Natural and environmental hazards in south africa by. While the absolute number of disasters around the world has almost doubled since the 1980s, the average number of natural disasters in middle east and north africa. Rabalao 2006108977 submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree masters in disaster management disaster management training and education centre for africa at the university of the free state bloemfontein study leader. Economic and financial impacts of natural disasters. South africa is one of the less frequent victims of major natural disasters, but has experienced some over the years. Some of the causes of natural disasters in south africa are. Rethinking disaster preparedness in southern africa after cyclone idai. As of midaugust 2019, the drought is classified as a level 2 redclass event by the global disaster alert and coordination system.
Disasters, climate change, and economic development in sub. South africa continues to improve legal facilities for community level drr south africa s leadership took action to empower local communities to reduce their vulnerability to disasters with the adoption of its disaster management act in 2002. Media have always played an important role in times of emergency and disaster. The worst earthquake to hit south africa was in tulbagh, an area located in the winelands area of. Old media, new media, and the complex story of disasters. Each is more poorly placed than most countries to bear the burden of sudden shocks from natural disasters, particularly tropical cyclones. Disasters in africa the case for legal preparedness african communities have always been resourceful when adapting to their environment and todays threats are forcing them to become ever more resilient. Compared to the effect of natural disasters on surviving firms, the empirical evidence on the firms post disaster exits is scant. Natural disasters and extreme weather world the guardian. January 2008 report on the status of disaster risk reduction in the subsaharan africa region commission of the african union 10701c1c4. Subsaharan africa s ssa disaster profile is closely linked to the vulnerability of its population and economy and the populations oftenlow capacities to cope with natural hazards world bank, 2010.
Disasters are increasing worldwide, with more devastating effects than ever before. Man made disasters in south africa images all disaster. Worst natural disasters in south africa briefly sa. The northern african countries are the most at risk with a reading of 38% as compared to 31% in eastern africa and 17% in central africa. Section 1 of the disaster management act, 2002 hereinafter referred. Merafe house, 11 naivasha road, sunninghill, 2157, johannesburg, south africa. A suggestion is given of the key parameters that need to be taken into account, and a framework is given for models describing losses arising from floods, hail and tornadoes. Natural disasters in the middle east and north africa. With the most commonly occurring natural catastrophe being flooding, its only right if we start from there as we highlight the use of south africa natural disaster pictures. The western cape can be regarded as one of the most disaster prone provinces in south africa.
Natural hazards and their governance in subsaharan africa. A guide to international tools and services available to governments is a guide to southern. While natural disasters cannot be stopped, the trend the world over is to. Physical map or study area 1969 tulbagh and ceres earthquake frequency of natural disasters in africa introduction people in africa affected by natural disasters started along ou kaapse weg on sunday, january 16, 2000.
Born out of necessity from a dysfunctional apartheid system, the. Africa inequality global development more natural disasters and extreme weather. A framework for modelling losses arising from natural. The 201820 southern africa drought is an ongoing period of drought taking place in southern africa. Ssa can be defined as the region south of the sahara and comprises 48 countries unep, 2002.
National disaster management system of south africa 2. Man made disasters in south africa march 9, 2018 jarwato disaster worst man made disasters of 2016 you ve probably never heard natural and man made disasters wele to our generation usa asia s worst natural disasters asia s worst natural disasters man made tsunami disaster in south africa. Over 100 people died as many states were declared disaster areas. Natural and humaninduced hazards and disasters in subsaharan africa 2 1 1.
Disaster and natural hazard governance has become a significant policy and legislative focus in south africa since the early 1990s. Analysis of legislation related to disaster risk reduction. A vicious cycle of poverty and ill health are the reality for many african countries. Sinopsis eiendom versekering beskerm polishouers teen verliese veroorsaak deur. Information on natural hazards and disaster reduction 55 4. Since 2006, 11 disasters were declared which consisted mostly of flooding events. Modelling in support of disaster risk reduction in south africa 12. Report on the status of disaster risk reduction in sub. Cape town in aon benfields latest weather, climate and catastrophe insight report, 2017 was flagged as the costliest year on record for natural disasters. Top 5 of south africas most destructive natural disasters. The 2016 johannesburg flood was a natural disaster in south africa that took place on 9 november 2016. South africa is a waterstressed country and lack of. Be it enacted by the parliament of the republic of south africa, as follows.
South africa has had its share of natural disasters and we have put together a list of the worst 5 that have hit our beautiful country. The latest news and comment on natural disasters and extreme weather. Natural disasters that occur in south africa integrated. Disaster risk reduction and management table of contents list of figures 4 list of tables 5 list of abbreviations 6 acknowledgements 8 report overview 9 executive summary 10 1. Introduction 2 africa is a continent prone to a wide variety of natural and humaninduced hazards and 3 disasters. Disasters occur when hazards and vulnerability meet. To attain the above aim the dissertation is broken up into several parts. The center for research on the epidemiology of disasters. In africa, geological disasters are less prevalent than other forms of natural disasters. Legal framework prior to 1994, disaster management activities were governed by the.
Hot, windy conditions dried out the vegetation and caused the. An analysis of historic natural catastrophes occurring in south africa in. It was prepared by the african centre for disaster studies nwu potchefstroom campus in the preparation of the usaid disaster risk reduction training programme for south and southern africa. The drought began in late october 2018, and is negatively affecting food security in the region. Each year natural disasters kill thousands of people and inflict billions of dollars in economic losses. The africa drm team continues to seek linkages with the work on climate change adaptation. The storm and flash floods caused significant damage to the township of alexandra, while the suburb of buccleuch was declared a disaster area. The flooding, which occurred in the area east of johannesburg, affected both johannesburg and ekurhuleni. Disaster response and disaster response preparedness in southern africa. Undersea cables, international news agencies, the press, radio and television, and, most recently, digital and mobile technologiesall have played myriad and complex roles in supporting emergency response and notification, and in helping constitute a shared experience that can be important to social mobilization. Rethinking disaster preparedness in southern africa after.
This is probably due to the type of hazards that affect this continent, to underreporting, and to the fact that under the circumstances prevailing in africa, it is easy. In addition, the recent support of the euacp african caribbean and pacific group of states natural disaster facility will help the team to scale up ac report on the status of disaster risk reduction in subsaharan africa. Disasters, climate change, and economic development in subsaharan africa 3 figure 1. Number of natural disasters in subsaharan africa since 1975 0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140 1975 1978 1981 1984 1987 1990 1993 1996 1999 2002 2005 yea r n u mbe r of disaste r s source. Natural events and unnatural disasters nature plants. Natural disasters occur all over the world, with certain countries being more susceptible to them than others. Africa disaster statistics a predesigned summary and profile of disasters reported for a particular region including a summary of events from 1980 to september 2008, as well as the top 10 disasters. Introduction to disaster risk reduction 18 lighting and heat can result in catastrophic domestic fires especially in informal settlements such as those we find in urban centres such as dar es salaam, lusaka, the cape flats in south africa, and antananarivo. The primary aim was to address the prevalence of fire, flood, drought and water conservation related incidents disasters that cause injury, loss of life, damage to. Analysis of legislation related to disaster risk reduction in south africa while south africa is subject to a wide variety of natural and humaninduced hazards, the three that occur most frequently floods, droughts and fires are all associated with water, its excess or its lack. The region is characterized by a large diversity in. Climate change evident in cape storm and knysna fires. Out of 100 disasters reported worldwide, only 20 occur in africa, but africa suffers 60% of all disaster related deaths.