Learning from past disasters

Hurricane Mitch is widely remembered as one of the most destructive hurricanes to strike Central America, in no small part because it caused widespread homelessness in Honduras.

The Gorkha Earthquake in Nepal occurred on 25 April 2015 and had a magnitude of 7.6. Its epicentre was about 76km northwest of the capital Kathmandu. It was followed by more than 300 aftershocks. Around 9,000 people were killed, of whom approximately 55 per cent were female, and over 100,000 people were injured. Overall eight million people have been impacted, which is almost one-third of the population of Nepal.

Tropical Cyclone Idai made landfall near Beira City, Mozambique on 14 March 2019, bringing strong winds and severe flooding in Mozambique, Malawi, Zimbabwe, and Madagascar.

In September 2014, intense flooding in India's Jammu and Kashmir, as well as Azad Kashmir, Gilgit-Baltistan and Punjab in Pakistan, killed hundreds, caused tens of thousands of people to be evacuated, and affected over 2,000 villages.

A strong earthquake in Canterbury, New Zealand, triggered a series of aftershocks, including an earthquake that resulted in multiple deaths in Christchurch.

The 2015–16 El Niño was one of the strongest El Niño events since 1950, with wide-ranging effects felt around the world.

In January 2001, a strong earthquake impacted the Kutch District of Gujarat, killing thousands, injuring over 100,000, and destroying over 300,000 homes.

In July 2010, heavy monsoon rains affected millions of people by submerging approximately one-fifth of Pakistan's land area.