Social impact of natural hazards

The 2023 Carnival disaster in São Paulo: an all time record for rainfall in Brazil

Paulo Hader May 22, 2023

Photo credit: Image by Mati Mango from Pexels (Pexels licence)

In February 2023, Brazil experienced its largest rainfall event on record, which devastated the northern coast of the state of São Paulo. This event caused landslides, floods, and numerous fatalities, making it even more tragic than previous disasters in the region, which already have been elaborated on in another blog post. The situation highlights the urgent need for effective emergency manageme ...[Read More]

Connecting the dots: the importance of recognising multi-hazard events in disaster reporting

Sophie Buijs and Marleen de Ruiter March 27, 2023

A photo reporter and a cameraman broadcasting during Hurricane Sandy, Jersey City, New Jersey (USA), 29 October 2012. Photo credit: Wally Gobetz, available at https://www.flickr.com/photos/wallyg/8153742838 under Creative Commons license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/2.0/)

In the past year, the world has witnessed many severe disasters caused by multiple hazards whose impacts overlapped in time and space. February this year, two severe earthquakes hit Syria and Turkey shortly after each other, followed by two more powerful earthquakes and over a hundred aftershocks in subsequent weeks [1,2]. The disaster caused over 48 thousand fatalities, and many people are still ...[Read More]

COVID-19 and natural hazards: a complex multi-risk scenario

Silvia De Angeli January 16, 2023

Photo credit: Image by Hermann Kollinger from Pixabay (Pixabay licence).

COVID-19 has been a disruptive ‘tsunami’ that most countries were not prepared to handle. The pandemic has been representing a global slow-onset long-lasting disaster that has drastically challenged all emergency management systems worldwide. The pandemic slow-onset disaster has been characterized by a prolonged emergency phase with varying intensity levels, and a cyclic behavior, where the interp ...[Read More]

Reducing housing vulnerability to natural hazards – Interview with Dr Eefje Hendriks

Vale Cigala December 19, 2022

Community in the Philippines rebuild above the sea showing hazard vulnerability and dependency on fishery as a livelihood. (Photo credit: Dr Hendriks, with permission)

The impact of natural hazards on vulnerable communities can be devastating, causing fatalities, damaging houses and livelihoods, and pushing people into poverty. These disasters make them even more vulnerable. A growing line of research identifies actions and tools to reduce vulnerability and make communities more resilient. An interesting and crucial part of this research investigates the role of ...[Read More]