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Floods in Belgium, the second most emitted disaster of 2021
Floods in Belgium and neighboring countries are the second most reported disaster. The 10 referenced disasters also killed at least 1,075 and displaced more than 1.3 million people, according to Christian Aid’s annual report released on Monday.
The year, the amount of economic damages of the 10 meteorological events, the last billions had been calculated at nearly 150 dollars by the NGO, which underlines that most of the estimates “are only based on the insured damages, which suggests even higher real costs “.
This economic classification over-represents the disasters that have occurred in rich countries, with more developed and better insured infrastructure, but the NGO recalls that “some of the most devastating extreme weather events of 2021 have poor countries, which have contributed little to the causes. climate change “and where most of the damage is uninsured.
In South Sudan, floods, the economic cost of which could not be assessed, affected some 800,000 people, for example Christian Aid recalls.
The costliest disaster was announced at the end of August, which predicted flooding in New York City, with $ 65 billion in estimated savings.
Then come the July floods in Belgium and neighboring countries, with $ 43 billion in losses, then the winter storm Uri in the United States, with a cold snap as far as Texas, which notably affected the electricity network and caused 23 billion damage.
A fourth disaster exceeding $ 10 billion in damages, flooding in China’s Henan province in July, at a cost of $ 17.6 billion.
Follow the floods in British Columbia in Canada (November, 7.5 billion), the late April cold snap in France (5.6 billion), which devastated prestigious vineyards, Cyclone Yaas in India and Bangladesh (May, 3 billion), Typhoon In-Fa in China (July, 2 billion), floods in Australia (March 2.1 billion) and Cyclone Tauktae in India and Sri Lanka (May, 1.5 billion) .
In mid-December, the reinsurer Swiss Re published an overall estimate of the cost of natural disasters in 2021 around the world, estimated at some $ 250 billion, up 24% compared to 2020.
“The costs of climate change have been high this year,” Kat Kramer, climate manager at Christian Aid and author of the report, commented in a statement.
Weather disasters have always existed, but climate change is driven by human activity increasing their frequency and impact, in accordance with scientists’ forecasts.
