FACTS

1. Deaths from natural disasters have seen a large decline over the past century – from, in some years, millions of deaths per year to an average of 60,000 over the past decade.
2. Historically, droughts and floods were the most fatal disaster events. Deaths from these events are now very low – the deadliest events today tend to be earthquakes.
3. Disasters affect those in poverty most heavily: high death tolls tend to be centered in low-to-middle income countries without the infrastructure to protect and respond to events
4. Most house fires start in the kitchen. Cooking is the leading cause of home fire injuries. 
5. Smoking is the primary cause of fatal fires in the U.S. The second most common cause of fatal fires is heating equipment.
6. Arson is the third most common cause of home fires. 
7. More people die from smoke inhalation, rather than flames. Fire can suck all of the oxygen from a room and replace it with poisonous smoke and gases before flames even reach the room. People die from lack of oxygen before the fire reaches their room.
8. The U.S. has one of the highest fire death rates in the industrialized world.

STATS

• Between 1980 and 1999, there were 3,656 climate-related events, as opposed to 6,681 between 2000 and 2019. Those differences are reflected in the number of floods, which has more than doubled in the past 20 years, while the incidence of storms increased from around 1,457 to around 2,034.
• About 100 firefighters are killed each year in duty-related incidents.
• Fire is the third leading cause of accidental death in the home; at least 80 percent of all fire deaths occur in residences most claiming lives of the young, elderly and disadvantaged.
• About 2 million fires are reported each year. Many others go unreported, causing additional injuries and property loss.
• Every year more than 5,000 people die in fires, over 25,000 are injured, and direct property loss is estimated at over $9 billion.
• The world’s strongest earthquake in the time period from 1990 and 2013, according to measurement in the Richter scale, was the earthquake in Chile in 1960. With a magnitude of 9.5 this earthquake is the highest ranked earthquake. The magnitude of 9.0 and higher is defined as ‘Near or at total destruction – severe damage or collapse to all buildings. Heavy damage and shaking extends to distant locations.
• 60% of American adults have not practiced what to do in their homes or workplaces for disasters.