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Disaster losses

Disaster losses encompass human, economic, non-economic, and environmental costs of disasters. This theme covers quantified direct and indirect losses.

This theme includes the assessment, documentation, and analysis of both immediate and long-term consequences resulting from disasters. It addresses direct physical damage to infrastructure, indirect economic losses, and quantified social ramifications on affected populations (non-economic costs). It also includes the methodologies and technologies used to measure and record these impacts, the policies and practices aimed at mitigating and compensating for losses, as well as trends of future losses.

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Small-scale and slow-onset disasters—like local floods, landslides, and droughts—are often ignored in official statistics, even though their combined impact can be just as damaging as large-scale disasters.

Latest Disaster losses additions in the Knowledge Base

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Aerial view shows flood-damaged areas after a massive flash flood swept through the Bhotekoshi River in Nuwakot, Nepal
Research briefs
Rapid warming in the Himalaya exacerbates geohazard cascades beyond adaptation limits

Evidence shows the seismic signal was caused not by an earthquake but by the rapid collapse of about 2 km² of rock and glacier ice. The mass fell roughly 1,400 m, releasing enormous energy and generating earthquake-like seismic waves.

World Weather Attribution
Update
Nepal floods damage 1,800 hectares of crops and kill thousands of livestock

The devastating flash floods that swept through Nepal’s Bhote Koshi–Trishuli river corridor on 26 August 2026 have taken a heavy toll on communities, killing over 1000 people, forcing many to flee their homes.

Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO)
Update
Rising sea levels could cost Australians at least $855 billion by 2100

Rising sea levels and storm surges could cost $855 billion in economic losses across Australia by the end of the century, according to new Australian-first research.

University of Melbourne
Assessing the consequences of compound coastal–fluvial flooding under climate change: exposure, vulnerability and damage estimates in eastern England thumbnail
Documents and publications
Assessing the consequences of compound coastal–fluvial flooding under climate change: exposure, vulnerability and damage estimates in eastern England

This study applied an integrated flood risk assessment framework to evaluate climate-driven compound flood risk in Broadland, with particular emphasis on how methodological choices influence exposure, damage and spatial risk estimates.

International Journal of Disaster Risk Reduction (Elsevier)
Update
Nepal flood losses estimated at $2.56 billion

Property, housing and infrastructure worth at least 387.5 billion Nepalese rupees($2.56 billion) was lost in Nepal's catastrophic floods last week, the country's disaster authority chief told Reuters on Friday.

Daily Star, the - Bangladesh
Financial flood risk exposure of Nikkei 225 Companies: An industry sector and regional facility-scale perspective thumbnail
Documents and publications
Financial flood risk exposure of Nikkei 225 Companies: An industry sector and regional facility-scale perspective

This study quantifies flood-related financial risk across Nikkei 225 companies and 18,000+ facilities. Using climate, hydrological and corporate data, it estimates annual losses exceeding US$8.2 billion by 2030 and identifies sectors with exposure.

International Journal of Disaster Risk Science
Quantifying impacts of vertical land motion and sea level rise on flooding in Lagos Nigeria thumbnail
Documents and publications
Quantifying impacts of vertical land motion and sea level rise on flooding in Lagos Nigeria

The authors integrate high-resolution VLM into sea-level rise (SLR) projections for Lagos, Nigeria to quantify impacts of vertical land motion and sea level rise on flooding.

npj Natural Hazards (Nature)
Update
World’s breadbaskets are getting pounded by war, weather and trade spats

The breadbaskets of the world are getting pummeled by drone strikes and devilish weather, nudging prices higher amid already soaring food costs in the wake of the Iran war.

New York Times, the
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