Historical Hazards
On average, one tropical cyclone passes within 400km of Tuvalu’s islands per year. Cyclone frequency is highly variable and multiple cyclones have been known to hit in quick succession. Cyclones expose Tuvalu to high wind speeds, extreme precipitation, and storm surges, all of which cause significant economic and social damage. Cyclone Pam, which struck Tuvalu’s northern islands in 2015 caused damages that resulted in more than 25% of national GDP. Around 26% of Tuvalu’s population lives below the national poverty line, and a majority of the nation’s limited land area is devoted to subsistence agriculture. Climate variability and limited terrestrial resource stores also mean Tuvalu has low food and water security. These features result in low levels of resilience to natural hazards and a heavy reliance on international aid during disasters.
This section provides a summary of key natural hazards and their associated socioeconomic impacts in a given country. It allows for a quick assessment of most vulnerable areas through the spatial comparison of natural hazard data with development data, thereby identifying exposed livelihoods and natural systems.
The charts provide overview of the most frequent natural disaster in a given country and understand the impacts of those disasters on human populations.
Metadata
Climate change is now recognized to have a significant impact on disaster management efforts and pose a significant threat to the efforts to meet the growing needs of the most vulnerable populations. The demands of disaster risk management are such that concise, clear, and reliable information is crucial. The information presented here offers insight into the frequency, impact and occurrence of natural hazards. Source (PDF)