Are Natural Disasters Increasing?
Winter Storm Preparedness
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Natural disasters - such as earthquakes, hurricanes, tornados, avalanches, floods, wildfires, and severe winter storms - have the ability to cause large-scale damage and threaten human health and safety, property, and infrastructure.
It’s difficult to predict exactly when a natural disaster will occur and the impact it will have on the individuals on your team. Damage from these events can be catastrophic and they can lead to the loss of property, being stranded, suffering from injuries, and even death.
It may continue to get even more difficult with reports of more frequent natural disasters occurring. In this post, we’ll look at whether there has been an increase in natural disasters and the importance of establishing a relief fund to help provide assistance to team members affected by them.
Are Natural Disasters on the Rise?
According to the Ecological Threat Register’s 2020 report, there has been a drastic increase over the last half-century in the number of climate or natural disasters that occur each year around the world. The report states that there are currently 10 times as many natural disasters now as there were in the 1960s, with 39 incidents in 1960 and 396 in 2019. Additionally, a 2020 study published by The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) specifies that there has been a 35% increase in natural disasters since just 1990.
In the United States, there were a record-breaking 22 major disasters in 2020 that caused an estimated $95 million in damage. The previous record for major disasters in a year was 16, which occurred in both 2011 and 2017. Since the 1950s, the amount of damage caused by natural disasters has increased 14-fold. In 2021, 1 out of every 3 Americans faced a weather disaster—that’s nearly 110 million people who experienced a disaster in one year.
In 2021 alone, Emergency Assistance Foundation (EAF) responded to 87 global disaster events across dozens of countries. Fortunately, as the frequency and cost of disasters continue to rise, the deaths caused by them have steadily decreased. This can be attributed to better preparation, technology, and infrastructure. It also shows that most individuals will require financial help to recover from a natural disaster. Before we delve into the best ways to assist those affected by these events, let’s first look at what is causing the increase of natural disasters.
Why Are Natural Disasters Increasing?
The statistics show that natural disasters are occurring at an alarmingly frequent rate, but what are the reasons behind this shift? The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) explains that the increase of natural disasters is due to climate change. Due primarily to human activity, global warming is causing temperatures to rise around the world and impacting the climates in different areas.
For instance, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) reported that 2020 was the 2nd-warmest year on record and that the Earth’s temperature has risen 0.32° F (0.18° C) per decade since 1981. When you think about climate change increasing natural disasters, it may seem like these slight temperature changes don’t matter. However, they are leading to more natural disasters and having a devastating impact. They are not only occurring more frequently, but they are also growing in severity.
This is because the changing climate affects things like the temperature of the ocean’s surface. That fluctuation can increase the amount of moisture a storm gathers and lead to stronger storms developing. The combination of increased storms and disasters with the potential for them to be more powerful can ultimately affect the amount of damage caused by them. That’s why making sure your organization is prepared for a disaster is vital. So, what can you do about the increase in natural disasters due to climate change?
With Natural Disasters Increasing, Establishing a Relief Fund (With Emergency Assistance Foundation) Helps Provide Aid
In the aftermath of a natural disaster, your organization needs to be able to help impacted team members rebuild and recover from the potentially devastating effects of the disaster. A disaster relief fund can boost morale and encourage your internal communities to contribute directly to the support of fellow team members. Establishing a relief fund can alleviate the stress that disasters put on members within your organization and allow them to stay focused on recovering from the event.
Proactively establishing a relief fund with Emergency Assistance Foundation ensures that your organization is ready to assist any team members that are impacted by natural disasters, and it can even be life-saving. According to data analyzed for our landmark 10-year relief fund industry report, natural disasters are the number one event included in the grant criteria for funds that are established with Emergency Assistance Foundation. In fact, 73% of the over 300 relief funds we administer include natural disasters in their grant criteria. The funds’ sponsoring organizations recognize the growing importance of taking care of their team members in the aftermath of a natural disaster. As the troubling trends presented in this post make clear, now is the perfect time to start preparing for how your organization will respond once the next disaster occurs.
This chart shows the percentage of funds that include each event category in the fund’s grant criteria.
If your organization is interested in starting a relief fund, consider establishing a fund with Emergency Assistance Foundation today. As a financial first responder, we are resourceful and fearless in ensuring that financial assistance reaches individuals in need, no matter the unique circumstances involved.
Once you establish a fund, you can also launch an Immediate Response Program (IRP) in the event of a qualified disaster to provide small grants quickly and efficiently. This is a unique, low-cost program, which is supplemental to a fund’s standard grant program and awards small grants (< $1,000) quickly in times of large-scale disasters.
By establishing a fund with us today, your organization can assist members of your team affected by severe winter weather and other disasters. Relief fund grants can help impacted individuals pull through difficult times and start on the path toward recovery. If you’d like to learn more about how your organization can help your team during difficult times, you can review additional information about how a fund works or contact us today. We look forward to helping you make a difference for those who need it most!
