Disasters factsheet

In emergencies it is people who already live in poverty who suffer most because:

• They are very vulnerable to start with. For example, their houses are not built of the best quality materials.
• They may live on steep hillsides prone to landslides or riverbanks prone to flooding because they cannot afford good land.
• They have nothing to fall back on. For example, if they lose their crops because of drought they can't afford to buy food.