Disasters Biggest Costs

Disasters Biggest Costs

Disasters force 30 million people a year from their homes world wide. The human impact is spread across our television and social media every day. These impacts extend though past the human to the businesses and community. Below we share parts of a Huffington Post article on Disaster impact in 2012.

As we read it we saw a different side – 776,000 employees could not easily return to work after Hurricane Sandy. “2012 also saw an increase in environmental refugees in wealthy countries, particularly in the United States” Business owners, however, had their claims closed without pay at a higher rate than residential claims. About 35 percent of the more than 34,000 commercial property claims closed since the storm did not result in a payment, as were 37 percent of the roughly 12,600 business interruption claims, the state data show. More …

The U.S. experienced one of the worst instances of disaster-induced displacement in 2012 after Hurricane Sandy forced 776,000 people out of their homes. As the reports states, however, rich countries are much better equipped to recover from such events, thus limiting the effects on local populations.

 

“In the U.S. following Hurricane Sandy, most of those displaced were able to find refuge in adequate temporary shelter while displaced from their own homes,” Clare Spurrell, Chief Spokesperson for IDMC, said in a press release. “Compare this to communities in Haiti, where hundreds of thousands are still living in makeshift tents over three years after the 2010 earthquake mega-disaster, and you see a very different picture.”

More than 30 million people fled their homes in 2012 because of disasters such as floods, storms and earthquakes, a new report indicates.

According to the study by the Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre and the Norwegian Refugee Council, natural disasters forced 32.4 million people to flee last year, with the overwhelming majority (98 percent) due to climate- and weather-related events. While most of the victims live in developing nations, 2012 also saw an increase in environmental refugees in wealthy countries, particularly in the United States.

The report establishes that most of the damage was caused by severe flooding, with India and Nigeria suffering the brunt of the destruction. India, in particular, experienced repeated flooding during its long monsoon season. Africa suffered a record high in 2012, with 8.2 million people displaced because of natural disasters. More …