World

Disasters 2008: Over 211 million people affected & 325 000 killed

by Miriam Mannak | January 23, 2009 at 12:56 am

453 views | 36 Recommendations | 3 comments

The year 2008 was a dramatic year for many. According to the Center for Research on Epidemiology of Disasters (CRED), a Belgium based organisation, 321 disasters killed 235 816 people, affected 211 million others, and caused damage worth US$181 billion.

Of all continents in the world, Asia was hardest hit by disasters. Here, the death toll was three times higher in 2008 compared to the annual average of 66,812 for 2000-2007.

This was caused by two main events: Cyclone Nargis which killed 138,366 people in Myanmar and the Sichuan earthquake in China in which over 87.000 poeple lost their lives.

Globally, the number of people affected by disasters in 2008 was below the 2000-2007 annual average of 231 million. According to the study, 42 million people were affected by floods last year compared to 164 million in 2007.

Read more here.

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Paschen

at 01:02 on January 23rd, 2009

China was unfortunate and yet the authorities did what ever they could, where as Myanmar was a criminal political nightmare where many could and should have been saved that died due to a mad regime.

Miriam Mannak

at 01:11 on January 23rd, 2009

Thanks as always for the recommendation Pasche!

Marisa Olivia

at 11:20 on January 23rd, 2009

Totally agreed, Paschen. A few of my friends from the guiding company I work at went to Sichuan province the day after the quake - the government had already done everything (for the most part), and they got sent home. They had brought all their first aid skills/supplies, and none of them were needed. Quick reaction on their part.