Hurricane Harvey killed 70 people. Hurricane Irma killed around 72 people. A landslide in South Asia killed over 1200 people. These are not the only tragic disasters that have happened this year.

Rainfall and heavy mudslides killed more than 600 in Sierra Leone; 300 people in Colombia died in one landslide and 17 more were killed in another landslide that occurred two weeks later.

A 7.1 magnitude earthquake killed more than 225 in Mexico and two weeks later, another giant earthquake struck Mexico and killed around 96 people and left 2.5 million injured or in need of aid.

Flooding in Sri Lanka killed 213 people due to monsoon winds while in the Democratic Republic of Congo, 174 were killed in a landslide.

In Afghanistan, 156 people, mostly women and children, died in avalanches. More flooding in Peru and China killed around 150 people in the former and 144 people in the latter. 117 died in Zimbabwe due to rains and a cyclone.

These tragedies happened toward the end of May and have continued since. Many people have died but more are in need of aid for health, supplies, and homes.

Millions of houses have been destroyed and countless children are orphaned.

Almost every continent has been slammed with a devastating storm, and almost none of them have been prepared. Mr. Robert Glasser, the Special Representative for Disaster Risk Reduction, said, “If we do not succeed in understanding what it takes to make our societies more resilient to disasters then we will pay an increasingly high price in terms of lost lives and livelihoods” (Read More: http://www.unisdr.org/archive/54837 ). Innocent people are now gone because of under preparation and vulnerability of small villages and towns.

Even though death tolls are decreasing after a disaster hits, the amount of preparation is still alarmingly low. The demographics of each continent varies as certain countries are at higher risk for disaster than others; while most countries are at low risk, there are far too many at high risk for destruction when disaster hits.

This year has been a rollercoaster for  Earth. Even though the year isn’t over just yet, there have been record breaking storms all around the world that have caused massive damage, yet major relief efforts have been formed to help those in need of aid for homes, health, and food and water. People left with nothing are receiving the help they need and homes are being repaired from the disasters that destroyed them. Charities such as Red Cross are making an effort to help every country that has been hit, and hopefully the result of rebuilt homes and healthy people will come soon before another storm comes.

If you want to donate to the Red Cross for their emergency relief efforts, which includes floods, earthquakes, and especially fires, go to this link: http://www.redcross.org/about-us/our-work/disaster-relief