By: Staff Writer
September 15, 2023
The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) and the United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNDRR) published their joint “Overview of Disasters in Latin America and the Caribbean 2000 – 2022,” which said that three out of every 10 people in the region have withstood a hurricane. Or an earthquake. Or a drought, landslide or volcano, to name just a few of the region´s most comment natural hazard emergencies.
Since 2000, disasters have affected more than 190m people in Latin America and the Caribbean.
The report also said: “Certain climate-related disasters, like drought and storms, are especially concerning given their cyclical nature and increasing frequency and intensity. According to the World Bank, the impacts of climate change will likely lead to more than 17 million people moving in search of better living conditions, livelihood opportunities and basic services by 2050.”
Drought is the disaster that has affected the highest number of people in the region: over 53m people since 2000. “Drought is the single greatest culprit of agricultural production loss; 82 per cent of all drought impact is agricultural.”
The report also said: “Between 2008 and 2018, $13 billion was lost in Latin America and the Caribbean because of drought-induced declines in crop and livestock production”
It added: “Droughts are characterized by an extended period – a season, a year or several years – of unusually dry weather due to insufficient rainfall. Droughts are context-specific and escape easy definition because of the variety of methods used to define and measure their impact. They are slow onset without a clear beginning or end. Droughts have affected the highest number of people in the region over the last 20 years.”
Hurricanes on the other hand are the second most impactful natural disaster. The report said: “Storms are becoming more frequent. In 2021, the 30-year average for the Atlantic Hurricane season increased to 14 named storms, seven hurricanes and three major hurricanes (the 1881-2010 averages were 12 storms, six hurricanes and three major hurricanes). An Eastern Pacific hurricane season averages 15 named storms, eight hurricanes and four major hurricanes.”
The 2020 Atlantic Hurricane season was the most active on record with 30 named storms, including 14 hurricanes and 7 major hurricanes. This heightened activity continued in 2021, which was the third most active season on record and the sixth-consecutive above-normal Atlantic hurricane season.
Back-to-back hurricanes Eta and Iota ravished Central America at the height of the pandemic in late 2020 and some communities are still struggling to recover.
In recent years some countries have endured hurricanes that have generated losses that outweigh their entire GDP.