3,000 Rohingya refugees train to tackle natural disasters

Neighbors around the country are forming grassroots community groups to prepare for, and respond to, extreme weather and disasters. These groups organize aid and supplies, participate in reconstruction, and help others find shelter amidst the storms.

The Iowa Flood Center developed a low-cost flood monitoring system, which includes a $7,500 water gauge and predictive mapping tools backed by human experts, that's helped local officials in make better-informed decisions during flood emergencies. In 2024, the center helped rescue coordinators safely navigate boats to 300 stranded residents during a flood.

The mutual-aid group Occupy Sandy helped New York City residents affected by Superstorm Sandy. Using and expanding the network of people created by Occupy Wall Street, 60,000 volunteers distributed supplies, created a map of relief locations, and organized helping hands wherever necessary.

In 1970 Cyclone Bhola hit Bangladesh. It killed up to 500,000 people. Since then, the country has revamped its emergency disaster preparedness through a multipronged process, reducing its cyclone-related deaths by 100 fold. Now, the country collects weather data from more than 50 weather stations. The data is sent to mitigation committees which dispense the info to people through various methods: radio, text messages, and even doorknocking. The country also has a volunteer program with 76,000 volunteers and increased the number of multi-purpose shelters from 44 in 1970 to 512 in 1991.

Two decades after a massive cyclone killed close to 10,000 people in India's Odisha state, the government's efforts to protect coastal villages vulnerable to cyclones and tsunamis has produced a host of safety measures, from reinforced shelters and early-warning systems to search and evacuation training. Two villages were singled out as the first in the Indian Ocean region to achieve UNESCO's "tsunami ready" certification. A drill in 2019 showed how quickly villagers were trained to respond to an imminent threat.

Designing room for rivers and coastlines can mitigate catastrophe. Following a massive flood in 1953, the Dutch government reallocated its resources toward disaster prevention and mitigation. Through measures like building surge barriers and reservoirs into recreational spaces, the Dutch have moved implemented defensive design methods. Additionally, by lowering some dykes, practices have moved from flood control to controlled flooding. The Dutch Water Ambassador serves a global role advising the UN and other countries about the Dutch engineering and design methods.

Amidst a backdrop of growing conversation around gun control and reform, especially as it pertains to school shooting incidents, President Trump suggests the solution is arming teachers. Some schools, however, have already done this to varying degrees of success and acceptance.

Despite the fact that Cuba and the United States have had no bilateral relations for decades, the countries' meteorological institutions do collaborate by exchanging information about weather. This relationship could be extended to disaster preparation. Cuba is able to prevent greater damage using a storm preparation system that includes removing potential dangers, evacuation simulations and making the heads of every institution part of the Cuban Civil Defense force when a storm hits.

In the wake of Hurricane Helene and Milton, mutual aid groups across the country are emerging to get essential supplies to thousands of people in isolated communities and working to combat misinformation and government mistrust surrounding climate change. Because mutual aid groups aren’t bound to the bureaucracy of government organizations, they’re able to act quickly and connect with community members on a deeper level.

The community in Malabon, Philippines, worked with a nongovernmental organization to create a contingency plan for tropical storms. Tasks like search and rescue and resident relocation are divided between community leaders, and local input makes the plan more actionable and effective than a top-down approach.