Disasters are now affecting record numbers of people and threatening their lives and livelihoods, says U.N. Assistant Secretary-General Kamal Kishore

Mr. Kishore said Asia Pacific countries should regularly dedicate funds in their national budgets for the reduction of disaster risk and should allocate a larger proportion of foreign development aid to disaster prevention and “not simply response.” Such investments have brought down death tolls, he said. “They do die, but the mortality is coming down compared to before,” Mr. Kishore added in an interview on the sidelines of the Manila conference.

Discussions focused on better disaster-warning systems, sharing of technology and building more resilient infrastructure, houses and workplaces.

The Philippines, which is co-hosting the Manila conference, has been in the crosshairs of disasters given its location as an archipelago sandwiched between the Pacific Ocean and the South China Sea, where about 20 typhoons and storms blow across each year. It’s also in the so-called Pacific “Ring of Fire,” where volcanic eruptions and earthquakes have long been a constant threat.

“These are compounded by the increasing frequencies of hazards brought about by climate change, which makes the Philippines at risk and our landscape even more,” President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. told the conference in a keynote speech.

With better access to financing, technology and data, the most vulnerable states could build better resilience, Marcos said.

European Union Commissioner for Crisis Management Janez Lenarcic attended the U.N. disaster-mitigation conference in Manila because he said closer international cooperation was the only way for nations from Asia to Europe to confront “a new reality” of “unprecedented frequency and intensity of weather-related disasters.” “None of us will be able to face these new challenges alone,” Mr. Lenarcic told The Associated Press in an interview. “These disasters know no boundaries.”

Since 2020, the EU has allocated more than 80 million euros ($87 million) to the Asia Pacific region to help finance disaster preparedness and mitigation efforts, Lenarcic said, and he urged wealthier countries to contribute more to such campaigns.

“This region has gained a lot of experience in facing disasters, in building resilience, and we would like to learn also the experiences from this region,” he said of the Philippines and other Asian countries. “It’s a two-way street.”

At least 10 people died as Hurricane Milton sent tornadoes spinning across Florida, officials said Thursday (October 11, 2024) as the State grappled with flooding, power outages, and other woes from a milder-than-expected storm that many had feared would be catastrophic.

The hurricane blasted across the State late Wednesday before roaring into the Atlantic, leaving behind roads blocked by downed trees and power lines. It shredded the roof of a baseball stadium in Tampa. Some three million homes and businesses were without power.

So far, though, it appeared that tornadoes, rather than floodwaters, have been responsible for the storm’s deaths.

“It was pretty scary,” said Susan Stepp, a 70-year-old resident of Fort Pierce, a city on Florida’s east coast where four people in a senior living community died after a tornado spawned by Milton struck Wednesday (October 9).

“They did find some people just outside dead, in a tree,” she told AFP. “I wish they would have evacuated.”

Also Read: Hurricane Helene’s death toll reaches 200 as crews try to reach the most remote areas hit by the storm

The deaths are five in St. Lucie County, three in Volusia County and two in the city of St. Petersburg, local authorities said. Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas told reporters the deaths were caused by the tornadoes.

In Polk County, a member of a road crew was struck and killed by a colleague’s vehicle as he removed a downed tree.

Her husband Bill said a tornado “picked up my 22-ton motor home and threw it across the yard.”

“Scary and heartbreaking at the same time, to see much damage and all things you really love just gone, but it’s only things and we’re still here,” the 72-year-old said.

The southeastern U.S. State was able to avoid the level of catastrophic devastation that officials had feared.

“The storm was significant, but thankfully this was not the worst-case scenario,” Florida Governor Ron DeSantis told a news conference.

Milton made landfall on the Florida Gulf Coast as a major Category 3 storm, with powerful winds smashing communities still reeling from Hurricane Helene which hit only two weeks ago, killing 237 people in Florida and other southeast states.

The National Weather Service issued 126 tornado warnings across the State Wednesday, the most ever issued for a single calendar day for the state in records dating back to 1986, wrote hurricane expert Michael Lowry.

As of Thursday evening, rescue operations continued as workers evacuated residents stranded by floodwaters in the Clearwater, near Tampa.

“We don’t know whether we can come back,” Justino Torres, 58, told AFP shortly after crews evacuated him from a building.

“I’m going to leave it in the hands of God.”

In nearby Sarasota Bay, Kristin Joyce, a 72-year-old interior designer who did not evacuate either, took photos of tree branches snapped by the wind.

“There is no question it needs to be a serious wake-up call for everyone in terms of climate change,” she said, surveying the damage.

Scientists say extreme rainfall and destructive storms are occurring with greater severity and frequency as temperatures rise due to climate change. As warmer ocean surfaces release more water vapor, they provide more energy for storms as they form.

Biden fury at Trump

President Joe Biden, who said he spoke with DeSantis Thursday, urged people to stay inside in the aftermath of the storm, with downed power lines and debris creating dangerous conditions.

In a video posted on social media, Republican Presidential candidate Donald Trump said he and his wife Melania were praying for Florida residents affected by the storm and urged them to vote for him.

“Hopefully, on January 20th you’re going to have somebody that’s really going to help you and help you like never before,” the former president said, referring to the Presidential inauguration date.

Hurricane Helene struck Florida late last month, and the back-to-back storms have become election fodder as Trump spreads conspiracy theories claiming Biden and Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris are abandoning victims.

That prompted a furious response from Biden who on Wednesday called Trump “reckless, irresponsible.”

‘Lucky’

In Cocoa Beach, on Florida’s east coast, one tornado swept in from the ocean, blowing out almost all the windows of a hair salon and tearing a chunk of roof off a bank.

Katherine and Larry Hingle said they were on their porch, watching water from a nearby river rise, when the tornado came through Wednesday evening.

“I said ‘it sounds like a train’s coming,'” Katherine, 53, told AFP while out to walk their dog and survey the damage.

In Sarasota, resident Carrie Elizabeth expressed the feelings of many — that despite the violent night, Milton was not quite as bad as had been feared.

“I feel that we’re very lucky,” she said. “It’ll take a long time to clean up, but it could have been much worse.”