Children are often told that home is the place to run inside when thunders hit or when the rain comes, and that home is a safe place. However, for billions of people in the world, it is not. By 2030, it is estimated that 3 billion people will be at risk of losing a loved one or their homes—usually their most important assets—to natural disasters. In fact, the population living on flood plains or cyclone-prone coastlines is growing twice as faster as the population in safe homes in safer areas. The 10 natural disasters causing the most property damages and losses in history have occurred since 2005.

The damages and losses were highly concentrated in the housing sector. While the poor experience 11% of total of asset losses, they suffer 47% of all the well-being losses. Worse, natural disasters can lead to unnecessary losses of life, with earthquakes alone causing 44,585 deaths on average per year. This is an issue that policymakers and mayors need to address. — blog.wb.org/blogs