Living on an island in the middle of the ocean with no internet, television or mobile phones is a real-life disaster risk nightmare for one Pacific nation. Yet, the prospect of reaching the last mile – a phrase with true meaning in this part of the world – has inspired the tiny band of disaster risk reduction policymakers and practitioners of Tuvalu to establish an early warning system to protect some of the world’s most isolated communities.

The escalation of economic losses from disasters is expected to draw a record attendance of 7,000 people at a biennial UN forum that will bring world leaders and representatives of civil society together to agree ways and means of preventing and mitigating disaster impacts.

A two day Multi-Hazard Early Warning Conference is underway in Cancun, Mexico, and its recommendations will feed into the Global Platform for Disaster Risk Reduction which opens tomorrow.

Early warning systems and making the link between predictable weather and climate events and their impacts are critical to save lives and property when disaster looms.

A nightmare scenario for any community is to be taken by surprise in the middle of the night by a sudden disaster such as the mudslide that swept away hundreds of lives earlier this month in the Amazonian town of Mocoa in Putamayo, Colombia.

Five years after the devastating 1985 quake which killed more than 10,000 people, Mexico equipped itself with one of the world’s most effective early warning systems for earthquakes.

The lamp in the classroom begins to sway. The desks start to shake. If you’ve never faced an earthquake, Turkey’s AFAD national disaster management authority can give you a taste.

The United Nations Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Disaster Risk Reduction, Mr. Robert Glasser, today extended his condolences to the people of Peru on the loss of life caused by the on-going deadly rains, floods and landslides which have led to the declaration of a state of emergency.