What we’re watching: Weekly disaster update, December 2
We know all too well that disaster can strike anytime, anywhere in the world. Some disasters make headlines; others do not. Here at the Center for Disaster Philanthropy (CDP), we monitor the status of disasters worldwide and compile a list of the ones we’re tracking weekly, along with relevant disaster-related media coverage.
Here’s what we’re watching for the week of Dec. 2, 2024.
New or Emerging Disasters
Syria – Displacement Crisis: For the first time since 2016, insurgents attacked government forces in Aleppo, Syria’s largest city, creating new displacement in the 13-year civil war. Syria is already home to one of the largest refugee crises in the world, with more than 6.5 million people displaced.
On Dec. 15, 2023, Concern Worldwide said Syrian refugees represented 25% of the global refugee population. UN OCHA says that the intense fighting in Aleppo and surrounding communities has led to “displacements, deaths, and injuries, as well as restricted access to critical humanitarian assistance and essential services, including healthcare, water, sanitation and hygiene, protection, and food necessary for survival.”
Landslides – Uganda: At least 15 people have died, and 113 are still missing after landslides buried homes in eastern Uganda on Nov. 28. Heavy rains spurred the landslides, which buried 40 homes, covering acres of farmland in mud. Rivers flooded schools and churches, bridges were destroyed, and major roads were impassable.
Flooding – Thailand and Malaysia: At least 27 people have died in Thailand and Malaysia since last week in the worst flooding the region has seen in years. In Thailand, about 534,000 households were affected, and in Malaysia, 152,000 people had been evacuated. Both countries will see additional rain in the coming days.
Cyclone Fengal – India and Sri Lanka: In Sri Lanka, 16 people were killed, and 138,944 families were affected by Cyclone Fengal on Nov. 30. The Puducherri region of India saw its heaviest rainfall in a 24-hour-period in thirty years. At least three people died, and over 600 were rescued as flooding triggered travel bans and school closures in multiple states.
Storm Bora – Greece: Torrential rains and gale-force winds caused two deaths on the island of Lemnos in Greece on Nov. 30 and another death in Halkidiki. Bridges have collapsed, and many roads are impassable.
High winds caused a cargo ship moored in the port of Thessaloniki to be swept away when it collided with another cargo ship. High winds also caused power outages and fallen trees.
Previous/Ongoing Disasters
2024 Atlantic Hurricane Season – North America and the Caribbean: Saturday, Nov. 30, marked the official end of the 2024 hurricane season, although hurricanes can happen at any time of year.
In 2024, there were 18 named storms, of which 11 were hurricanes, including five major storms (Category 3 and stronger). Accuweather estimates that this year’s hurricanes and tropical storms cost an estimated $500 billion in economic losses and damage. The three most expensive storms were Hurricane Beryl ($28 billion to $32 billion in losses), Hurricane Milton ($160 billion to $180 billion in losses) and Hurricane Helene ($225 billion to $250 billion in losses). Meteorologists called this hurricane season “crazy busy,” partly because of how warm the ocean water was compared to past years.
Brazil – Drought: Heavy rain in November has reduced the impact of the ongoing drought in Brazil.
The Tapajós River provides an important transportation route from Mato Grosso for grains, such as corn and soy. In October, river traffic was halted due to the low water levels. On Nov. 27th, shipping resumed with barge traffic operating at 50% of normal.
Complex Humanitarian Emergencies – Cameroon
Many places worldwide are experiencing emergencies caused by conflict, climate change, drought, famine, economic challenges and other conditions that combine to create a complex humanitarian emergency (CHE). CDP maintains complete profiles on several CHEs, and what CDP considers Level 1 CHEs are profiled in this weekly blog post and tracked.
Minority English-speaking separatists have been waging war with the Francophone government for the creation of an Anglophone state since 2017. Rights groups say the government is not doing enough to protect civilians who have faced hunger, displacement and disrupted education from ongoing violence. Humanitarian workers face increasing violence, and the use of improvised explosive devices (IEDs) has prevented civilians from receiving aid and basic services.
Climate shocks and disease outbreaks have exacerbated the humanitarian crisis in Cameroon. As of Oct. 31, 2024, there are over 2 million forcibly displaced persons and over 400,000 refugees in Cameroon.
As of November 2024, Cameroon is in IPC 3, or crisis levels of food insecurity, with 5-14% of the population facing acute levels of hunger. According to the Famine Early Warning Systems Network, crisis levels of acute food insecurity will persist through January 2025.
Since late July, flooding has worsened conditions in the Far North region, causing at least 38 fatalities, 448,164 affected people, and 56,084 destroyed or damaged houses. Heavy rainfall affected north-eastern Cameroon between Sept. 19 and Nov. 11, causing floods that resulted in considerable damage. As of Sept. 2, donors had funded just 36% of the 2024 Humanitarian Response Plan.
In addition to the disasters listed above, we actively monitor the following disasters or humanitarian emergencies. For more information, see the relevant disaster profiles, which are updated regularly.
What We’re Reading
- Drought is causing saltwater to creep up the Delaware River. Here’s what’s being done about it – AP News: “Salty oceanwater is creeping up the Delaware River, the source for much of the drinking water for Philadelphia and millions of others, brought on by drought conditions and sea level rise, and prompting officials to tap reservoirs to push the unpotable tide back downstream.” In 2023 and 2024, a similar situation occurred in South Louisiana at the mouth of the Mississippi River.
- Cop 29: Drought warnings save lives, what about livelihoods? – The New Humanitarian: “Advances in drought prediction mean that mass human fatalities have become much rarer these days. Sophisticated early warning systems generate forecasts that enable emergency relief to be provided in enough time to save lives in most cases.”
- New Orleans’ striking advantage in the age of climate change – The New York Times: “The genius of the master plan is that, by building and restoring marshland, levees and barrier islands, it will fail more slowly — much more slowly than the second-best plan, which is to hope for the best, while the storm-pummeled coast, undermined by saltwater intrusion and shipping pipelines and oil wells, continues to atrophy. The grace period bought by the plan is intended to be the difference between a deliberate, gradual retreat over generations and a sudden one marked by chaos and excessive suffering.”
A moment of hope… Taylor Schenker of Canton, North Carolina, started a virtual lost and found page for photographs she found while helping clean up her community after Hurricane Helene. Her page, “Photos from Helene,” on Instagram helps reunite people with the precious photos she recovered when they may have lost everything else. Schenker says, “Being able to have that moment where you hand something so special to somebody and then also just give them a hug – because they’ve lost likely their entire home in this situation – it’s such a privilege to have an insight into this moment in their lives through these photographs and be able to give them back to them.”
Gina DeLuca
Content Development Associate