Natural Disasters do not wait for permission. I have watched floodwaters turn green fields to muddy wastelands overnight. I have felt the ground shake beneath my feet during earthquakes. I have heard of landslides burying whole villages and valleys being washed away by flash floods. I have seen the news of the wildfire that reduces green forests to ashes. I have heard of droughts that have starved whole populations for months. I have experienced the panic of a pandemic that converts busy streets into empty ones. And I have personally experienced an unimaginable loss.
I still remember being eight years old when my family left our hometown and moved to Karachi to settle permanently. It was the 10th of January 2011 when a headline shook us all, a tragic landslide in Attabad, Hunza had buried an entire village. But the tragedy didn’t end there. As the newly formed lake rose, it drowned another town, the very one we had just left behind.
The landslide claimed 20 lives and displaced around 6,000 people. Over 25,000 were marooned due to blocked roads, and more than 19 km of the Karakoram Highway was submerged. Witnessing people of my community getting affected and displaced by the disaster awakened a feeling within me that this is an incident we experienced, but many more disastrous incidents transpire yearly in Pakistan. The level of displacement and loss of lives is increased.
The Need for Disaster Preparedness
Life is unpredictable; any event can cause a huge loss. These could be both natural and man-made disasters that need proper planning to minimize their human toll. Natural disasters cannot be prevented, but we can raise awareness, be well-prepared, and alert.
Despite being generally aware of the risks associated with natural disasters, people often fail to take necessary action. According to data from the World Risk Poll Resilience Index, produced by Lloyd’s Register Foundation, 43% of the world’s population say they can do nothing to protect themselves and their families in the event of a disaster, a 7 percentage point increase from 2021.
This highlights that raising awareness is only the first step; taking action is crucial to protect lives. As the famous saying goes, “Knowing is not enough; we must apply. Willing is not enough; we must do it.”
The analysis of how Pakistan has been hit by several disasters showed that the most disaster-hit areas have already faced similar situations in the past. As an illustration, the 2010 floods led to at least 1,781 deaths, 2,966 individuals were injured, and over 1.89 million houses were destroyed, whereas in 2022, 1,739 people died, including 647 children, and more than 12,867 were injured. More than 2.1 million individuals became homeless due to the floods.
Such recurring tragedies highlight our negligence in that we have not learned anything from past events, though disasters are now a crucial part of our lives. The 2010 floods were devastating, but the degree of destruction in 2022 was more or less the same as per the recent reports, which means that there has been little progress in the reduction of risks and mechanisms of effective response.
Economic and Social Costs of Disasters
After the destruction has taken place, it is usually costly, and a lot of money is invested in responding to the disaster instead of building long-term resilience. Effective mitigation of risk involves making a dedication to emergency preparedness that involves society as a whole. Investing in preparedness can help prevent substantial economic losses.
The World Bank Group statistics indicate that in 2022, Pakistan incurred over USD 30 billion of monetary loss, which is a huge loss in the context of a developing nation like Pakistan. This is a demonstration of how expensive disasters are when we have not prepared.
According to UNDRR, every US$1 invested in risk reduction and prevention can save up to US$15 in disaster recovery, and every US$1 spent on making infrastructure disaster-resilient can save US$4 in reconstruction. It is evident from these numbers that prevention is not only smarter but also cost-effective.
Only 50 cents of every US$100 of disaster-related aid is directed towards protecting development from future disasters. Being responsible in implementing these plans and investing more money in preparedness will assist us in mitigating the losses and save lives, property, and the economy.
In nations where only disaster preparedness can lower the mortality rate of their citizens and lower economic losses, authorities tend to be irresponsible. Meanwhile, Pakistan lacks disaster preparedness measures to a considerable extent. As an example, residential, commercial, and hospitality buildings are often constructed in flood-prone areas without following any basic safety code or zoning policies.
Besides, the uncontrolled development in cities and rapid urbanization have also helped in fueling the problem of urban flooding. The social, political, economic, and environmental dimensions are the main contributing factors.
Building Community Resilience for the Future
To achieve resilience and a successful disaster preparedness strategy, local communities that live in disaster-prone areas have to be engaged and educated, especially the women and children. Their power cannot be ignored, and they can be instrumental in defending and serving their societies.
Youth communities must be trained and encouraged to be involved in volunteer work. Students of schools also need to be considered as potential contributors in case of disasters and should be engaged actively by attending education and awareness seminars.
Disaster preparedness needs to be included in the school curriculum as a way of creating long-term resilience. In addition to this, the United Nations has developed two major global frameworks of disaster risk reduction, the Hyogo Framework (2005-2015) and its successor, the Sendai Framework (2015-2030). Such frameworks are supposed to be proactively incorporated in the policies and practices of disaster management to improve disaster response and preparedness plans.
Preparedness should not be viewed as optional but as a need. Communities should be informed and educated so that they can learn from their mistakes and, in that way, minimize loss of life and come up with a stronger future for the community.
References:
- https://www.preventionweb.net/news/nearly-half-global-population-feels-unable-protect-themselves-disasters
- https://www.lrfoundation.org.uk/events/the-world-risk-poll-resilience-index-what-does-it-mean-for-disaster-risk-reduction
- https://www.britannica.com/event/Pakistan-Floods-of-2010
- https://www.adrc.asia/view_disaster_en.php?Lang=en&Key=1423
- https://news.un.org/en/story/2025/07/1165422
- https://www.redcross.org.uk/stories/disasters-and-emergencies/world/climate-change-and-pakistan-flooding-affecting-millions
- https://www.finance.gov.pk/survey/chapter_11/Special%20Section_2.pdf
- https://web.archive.org/web/20220428052120/https://reliefweb.int/sites/reliefweb.int/files/resources/Human%20Cost%20of%20Disasters%202000-2019%20Report%20-%20UN%20Office%20for%20Disaster%20Risk%20Reduction.pdf
- https://the.akdn/en/resources-media/whats-new/news-release/focus-humanitarian-assistance-provides-relief-landslide-victims-hunza-pakistan
- https://www.researchgate.net/publication/280780230_Environmental_Study_of_Attabad_Lake_disaster_in_Gilgit
- https://www.preventionweb.net/understanding-disaster-risk/business-case-for-DRR
- https://www.undrr.org/our-work/our-impact
- https://www.worldbank.org/en/country/pakistan/overview#:~:text=As%20one%20of%20the%20countries,%2415.2%20billion%20in%20economic%20losses
Note: This article was prepared in collaboration with Climate Forward Pakistan, cfpakistan.org
More articles under this collaboration: Interactive Learning: Board Games Leading the Charge in Disaster Risk Reduction
