Disaster Category Classification 2
Disaster Category Classification 2 : Context: In 2002, under the request of the ProVention Consortium, CRED has led a comparative study of three global data sets: EM-DAT (CRED), NatCatSERVICE (Munich RE) and Sigma (Swiss RE)2. The aim was to assess the comparative strengths and weaknesses of these three databases. The analysis was based on 4 countries - Vietnam, India, Honduras and Mozambique - over a period of 15 years (1985-1999). All records were extracted from the 3 databases and were tabulated in a matrix where the disaster entries from each source could be cross-referenced by each variable of interest. The variables included for comparison were: date, disaster type, number of people killed, homeless, injured, affected and overall damage costs. Taking into account that each of these databases has its own specificity, one of the conclusions was that a disaster event may be classified as a different type of disaster by different databases. This occurs particularly for associated disasters or secondary disasters. For example, a flood which was a consequence of a wind storm may be recorded as one or the other; or a flood recorded as such in one database could be recorded as a cyclone in another. A further example is the use of different terminologies to define the same event: a winter storm could be registered as cold/frost; or similarly a heat wave as drought. Taxonomy is also difficult to standardize since perfectly credible sources will also differ as to whether an event was a landslide, a mudslide, a flood, or whether they occurred simultaneously or sequentially. Difference in typology and taxonomy make the comparison of data sets difficult. Transparent standards would improve the credibility of all databases significantly. It is in this context that in 2007, CRED and Munich RE led a collaborative initiative, agreed on and implemented as a common "Disaster Category Classification and Peril Terminology for Operational Databases". This new common classification has been established through several technical meetings and working groups that brought together CRED, Munich RE, Swiss Re, Asian Disaster Reduction Center (ADRC) and United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and represents a first and important step in the development of a standardized international classification of disasters and terminology of perils
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