Global trends in water-related disasters: an insight for policymakers
The United Nations World Water Assessment Programme side publications series:
This document is a unique report designed to support future national disaster policy programmes. It is intended to help develop understanding of global requirements and challenges in fighting against water-related disasters, to evaluate the effectiveness of adopted policies in water-hazard mitigation, and to plan future development with better understanding of disaster vulnerability.
The report is divided into four parts. Section one is an introduction. The second section presents an overview of natural and water-related disasters from 1900 to 2006. The third section analyses recent trends in global and regional water-related disasters since 1980. The fourth, concluding section presents some recommendations based on the findings of the report.
The report analyses data compiled for the International Centre for Water Hazard and Risk Management (ICHARM) in the Public Works Research Institute (PWRI) Technical Notes Nos 4088 and 3985. Data from the Emergency Events Database (EM‑DAT) of the Centre for Research on Epidemiology of Disasters (CRED), widely regarded as being the most reliable existing database, are used throughout unless stated otherwise.