991-2000 (the decade with the warmest years on record) an average of 211 million people each year were affected by disasters - an increase of 43.5% on the previous decade. (IFRC/WDR2001)
Floods accounted for 68% of the annual average of 211 million people affected by natural disasters in the 1990's whilst famine affected 18% and windstorms 12%. (IFRC/WDR) Floods, droughts and windstorms accounted for 98% of all people affected by disasters.
Weather related disasters have been the most prevalent in the past 10 years. Drought/ famine accounted for 82% of all those affected in Africa, 48% in Oceania and 35% in the Americas. Floods accounted for 69% of those affected in Asia. Windstorms accounted for 36% of those affected in the Americas and 33% of those affected in Europe. (IFRC/WDR2002)
The number of people affected in the Pacific Islands/Oceania region by weather related disasters has soared 65 fold over the past 30 years. Cyclones, droughts and floods threaten to make life unbearable for the people, who live on many islands, long before rising sea level inundates them. (IFRC/WDR2002)
More disasters were reported for 2000 than in any year over the last decade - 256 million people were affected by disasters well above the decades average. (IFRC/WDR2001)
90% of those affected by disasters live in Asia, whilst just 2% live in nations of high human development. (IFRC/WDR2001)
Populations in developing countries are much more affected by extreme events. Relative to low socioeconomic conditions, the impact of weather-related disasters in poor countries may be 20-30 times larger than in industrialized countries. (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC))(1)
The number of people affected by disasters since the 1960's has increased almost nine fold from 23 million people affected each year on average in the 1960's to 206 million people affected each year in the 1990's - an increase of almost 800%.
(OFDA/CRED Data)
The number of people affected by windstorms has increased over five fold from 11 million people affected each year on average in the 1960's to 57 million people affected each year on average in the 1990's. (OFDA/CRED Data)
The number of people affected by floods has increased over twenty-one fold from 7 million people affected each year on average in the 1960's to 149 million people affected each year on average in the 1990's. (OFDA/CRED Data)
Many factors are considered responsible for the increase in the number of people affected by disasters - there are more people in urban and slum areas and in the path of disasters, traditional methods of coping with disasters previously are being eroded as families fragment and communities disperse and environmental degradation is also increasing the negative effects of floods, windstorms and droughts. (IFRC/WDR2002)

The Financial Cost

Global economic losses from great catastrophic events increased 7.3 fold from US$75.5bn in the 1960's to US$550.9bn between 1993-2002 (adjusted for inflation). The insured portion of these losses rose 13.9 fold from US$6.1bn to US$84.5bn (adjusted for inflation) over the same period. (Munich Re 2003)
The number of natural catastrophes have almost tripled since the 1960. (Munich Re)
In the 1990s, natural catastrophes like hurricanes, floods, and fires affected more than two billion people and caused in excess of $608 billion in economic losses worldwide - a loss greater than during the previous four decades combined and about five times the figure in the 1970s and 15 times the total for the 1950s. (Worldwatch www.worldwatch.org/features/climate/ www.worldwatch.org )
The ten warmest years on record globally have now occurred since 1990 including each year since 1997. (UK Met Office 2004)
50% of the insured losses in the past 40 years were due to natural catastrophes which occurred since 1990. (ReInsurance Association of America)
In the period 1985-99, the vast majority of insured losses - some 92% were in industrial nations (Worldwatch www.worldwatch.org/features/climate/ www.worldwatch.org ). The majority of people affected by disasters however are in the developing world where few people have insurance when their homes or businesses are flooded or destroyed.
The increasing toll of claims has already raised premiums and made it difficult to obtain insurance in disaster-prone areas such as the Caribbean. (Worldwatch www.worldwatch.org/features/climate/ www.worldwatch.org )
From 1991-2000 natural catastrophes reportedly cost an estimated US$78.7 billion per annum (2000 prices). (IFRC/WDR2001)

Munich Re Great Flood Disasters 1950-2003

Flood disasters are classified as 'great' if the ability of the region to help itself is distinctly overtaxed, making interregional or international assistance necessary.

	1950-59	1960-69	1970-79	1980-89	1990-99	1994-03	Factor 80's:60's	Factor last 10:60's
Number	6	6	8	18	26	16	3.0	2.7
Economic Losses	31	22	20	28	234	163	1.3	7.4
Insured Losses	0	0.24	0.41	1.52	8.39	8.02	6.3	33.4

Losses in bn.US$-2003 values

MRNatCatService C 2004 Geo Risk.Research Dept. Munich Re

Part of the observed upward trend in disaster losses over the past 50 years is linked to socioeconomic factors, such as population growth, increased wealth, and urbanization in vulnerable areas, and part is linked to climatic factors such as the observed changes in precipitation and flooding events. (IPCC)(2)

Disasters Data

Centre for Research on the Epidemiology of Disasters

Since 1988 the WHO Collaborating Centre for Research on the Epidemiology of Disasters (CRED) has been maintaining an Emergency Events Database - EM-DAT, which was created with the initial support of the World Health Organisation and the Belgian Government. The main objective of the database is to serve the purposes of humanitarian action at national and international levels. EM-DAT contains essential core data on the occurrence and effects of over 12,500 mass disasters in the world from 1900 to present. The database is compiled from various sources, including UN agencies, non-governmental organisations, insurance companies, research institutes and press agencies.

The EM-DAT data is included in the Human Development Report (UNDP) and the World Health Report (WHO) as well as other international reports including The World Disasters Report (International Federation of the Red Cross publication with data also drawn from the US Committe for Refugees (USCR) The WDR data slightly varies to the EM-DAT data since it also uses USCR data and the OFDA/CRED data has been recently been updated and further validated).

From 1990 almost all the disasters that have occurred around the world are included if they satisfy the EM-DAT disaster criteria (10 deaths and/or 100 affected and/or call for international assistance and/or declaration of state of emergency). In addition, CRED have recently enhanced their data from 1975, which data is considered to accurately reflect validated data for the last 26 years of disasters that have occurred around the world.

EM-DAT: The OFDA/CRED International Disaster Database - www.em.dat.net/ - Université Catholique de Louvain - Brussels - Belgium-

The summaries and conclusions below have been compiled by Our World Foundation using the EM-DAT data. with CRED's approval.

1. Number of Disasters 1961-2001

See Data

Decade Summary of The Average Number of Disasters Each Year -

Year	Average Number of Disasters Per Year (Decade Average)
1961-70	44
1971-80	65
1981-90	115
1991-2000	181

Disasters have increased more than 4 fold in number since the 1960's -

2. Number of Drought, Windstorm & Flood Disasters 1961-2000

See Data

Decade Summaries Of The Number of Drought, Windstorm and Flood Disasters Per Year (Decade Average (Dec Av) -

Year	No. of Droughts pa (Dec Av)	No. of Windstorms pa (Dec Av)	No. of Floods pa (Dec Av)
1961-70	7	11	13
1971-80	11	19	22
1981-90	9	41	41
1991-2000	12	57	76

Windstorms have increased over 5 fold in number between the 1960's and 1990's, whilst floods have increased almost 6 fold in number between these decades. The number of droughts show no evident trend between these decades -

3. Number of People Killed by Disasters 1961-2000

See Data

The number of people killed by disasters each year on average in the 1990's has decreased by more than 80% since the 1960's -

Year	Number of People Killed Per Year (Decade Average)
1961-70	207,939
1971-80	98,591
1981-90	77,867
1991-2000	37,635

The number of people killed by disasters since the 1960's has decreased by more than 80% -

4. Number of People Affected by Disasters 1961-2000

See Data

Decade Summary of The Average Number of People Affected By Disasters Each Year -

Year	Number of People Affected By Disasters per Year (Decade Average)
1961-70	23,311,610
1971-80	77,561,498
1981-90	142,683,545
1991-2000	206,899,343

5. Number of People Affected by Drought 1961-2000

See Data

Decade Summary Of The Average Number of People Affected Each Year by Drought Disasters -

Year	Number of People Affected By Drought Per Year (Decade Average)
1961-70	12,303,985
1971-80	5,217,158
1981-90	70,793,105
1991-2000	34,806,039

6. Number of People Affected by Windstorms 1961-2000

See Data

Decade Summary of The Average Number of People Affected Each Year by Windstorm Disasters -

Year	Number of People Affected By Windstorms Per Year (Decade Average)
1961-70	3,061,200
1971-80	6,610,115
1981-90	14,045,844
1991-2000	24,418,544

7. Number of People Affected by Floods 1961-2000

See Data

Decade Summary of The Average Number of People Affected Each Year by Flood Disasters -

Year	Number of People Affected By Floods Per Year (Decade Average)
1961-70	6,964,106
1971-80	22,449,610
1981-90	54,222,303
1991-2000	148,944,435

8. Disasters Summary

Category	1960's Yearly Av.	1990's Yearly Av.	Increase (Incr)/(Decr) From 60-1990's
Number of Natural Disasters	44	181	Approx 4.5 fold
Number of People Killed	207,939	37,635	(Approx 80% decr)
Number of People Affected	23,311,610	206,899,343	Approx 9 fold
Number of Droughts	7	12	No evident trend
Number of People Affected by Drought	12,303,985	34,806,039	Approx 3 fold
Number of Windstorms	11	57	Approx 5 fold
Number of People Affected by Windstorms	3,061,200	24,418,544	Approx 8 fold
Number of Floods	13	76	Approx 6 fold
Number of People Affected by Floods	6,964,106	148,944,435	Approx 21 fold

The number of people affected by disasters each year on average has increased almost 9 fold between the 1960's and the 1990's -

This means that in the 1990's an average 183 million extra people each year are affected by natural disasters as compared to the 1960's.

The number of people affected by drought on average each year has increased almost 3 fold between the 1960's to the 1990's -

The number of people affected by windstorms on average each year has approximately doubled each decade - an approx 100% increase every ten years -

The number of people affected by windstorms on average each year has increased over 8 fold between the 1960's and the 1990's -

The number of people affected by floods on average each year has increased approximately 3 fold every decade - an approx 200% increase every ten years -

The number of people affected by floods on average each year has increased 21 fold between the 1960's and the 1990's -

In the 1990's an extra 183 million people each year on average were affected by disasters as were affected in the 1960's.

DISASTER GRAPH TRENDS

1. Number of Disasters Reported

2. Number of People Killed In Natural Disasters Reported

3. Number of People Affected In Natural Disasters Reported

4. Number of Natural Disasters By Region

5. Number of People Killed In Natural Disasters By Region

6. Number of People Affected In Natural Disasters By Region

7. Number of Natural Disasters by Disaster Type

8. Number of People Killed by Disaster Type

9. Number of People Affected by Disaster Type

NatCatservice

NatCatservice is a product that Munich Re launched in 1974. It is considered to be one of the best databases for natural catastrophes anywhere in the world today. It contains more than 20,000 entries on material and human losses caused by natural catastrophes . Every year NatCatservice records and analyzes some 800 natural hazard events worldwide. At a time in which natural catastrophe losses are increasing markedly throughout the world, this data represents an important source for the insurance sector and international research institutions. Insurers around the world can access details and trends concerning the various types of loss event.

Such major institutions as the United Nations Organization , the World Bank, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and the International Red Cross (IFRC) as well as universities, public authorities and environmenal organisations also use the data provided by NatCatservice as a basis for their work. www.munichre.com email: awirtz@munichre.com

Great Natural Catastrophes 1950 - 2003 (Type)

Flood disasters are classified as 'great' if the ability of the region to help itself is distinctly overtaxed, making interregional or international assistance necessary.

Great Natural Catastrophes 1950 - 2003 (Losses)

Great Natural Disasters Percentage Distribution Worldwide

Great Natural Disasters 1950-2003 Losses

MRNatCatService C 2005 Geo Risk.Research Dept. Munich Re

Great Weather Related Natural Disasters 1950-2003

Great Weather Related Natural Catastrophes 1950-2003

Great Weather Disasters 1950-2003 Economic & Insured Losses

Global average temperatures have risen by 0.6C + or - 0.2C since the beginning of the 20th century. The rise in temperature correlates with increased disasters, that are now affecting on average more than an extra 183 million people each year in the 1990's compared to the 1960's. The rise in disasters has also significantly increased financial losses. Part of the observed upward trend in disaster losses over the past 50 years is linked to socioeconomic factors, such as population growth, increased wealth, and urbanization in vulnerable areas, and part is linked to climatic factors such as the observed changes in precipitation and flooding events.(IPCC)(3)

Listed below are just some of the disasters of the last decade affecting millions of people predominantly in the developing world - Some of the disasters are unprecedented in their severity.

This century however global average temperatures are projected to rise by up to almost TEN TIMES the current increase of 0.6C - by up to 5.8C by 2100.

It is hard to imagine the scale of human suffering and devastation that might be caused by such disasters being amplified ten times or more...

1991

In 1991 the worst floods of the century in China claimed 3,074 lives (Munich Re) when the Yangtze plain was flooded causing 10,000,000 Chinese to be made homeless and adversely affecting over 500,000,000 people. 20% of China's cropland was submerged which had significant repercussions for a country responsible for feeding 20% of the world's population with 7% of the world's cultivable land. Chinese scientists blamed the catastrophic flooding on global warming. (Greenpeace) The floods caused $15bn in damages. (Munich Re)

Typhoon Mireille hit Japan in 1991, the sixth strongest in Japan's records, costing the Japanese insurance industry 5.4bn US$ in insured losses and 10bn US$ in economic losses. (Munich Re) The typhoon caused 62 deaths and flooded 10,000 homes. (Annual Tropical Cyclone Report)
Cyclone Val, the worst cyclone in Pacific history, hit Western Samoa 14 died and thousands were made homeless as winds of up to 240 km phr struck the island - water and electricity were cut off for five weeks. 60% of the forests were devastated as were 95% of the homes on Sargis and 70-80% on Upolu. It cost the country US $440 m which was in excess of Western Samoa's gross domestic product(GDP). (World Bank/Greenpeace)

Typhoon Thelma devastated the Philippines as one of the most violent tropical storms to hit the country that century. Reports indicated that 6,000 people died through dam failure, flash floods and landslides. (National Climatic Data Center/National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NCDC/NOAA)) 6,547,592 people were affected. (EM-DAT: The OFDA/CRED International Disaster Database - www.em-dat.net - Université Catholique de Louvain - Brussels - Belgium)
In Bangladesh a cyclone and storm surge killed 138,000 people and affected 15,400,000 people. (The United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP)) Winds of up to 235 kmph and a tidal surge of up to 6m or approx 18ft were reported - 2-3,000,000 people were at risk from measles, dysentry and acute respiratory infections. 790,000 homes and 9,3000 schools were partially or totally damaged, 50-60% of local heath centres were destroyed. (Reliefweb) 224,000 cattle, 218,000 goats and 2-4,000,000 chickens were killed. Damages were $1.5bn. (NCDC/NOAA)
In the Sudan 8,600,000 people were affected by drought. (EM-DAT: The OFDA/CRED International Disaster Database - www.em-dat.net - Université Catholique de Louvain - Brussels - Belgium)

1992

Hurricane Andrew hit Florida causing 61 deaths, destroying 25,524 homes and damaging a further 101,241. 2,700,000 people were evacuated. (NCDC/NOAA) The hurricane caused 17bn US$ worth of insured devastation and 30bn US$ of economic losses (Munich Re) making it the most expensive natural disaster in US history.
In Hawaii Cyclone Iniki, the strongest cyclone in Hawaii in more than a hundred years, caused $3.7bn of economic losses and $2bn in insured losses (Munich Re)
Hurricane-force winds hit the East coast of America, with heavy rains, river and tidal flooding and substantial snowfalls. Havoc was wreaked along 1,000 km of coastline with houses being dragged into the sea, killing 19 people and causing $1- $2bn in damages.(NCDC/NOAA)
In Pakistan floods affected 12,300,000 people. (EM-DAT: The OFDA/CRED International Disaster Database - www.em-dat.net - Université Catholique de Louvain - Brussels - Belgium) 4,000 people died from floods and landslides with 3,200,000 people affected. 1.7 m hectares in Punjab were inundated. The floods may have been aggravated by illegal deforestation. (Greenpeace)
In India in 1992 1500 people died due to severe floods which caused damages of $1bn. (Munich Re)
In Mozambique 3,300,500 people were affected by prolonged drought. (EM-DAT: The OFDA/CRED International Disaster Database - www.em-dat.net - Université Catholique de Louvain - Brussels - Belgium)

1993

The worst floods in memory hit nine states of the US Midwest, causing 48 deaths, destroying or damaging 22,000 homes, causing 85,000 people to be evacuated with 75 small towns and more than 17 million acres flooded. Damages/costs were $21bn. Many farm animals perished, 404 counties were declared federal disaster areas, in Alexandria flood waters reached 8-10 ft and the Missisipi river normally 1/2 mile wide, was 20 miles wide in one area. (NCDC/NOAA)
In Bangladesh over 109 people were killed by exceptionally heavy monsoon rains 50,000 were made homeless and 6,240,000 people were affected. 433,571 homes were damaged, 18,478 livestock killed and 759,733 acres of land damaged. (Reliefweb)
In India exceptional floods overwhelmed parts of the country causing landslides and killing nearly 900 people. 3,000,000 people were displaced (Reliefweb) and 128,000,000 people were affected. (EM-DAT: The OFDA/CRED International Disaster Database - www.em-dat.net - Université Catholique de Louvain - Brussels - Belgium) In Nepal floods and landslides killed a further 1500 people (CNN) with 10,000 people rescued by helicopter and 25,000 displaced from their homes. (Reliefweb)
In China mass flooding killed 380 people and damaged 500,000 homes (Guardian), 2,000,000 people were stranded and 800,000 hectares of crops were inundated. Epidemic diseases spread after 464,000 livestock drowned and rotted. (Lloyds List)
In Australia extreme temperatures affected 3,000,000 people whilst between 1992-95 an enduring drought affected an average of 175,000 people each year. (EM-DAT: The OFDA/CRED International Disaster Database - www.em-dat.net - Université Catholique de Louvain - Brussels - Belgium)

1994

The ongoing Queensland drought, the worst in human memory, caused disasterous bushfires, reduced crop yields by 50%, cut agricultural production by $2bn and resulted in the mass death of livestock. (Bureau of Meteorology Australia)
In Russia extensive flooding destroyed over 900 homes and 67,500 hectares of farmland were flooded. (BBC) The floods affected 10,204 people. (EM-DAT: The OFDA/CRED International Disaster Database - www.em-dat.net - Université Catholique de Louvain - Brussels - Belgium)
In China further floods affected 61,000,000 people, killed 719 people, wounded 14,400, destroyed 585,600 rooms and damaged a further 1,988,000 with 3.2 million hectares of crops affected - Economic losses were estimated as $3.2bn (Reliefweb)
In Italy severe floods affected 17,300 people. (EM-DAT: The OFDA/CRED International Disaster Database - www.em-dat.net - Université Catholique de Louvain - Brussels - Belgium)

1995

The Rhine and its tributaries burst their banks flooding France, Belgium, the Netherlands and Germany, causing 29 fatalities and forcing 250,000 people to be evacutated whilst large tracts of cities were submerged. (NCDC/NOAA)
Prolonged drought in Spain affected 6 million people. (EM-DAT: The OFDA/CRED International Disaster Database - www.em-dat.net - Université Catholique de Louvain - Brussels - Belgium)
In 1995 the US reported 19 cyclones, 11 of hurricane status, the second largest number in one season since 1886 including Hurricane Opal causing 27 deaths and $2.4bn of insured losses with £3.4bn of economic losses, Hurricane Marilyn causing 8 deaths in the US, 13 deaths in all affected countries. (NCDC/NOAA/Munich Re)
Intense heatwaves in the US saw daily maximum temperatures of between 42-49C (105-120F) over much of the eastern US with 700 deaths in Chicago partially attributed to the summer's heat. In Canada, Quebec registered temperatures up to 6C above normal, whilst in Russia, the Ukraine and the Baltic States some temperatures averaged 9C above normal. In Europe temperatures were 3 to 6C above normal whilst Manchester in the UK saw temperatures 10C above normal. In India and Pakistan severe heatwaves resulted in hundreds of people dying as temperatures reached 54C. (Global Change)
In China floods affected 220,000,000 people, claimed 2300 lives and caused $12.5bn in total losses. (UNESCAP)
In the Philippines Typhoon Angela caused 800 deaths and destroyed 150,000 homes. (NCDC/NOAA) Windstorms affected 33,400,000 people. (EM-DAT: The OFDA/CRED International Disaster Database - www.em-dat.net - Université Catholique de Louvain - Brussels - Belgium)
In North Korea the worst floods in over a century left 500,000 homeless and damaged 400,000 hectares of land. (The United States Agency of International Development (USAID)) 5,700,000 people were affected. (EM-DAT: The OFDA/CRED International Disaster Database - www.em-dat.net - Université Catholique de Louvain - Brussels - Belgium)

1996

Hurricane Fran hit the US with winds of 125 mph smashing trees, power lines and coastal homes and flooding much of the mid-Atlantic, causing 37 deaths. 500,000 people were evacuated and 4,500,000 people were left without power with estimated damages/costs of $3.4bn (NCDC/NOAA)
In Korea further floods followed those of the year before, this time killing 116 people and affecting 3,000,000 in 117 towns and counties with 2,500,000 women and children at risk of starvation. The authorities put the damage at $1.7bn. (UN World Food Programme/ CNN)
In China mass flooding left 2,700 dead, 32,200 injured with $26.5bn damages.(Reuters) 154,637,000 people were affected.(EM-DAT: The OFDA/CRED International Disaster Database - www.em-dat.net - Université Catholique de Louvain - Brussels - Belgium) 2,000,000 people were made homeless and 20 million hectares of farmland were inundated. The floods caused a 4-6% loss in GDP. ( UNEP )
In India over 150 people died due to flooding and 5,000,000 were affected whilst in Bangladesh 65 people died and 30,000,000 were affected (CNN) 2,200,000 people were made homeless. (NCDC/NOAA)
In the US Southern plains severe drought caused approx $5bn in damages/costs whilst blizzards and severe flooding in other areas caused 187 deaths. 200,000 people had to be evacuated. Damages cost $3bn. (NCDC/NOAA)

1997

An unprecedented flood occurred as the River Oder burst its banks flooding Central Europe. A third of Poland and large areas of the Czech Republic and Eastern Germany were under water, destroying farmland and killing 120 people (Friends Of The Earth) In Poland 224,500 people were affected. (EM-DAT: The OFDA/CRED International Disaster Database - www.em-dat.net - Université Catholique de Louvain - Brussels - Belgium) The Oder River was at its highest recorded level in 300 years with $2bn in damages caused. (NCDC/NOAA)
Forest fires raged out of control through Indonesia, southern Borneo, Irian Jaya and southern Sumatra burning 4.5 million hectares. 20,000,000 people in six Southest Asian countries were exposed to harmful smoke borne pollutants for months. 70,000,000 people were affected with the estimated health cost alone being $1.4bn. ( UNEP )
1,000,000 people were made homeless and 46 died when a cyclone hit south-east Bangladesh with 125 mphr winds. (CNN)
In the US flooding on the Northern Plains caused 11 deaths and $3.7bn in costs/damages. On the West Coast 36 people died with damages of $3bn caused. (NCDC/NOAA)

1998

1998 was the hottest year ever recorded and throughout this year the number of disasters was exceptionally high suggesting what we may expect as our mean global temperature continues to rise :

In Somalia and Kenya torrential rains killed 2,000 people whilst 230,000 people were displaced with floods which devastated 60,000 hectares of crops the people depended on. (USAID) - The cholera epidemic, caused as a consequence of the floods, which spread to 14,450 victims, claimed an estimated 600 further lives. (The World Health Organisation)
In the Sudan 300,000 people were affected by severe flooding. (NCDC/NOAA) whilst 2,600,000 people were affected by famine. (EM-DAT: The OFDA/CRED International Disaster Database - www.em-dat.net - Université Catholique de Louvain - Brussels - Belgium)
In the US a severe drought in Texas and Oklahoma caused 200 deaths and $6-9bn in damages. Further storms, floods and tornadoes caused over 132 deaths in the Southeast and further damages of $1bn whilst a tornado ravaged Florida killing 41 people. More storms killed another 41 people and destroyed 800 residences. (NCDC/NOAA)
In Florida drought and wildfires caused the loss of 483,000 acres and 356 structures causing $276m in damages - In Texas during the summer heatwaves 100 people were estimated to have died. (NCDC/NOAA)
An unprecedented autumn "heat wave" occurred in the US from mid-November to early December as temperatures rose to 20 to 30F or more above normal. A series of Pacific storms slammed into the Northwest during November and early December, hurling 100 mph winds at the coast, knocking roofs off of buildings and cutting power to thousands of people. Heavy rains triggered floods in Washington, Oregon and Seattle. (NCDC/NOAA)
An ice storm in Canada and New England cost $2.5bn and brought down thousands of miles of power lines as well as wiping out the sugar maple industry. (Worldwatch www.worldwatch.org/features/climate/ www.worldwatch.org )
In Mexico mass flooding and landslides affected 400,000 people (NCDC/NOAA) and caused 200 deaths. (USAID)
In 1998 on St.Kitts and Nevis Hurricane George caused over 500 deaths and billions of dollars in damages as heavy rains, high winds and flooding damaged 85% of homes and left 10% of the population homeless. In the Dominican Republic 100,000 people were made homeless and 865,000 were displaced. Hundreds perhaps thousands of people died whilst the storm also destroyed 90% of the plantation crops. In Haiti 147 people died whilst in Cuba thousands of homes were lost and 200,000 people evacuated. (NCDC/NOAA) The hurricane caused $4bn US$ of insured losses and $10bn US$ in economic losses. (Munich Re)
In Central America Hurricane Mitch with winds of 155 mphr killed 14,600 people, (EM-DAT: The OFDA/CRED International Disaster Database - www.em-dat.net - Université Catholique de Louvain - Brussels - Belgium) with 2,400,000 people displaced and 130,000 homes destroyed as well as roads, bridges and infrastructure costing $5bn in damage.(NCDC/NOAA). Half of Honduras' population was evacuated, 70% of people were left without clean water and 95% of the crops were destroyed in a nation where two-thirds of the