Inclusion

Climate scientists provide evidence on how warming seas and atmosphere will amplify hurricanes and other disasters. Simultaneously, the media discourse on disasters is framing them as something sinister, a misplaced attribution that historically leads us in the wrong direction.

The state of Odisha is recognized as one of the world's most disaster-ready states. By building cyclone and flood shelters, empowering the community, and raising units of personnel highly trained in disaster risk management, Odisha builds its resilience and is working on extending its early warning systems.

The danger presented by Hurricane Irma is not from the natural hazard in itself, but rather from the quality of the built environment which lies in its path. It highlights how poverty is a key driver of disaster risk and cause of mortality as it is those living in marginalised areas who are most vulnerable to disaster impacts.

In the United States, an emphasis is placed on flood recovery rather than avoidance. At some point, recovery needs to move onto the next phase of rebuilding a more resilient city. The inclusion of green infrastructure, with the ability to soak up water and slow down flooding, is one often politically overlooked part of resilient rebuilding.

In rebuilding infrastructures in urban settings, certain considerations need to be taken into account for current and future climatic conditions. That includes prioritisation of proactive maintenance of existing structures, and designing infrastructure with climate change, creativity, and accessibility across socio-economic classes in mind.

When Sint Maarten was hit by a category 5 hurricane in the late 1990s, the Caribbean island was left ravaged and without power for days. Sint Maarten invested in building back better, and now runs annual hurricane awareness campaigns and hurricane shelters. Hurricane Irma shows the need for continued efforts with a long-term focus.

UN Women Bangladesh is working on bringing gendered needs into disaster risk reduction and humanitarian action. A National Resilience Programme was initiated in 2017, with the aim of incorporating disaster risk reduction into the ongoing development work to ensure resilience and cross-sectoral collaboration.

Nepal has made progress in disaster management by strengthening its institutional arrangements for disaster risk reduction and creating national multi-stakeholder platforms. Flood forecasting and early warning systems have been paramount to this progress, though the community response to the warnings needs to be improved.