Natural disasters displaced more people than war in 2013, study finds

Norwegian Refugee Council finds ‘mega disasters’ such as typhoons and hurricanes drove 22 million people from homes
Suzanne Goldenberg theguardian.com 17 Sep 14;

Natural disasters displaced three times as many people as war last year – even as 2013 was a horrific year for conflict – with 22 million people driven out of their homes by floods, hurricanes and other hazards, a new study has found.

Twice as many people now lose their homes to disaster as in the 1970s, and more people move into harm’s way each year, the study by the Norwegian Refugee Council found.

“Basically, the combination of mega natural disasters and hundreds of smaller natural disasters massively displaces people in many more countries than the countries that have war and conflict,” said Jan Egeland, the secretary of the Norwegian refugee council.

He said he hoped the findings would prod leaders meeting at a United Nations climate summit next week to work to protect populations from more disaster-prone future under climate change.

Last year was in some ways an anomaly because so many people were driven out of their homes by war. In some years, 10 times as many people lose their homes to natural disasters. “Natural disasters are underestimated as a scourge that is hitting tens of millions of people every year,” Egeland said.

On average, 27 million people a year lost their homes to natural disasters over the last decade. In 2010, that number rose to 42 million.

While mega-disasters such as the devastating typhoon Haiyan in the Philippines attract international attention, the losses due to smaller-scale storms and flooding often go unrecorded.

The global figure for those displaced by disasters could even be higher, Egeland said.

Those living in developing countries are most at risk. The study found more than 80% of those displaced over the last five years lived in Asia. That pattern held last year as well when nearly 19 million of the 22 million displaced lived in Asia.

In many instances, local people do not have time to recover from a disaster before a new one hits, the study found.

In the Philippines last year, some 5.8 million people lost their homes because of a constellation of disasters.

Typhoon Haiyan alone displaced some 4.1 million, with others forced out by typhoon Trami and an earthquake.

Africa also saw widespread displacement by rainy season flooding in Niger, Chad, Sudan and South Sudan.

America did not go unspared, with nearly 220,000 people losing their homes to tornadoes in Oklahoma.

The risk of such disasters is also rising, outpacing population growth and even rapid urbanisation. Global population has doubled since the 1970s, but the urban population has tripled since that time.

The mass migration from countryside to cities is putting more and more people at risk – especially in Asia’s mega-cities, which are the most disaster prone.

Africa, where populations are expected to double by 2050, also faces increasing risk.

“These vast urban areas become traps when a natural disaster hits,” Egeland said. “People are crammed together and there is no escape. They live in river deltas, they live on hurricane beaches, they live along river beds that are easily flooded, they live where there are mud slides, and so on.”

Scientists predict a rise in such extreme weather events in a future under climate change.

Better early warning systems in some countries, such as Bangladesh, have succeeded in keeping people safe during such storms. But they are still at risk of losing all they own.

“We are now better at saving lives, but we are not able to save their homes and their livelihoods so they become destitute,” he said.

Floods, storms and quakes uproot 22 million in 2013, numbers to rise
Laura Onita PlanetArk 17 Sep 14;

The majority were in Asia, where 19 million were displaced by floods, storms and earthquakes, according to the report from the International Displacement Monitoring Centre (IDMC) of the Norwegian Refugee Council.

Typhoon Haiyan caused the largest displacement, with 4.1 million people leaving their homes in the Philippines, a million more than in Africa, the Americas, Europe and Oceania combined. Typhoon Trami displaced another 1.7 million people in the Philippines and floods in China displaced 1.6 million.

The new statistics show more than twice as many people are affected by natural disasters than 40 years ago and the trend is expected to worsen as more people move to crowded cities in developing countries.

"This increasing trend will continue as more and more people live and work in hazard-prone areas," said Jan Egeland, the Secretary General of the Norwegian Refugee Council. "It is expected to be aggravated in the future by the impacts of climate change."

Africa will be particularly vulnerable as its population is expected to double by 2050.

Last year, seasonal floods caused significant displacements in sub-Saharan Africa, notably in Niger, Chad, Sudan and South Sudan, countries also affected by conflict and drought.

Positive trends include improvements in disaster preparedness and response measures, including early warning systems and emergency evacuations, which mean that more people now survive disasters. Improved data collection helps planning for future catastrophes.

"Most disasters are as much man-made as they are natural," said Alfredo Zamudio, IDMC's director. "Better urban planning, flood defenses and building standards could mitigate much of their impact."

(Editing by Ros Russell)