DOHA: Almost 100 million people were affected by disasters in 2013, 87 percent of whom live in Asia, the World Disasters Report 2014 launched yesterday in Katara revealed.
Floods remain the most frequent natural hazard, followed by storms. In 2013, floods accounted for 44 percent of deaths caused by natural hazards, and storms 41 percent. The most severe were Typhoon Haiyan in the Philippines, which affected 16 million people, and Cyclone Phailin in India with 13 million affected.
The number of people killed by technological disasters is also 26 percent below the decade’s average.
A total of 6,711 were reported killed in 2013, compared to the decade average of 7,594. The event that resulted in the highest number of deaths was the collapse of a textile factory building in Bangladesh which killed 1,127 people.
In total, natural hazards caused losses estimated at $118.6bn in 2013, the fourth lowest of the decade. This includes a flood in Germany with losses estimated at almost $13bn and Typhoon Haiyan with losses of $10bn.
The Peninsula
