Markku Niskala, secretary-general of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, says better communication can prevent deaths from predictable disasters.

As the states of Louisiana and Texas reel from the twin blows of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, mayors from New York to Los Angeles are urgently reviewing their cities’ evacuation plans. But in the rush to learn lessons from these two deadly storms, let’s remember to communicate with those most vulnerable to disasters. They need to know the risks they’re facing, while we need to know how best to help them.

Few of us could have read about the desperate plight of those trapped in New Orleans without a sense of horror. The deadliest natural disaster to strike the United States for a century, Katrina exposed the vulnerability of some of America’s communities.

Yet in the face of disaster, the difference between life and death can be as simple as possessing the right information – and acting on it.

The risk of a hurricane flooding New Orleans has been known for decades. The World Disasters Report 2005, published on 5 October, reveals the U.S. authorities had previously estimated that 65,000 people could die in New Orleans, if a slow-moving category 3 hurricane made a direct hit. But how many of the city’s poorest residents, or those caring for the infirm, knew the risks or how to react?

By the time Hurricane Rita arrived three weeks later, blanket media coverage of Katrina had electrified the public’s awareness of hurricanes. With the images of New Orleans fresh in their minds, around 3 million citizens began fleeing north, days before disaster struck.

It’s vital to put those people most vulnerable to disasters at the centre of early warning and evacuation plans. Where do they live? Do they even get the warnings most of us take for granted? Do they know where and when to evacuate, or who to ask for help? This kind of information has saved countless lives during disasters from Baton Rouge to Bangladesh.

Greater public awareness brings greater trust and urgency to react when the warnings are raised for real. Civil society – whether national Red Cross and Red Crescent societies, non-governmental organizations or youth groups – can play a vital role in building risk awareness among vulnerable people and helping them escape the worst effects of disaster. This is especially true in countries facing the same hazards at the same time every year.

Many countries at risk from windstorms prioritize risk awareness-raising. In Jamaica, June – just before the hurricane season – is ‘disaster preparedness month’, when awareness days, practice drills and displays are organized for schools and businesses. In Cuba, schoolchildren are taught about hurricane warning and evacuation from an early age. In Bangladesh, 33,000 Red Crescent volunteers prepare their communities for disaster before every cyclone season. The lesson from these countries is: you don’t have to be rich to be well-prepared – but you do have to be well-informed.

However, accurate information – while crucial – is only part of the answer. We must also act on the information we have, in time to avert possible disaster. The food crisis that continues to devastate lives and livelihoods in Niger and neighbouring West African countries was preventable, because it was predictable. The telltale signs emerged in late 2004: precious livestock began to die, food prices soared, pastoral families migrated to urban areas and children succumbed to malnutrition in ever greater numbers.

But it was not until images of emaciated infants appeared on TV screens in mid-July that funds flowed in and a major humanitarian response was launched – by which time hundreds, if not thousands, had already died and the costs of rescuing survivors had soared.

We have to do better. While disasters such as the Asian tsunami, Niger and Katrina shine in the media spotlight, other disasters languish in the shadows. As I write, a creeping crisis of extreme hunger is engulfing Southern Africa. Four years of drought and shocking levels of HIV/AIDS have conspired to destroy crops and threaten 10 million people with severe hunger. The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies and the United Nations have both launched emergency appeals.

But launching appeals is no longer enough. Technological advances have given us unparalleled capacity to predict the pattern of risk and disaster. We must work harder with journalists, donors and people at risk to communicate with greater urgency the practical ways in which predictable disasters can be prevented. By the time the cameras have captured the catastrophe, it’s too late.

Click here to access more of the World Disasters Report 2005

See also: Post-tsunami chaos wastes aid
Information is a life-saver, says disasters report
PHOTOS: Disasters around the world
TIP SHEET: How to ‘sell’ forgotten emergencies
Global disaster death toll soared in 2004-Red Cross
FACTBOX: World disaster facts and figures
FACTBOX: How warnings save lives