Climate Change and Disasters

• 2015: Hurricane Joaquin, Category 4, was the strongest Atlantic hurricane of non-tropical origin recorded in the satellite era.
• 2016: Hurricane Matthew was the first Category 5 Atlantic hurricane since Felix in 2007.
• 2017: Hurricanes Irma and Maria were the fourth and third-costliest Atlantic hurricanes ($168.8 billion in damage combined).

• 2018: Hurricane Michael was the first Category 5 hurricane to strike the contiguous United States since Andrew in 1992.
• 2019: Hurricane Dorian was the most powerful tropical cyclone on record to strike the Bahamas, and it is regarded as the worst disaster in the country’s history.
• 2020: Hurricane Eta and Hurricane Iota slammed into Central America. The 2020 Atlantic Hurricane Season was the most active and fifth costliest on record.

More about hurricanes

Amy from Barbuda experienced every second of Hurricane Irma’s wrath in 2017. She told us:

‘On the night of the hurricane, I was with my neighbour. It was midnight. We weren’t prepared. It was scary. It was a night I will never forget. Never. Never. The roof kept lifting up and dropping back down. The next thing we knew, it was gone. That was the longest night. All that wind, rain and noise.’

In Malawi, Grace recalls how severe flooding after Cyclone Idai destroyed her home and threatened her family’s lives:

‘When the water came, I was panicking because the water was running fast. We even tried to climb the trees to run away from the water. It was very scary, there were crocodiles in the water.’

1. Homes are destroyed

We work with people living in places where homes are often made from wood and materials found locally, like in Malawi.

These homes are made by hand, by traditional methods passed down from one generation to the next. But they are not designed to withstand the increasing severity of tropical storms and hurricanes.

When Cyclone Idai devastated Malawi in March 2019, families saw their homes and livelihoods washed away, sunk into the rising floodwaters. Stephano told us:

“On the day of the flood the rain started at 5pm, but the flood that caused houses to fall started at 11pm. By the middle of the night, all the houses had fallen. Our livestock were getting carried away with the water. The crocodiles were so close to us, attacking the cows.”

2. People find themselves in vulnerable locations

We support people living in places that are vulnerable to extreme weather events, who are often not well equipped to withstand the worsening conditions, like the families we’ve supported in the Philippines. Since 2004, we have responded there 25 times to a range of devastating disasters including storms, cyclones and typhoons, floods and earthquakes.

But why do people live in places that they know are at risk of hurricanes, floods and even volcanic eruptions?

Often there are social and cultural reasons – it’s where people have always lived. Sometimes the opportunities outweigh the risks. For example, the ground near volcanoes is very fertile for growing crops, enhanced by the volcanic ash.

It can also be cheaper. People who can’t afford to live in safer areas create homes where they will be more vulnerable to disaster because it’s the only place they can afford.

3. Natural resources are lost

We work with farming and nomadic communities, like families in Somaliland who can no longer grow crops or feed their cattle and sheep because of the severe drought brought on by many years of poor rainy seasons.

Over the last 3 years the drought has killed almost all (up to 80%) of the region’s livestock. Rural communities in Somaliland rely on livestock for their income and survival, and extreme weather is their biggest threat.

“We came here because we were hungry and we didn’t have any food. Since I lost my livestock, the biggest struggle is to get food for my family’. – Bihi

We also see how climate change has reduced the availability of natural resources, leaving communities far more vulnerable to extremist groups.

This can contribute to complex conflict situations, like in the Lake Chad Basin which originally reached across Nigeria, Cameroon, Niger and Chad. Historically, people across the Lake Chad Basin region relied on the lake for their livelihoods, living on the plentiful fish and fertile land. But since the 1960s, the lake has shrunk by about 90%, turning the area to desert.

This is due to a mix of climate change, increasing population, overuse and irrigation. In one of the hottest places on earth, it is now almost impossible to make a living from the land or the lake, contributing to the influence of Boko Haram in the region.

Find out more about the Lake Chad Basin Crisis here.