World Risk Report 2026 - focus: storms

The World Risk Report 2026 asks: why does the same storm turn into a disaster in one country while its consequences remain limited elsewhere? The answer rarely lies in the wind alone. Tropical cyclones are not becoming more frequent worldwide, but they are becoming more intense, and increasingly they gain sudden strength just off the coast. This shrinks the window in which people can be warned and seek shelter. It is not the wind that claims the most lives, but the water from storm surges and flooding. Whether a storm becomes a disaster, however, is determined above all by social vulnerability. In poor countries and in rapidly growing coastal cities, the same wind speeds hit more people, weaker buildings, and less protection.

Three approaches take center stage:

• Early warning systems only save lives if they reach everyone. Too often they are based on wind strength alone and overlook those who do not speak the language, who have difficulty walking, or who have no safe shelter. Effective warning starts with people, not only with the hazard.
• Social protection systems are usually tied to poverty, not to vulnerability. As a result, those most in need of protection often go without any safety net. Where the state is absent, informal networks such as neighborly assistance carry people through the crisis, but they quickly reach their limits in major storms. Formal and informal protection are not opposites. They need to complement each other.
• Remittances sent by migrants even exceed official emergency aid at a global level. After storms they flow quickly and directly, yet they are largely overlooked in disaster policy. At the same time they reach only households with relatives abroad, which can deepen existing inequalities.

The report’s message is also a call to action. Whether a storm becomes a disaster is not a matter of fate. It is the result of political decisions. Vulnerability can be reduced. Protection is only protection if it excludes no one.