World Resources Institute | By: Helen Mountford | GPE – September 28, 2017:
Wrenching stories of loss and hardship after Hurricanes Harvey and Irma made vivid and upsetting viewing in recent days. The death tolls from the two hurricanes are currently estimated at 70 to 80, and early estimates suggest that the two storms combined could cost between $150-$200 billion. And now, Hurricane Maria is hammering parts of the Caribbean that are still reeling from Irma.
Originally published September 20, 2017: An even greater number of people in India, Bangladesh and Nepal were recently hit by record-setting floods. At least 1,400 are thought to have died from the immediate impacts, with thousands more ill due to subsequent outbreaks of diarrhoea, malaria and dengue.
For the world’s poorest people in particular, the extreme weather event is just the beginning, with impacts felt for weeks, months and, in some cases, years after. Research has found that, “Differences in vulnerability and exposure arise from non-climatic factors and from multidimensional inequalities often produced by uneven development processes (very high confidence). These differences shape differential risks from climate change.”
This fact has been borne out in New Orleans where, more than ten years later, aspects of the city’s economy are still feeling the effects of Hurricane Katrina. Jobs in the hospitality and tourism industry were hit hardest by Katrina, and have had a limited recovery. Layer on top of that the fact that average wages in this industry were already among the lowest in the area, and it’s clear that those least able to withstand climate impacts have the highest risk of exposure to them.
The full impact of an extreme weather event like a hurricane is not just about the strength of the storm. It’s about who gets hit, where they live, the jobs they do and how mobile they are. But while it may feel a long way off for many victims, recovery also presents an opportunity―which is why New Orleans has experienced a surge in entrepreneurship since Katrina.
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