• BLOG SURF

KATHMANDU, NOVEMBER 15

Climate-related disasters are frequent and severe, but there is encouraging evidence that we can prepare for and manage them.

If we look back to South Asia's Cyclone Bhola in 1970 or Hurricane Katrina in the United States in 2005, we see disasters that cost thousands of lives and inflicted damage in the billions. By comparison, some recent storms – Cyclone Fani in 2019 and last month's Hurricane Ida – have hit communities hard but caused far less damage to lives.

While no two disasters are the same, we can do more today to increase preparedness, reduce impacts, and support a resilient recovery. Key actions can make a difference for the people and communities that are in the eye of natural disasters.

The poorer a community is, the more vulnerable it is to natural hazards and climate change. Today, disasters push 26 million people into poverty each year.

For farm families with limited savings, a flood or drought that ruins crops is economically devastating. And this is both in the short term – with lost income reducing access to food and other.

A version of this article appears in the print on November 16, 2021, of The Himalayan Times.