Tag: climate emergency

MapAction teams mapping three different crises during the 2024 festive season

Posted on

Natural disasters, the climate emergency and conflict all do not respect seasons and festivities. From Mozambique to Vanuatu, via Lebanon, MapAction teams have been requested to provide emergency mapping and data support in three different crises worldwide this Christmas.

Mozambique cyclone

Nearly half a million people have been affected by Cyclone Chido in Mozambique alone, according to a December 27th bulletin, based on data from the Mozambican Institute for Management and Reduction of Risk and Disasters (INGD), and published by the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA). Nearly 70,000 houses have been destroyed and 30,000 damaged, according to the same OCHA situation overview. MapAction’s support was requested by the 19-member state Southern African Development Community (SADC) regional bloc.

Nearly 70,000 houses have been destroyed and 30,000 damaged. Mozambican Institute for Management and Reduction of Risk and Disasters (INGD)

The MapAction team has already mapped the information made available as part of the situational assessment reports coming out nationally, helping to identify affected provinces and people in potential need. Other mapping products include: precipitation and storm track by district, as well as the affected population by density. Additionally, the MapAction team has been helping to set up online information related to the response as part of the SADC Humanitarian and Emergency Operations Centre online instance.

Vanuatu earthquake

Another team meanwhile was requested by the United Nations Disaster Assessment Coordination (UNDAC) office in Vanuatu to offer information management support in response to the devastating 7.3 magnitude earthquake on the Pacific island. The earthquake, which struck on December 17th, has already claimed 14 fatalities, according to the UN, with thousands more displaced.

MapAction as one of UNDAC’s operational partners has been requested to provide mapping support remotely in order to assist the coordination efforts by the UNDAC team in the field. 

A MapAction team has already begun to map existing health facilities and create a country overview while an UNDAC field team continues to collect information from the ground to shape the emergency response. This is MapAction’s 13th response to an earthquake. 

Refugees in Lebanon

Recent developments in Syria and heightened tensions in the region have seen a sharp rise in the number of displaced people on the move. A MapAction team is supporting the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) to understand the needs of refugees and IDPs affected by the recent conflict in Syria, in order to provide vital humanitarian aid. 

Additional resources

For the latest maps, check out our Maps of Emergencies page: https://maps.mapaction.org/ 

Our Example Product Catalogue can help you present data for a plethora of crises: from earthquakes, to conflict, floods or volcanic eruptions, we can help you make sense of your data: https://guides.mapaction.org/ 

This work is kindly supported by the Humanitarian Assistance programme of the German Federal Foreign Office (GFFO).

Video: Building anticipatory action models to reduce risk in Eswatini

Posted on

A review of our work so far with the Eswatini National Disaster Management Agency to build a resilient anticipatory action data risk model.

READ MORE: MapAction co-created risk model integrated into Eswatini disaster planning against future hazards

Find out more about MapAction’s work in anticipatory action here.

This work is funded by the German Federal Foreign Office.

MapAction Emergency Humanitarian Mapping Response Appeal – £105k needed ASAP

Posted on
Union Island, St Vincent an the Grenadines, where 98% of buildings were reportedly destroyed. Photo: Tony Giles, MapAction.

MapAction needs new funding to respond to the estimated scale of global disasters in 2024, particularly in the Caribbean – where Hurricane Beryl is already wreaking devastation – and Asia.

Hurricane Beryl continues to leave devastation throughout the Caribbean. As information floods in, agencies like the Caribbean Disaster Emergency Management Agency (CDEMA), that is coordinating the response, need to understand the data coming from more than a dozen affected islands. MapAction members are on the ground supporting them by making maps: which communities are worst affected; where are emergency shelters, which roads and critical infrastructure have been damaged. These are just some of the key data points that MapAction’s team quickly maps to ensure support and aid goes where it is most needed.

“CDEMA and MapAction have been working together for many years responding to disasters while learning to be able to better respond to future disasters. When an event like Hurricane Beryl happens, CDEMA makes the call to MapAction because they will deploy specialist teams that understand what we need, and can make an immediate impact on how CDEMA and its regional and international partners provide aid to disaster affected countries.”

Renee Babb, GIS Specialist, Caribbean Disaster Emergency Management Agency (CDEMA)
DONATE
Carriacou, Grenada, after Hurricane Beryl. Photo: Lavern Ryan, MapAction.

Maps help decision-makers to save lives when disasters strike. Risk and impact can quickly be assessed; aid and support sent to where it is most needed. But deploying teams from our team of 70+ experienced humanitarian mappers costs money. We have been able to deploy teams so far to Grenada and St Vincent and the Grenadines thanks to support from the German Federal Foreign Office’s Fund for Humanitarian Assistance. We need more for future responses, in what is predicted to be an exceptional hurricane season.

Nobody can predict the exact number of disasters where our help will be requested. What we know is that the climate emergency is driving an increase in the number of natural disasters; hurricanes, typhoons, floods, droughts, conflict and much more. We are limited in the requests we can respond to.

DONATE
What is MapAction? Short video intro

Can you support us to provide decision-makers with key insights during what is expected to be a busy ‘hurricane season’ in the Caribbean?

MapAction’s ability to do this emergency response work depends on you.

That is why we are launching an Emergency Response Appeal. Help us to get aid to the people who need it most.

DONATE