How Much Can a Single Natural Event Affect You?

How prepared are you for human enhanced natural events?

Cyclone Nargis – May 2, 2008

Cyclone Nargis (also called Very Severe Cyclonic Storm Nargis), a strong tropical cyclone, struck Myanmar on May 2, 2008, causing catastrophic destruction, killing  at least 146,000 people with thousands more still missing.  [Independent sources estimate the number of fatalities at more than 1 million.]

Foreign aid workers estimate that about 3 million people severely affected and were made homeless. According to a study,  up to 3.2 million Burmese lost their homes as a result of Nargis.

Percentage of the population affected by Cyclone Nargis: ~ 6.6% of Myanmar’s population

[Note: Population of Myanmar is about 48,798,000]

Sichuan Earthquake – May 12, 2008

The quake toll according to USGS:

• Death toll: At least 69,185 people were killed.
• No injuries: 374,171 people were injured.
• Other: 18,467 missing and presumed dead in the Chengdu-Lixian-Guangyuan area.
• More than 45.5 million people in 10 provinces and regions were affected.
• At least 15 million people were evacuated from their homes.
• More than 5 million were left homeless.
• An estimated 5.36 million buildings collapsed.
• More than 21 million buildings were damaged in Sichuan and in parts of Chongqing, Gansu, Hubei, Shaanxi and Yunnan.

Percentage of the population affected by Sichuan quake: 3.41% of China population

[Note: Population of China is about 1,335,530,000 or 19.8% of the world population.]

As one of the coldest winters on record looms over Sichuan, more than 1 million families displaced by the May 12 earthquake are still without proper homes, a senior provincial official said on Friday. China Daily. A home-bound migrant worker from Sichuan carries her child in a railway station in Shenyang, Liaoning province on Friday, after failing to find a job in the city. Many people displaced by the May 12 earthquake have left their hometowns in search of work. [Agencies] Image may be subject to copyright.

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