OODAlink Inc. » Natural Disasters http://oodalink.com Mobile Satcom Solutions Thu, 17 May 2012 21:04:45 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.2 Statistics and Costs of Disasters in 2011 http://oodalink.com/natural-and-technological-disasters/ http://oodalink.com/natural-and-technological-disasters/#comments Sat, 12 May 2012 21:13:58 +0000 Jeffrey Jacobson http://oodalink.com/?p=712 It’s amazing how the news these days reports almost daily on a disaster somewhere in the world and the people – real people – who are affected.

Earlier this year, the United Nations International Strategy for Disaster Reduction (UNISDR) reported that natural disasters, including the huge earthquake and tsunami that struck Japan, caused a record US$366 billion in damage with a total of 29,782 people killed in 302 disasters in 2011.

Keeping track of disaster data and maintaining reliable statistics is a priority for enabling timely preventative actions and better preparations.

A valuable resource for accessing such statistics and data is The International Disaster Database (EM-DAT) developed and maintained by the Centre for Research on the Epidemiology of Disasters (CRED) to help direct national and international humanitarian actions. It was initiated with support of the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Belgian Government in 1988.

The following graph shows the number of disasters reported from 1900 – 2010. What’s most intriguing is the trend.

Disaster Statistics

Data can be accessed via their website, and a number of  pre-formatted, fascinating graphs show the trends for natural and technological disasters in terms of numbers of events, numbers of people killed or affected, and associated costs of damages. CHECK IT OUT!

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