1. Virtual Academy for the Semi Arid Tropics Course on Coping with Drought About Drought After completing this Lesson you have learned to answer: 1.How much warning time do we have for different disaster events that occur? 2.How long do the disaster events last? 3.How often do the disaster events occur? 4.How many fatalities do these disasters usually cause every year? 5.What are the average annual costs of these disasters? Lesson 7: How drought impacts compared with other natural disasters?

2. Virtual Academy for the Semi Arid Tropics Course on Coping with Drought About Drought How much warning time do we have that an event will occur? Drought: Up to a year, but often no warning at all. Flood: From seconds to months Earthquake: Difficult to predict. Lesson 7: How drought impacts compared with other natural disasters?

3. Virtual Academy for the Semi Arid Tropics Course on Coping with Drought About Drought How long do the events last? Drought: months, years, or decades Flood: from hours to weeks Earthquake: months Lesson 7: How drought impacts compared with other natural disasters?

4. Virtual Academy for the Semi Arid Tropics Course on Coping with Drought About Drought How often do the events occur? Drought: Each year, some part or other of the country has severe or extreme drought Flood: 2 out of 3 years. Mostly in the northeast part of the country Earthquake: Not very frequently. Lesson 7: How drought impacts compared with other natural disasters?

5. Virtual Academy for the Semi Arid Tropics Course on Coping with Drought About Drought How many fatalities do this disaster usually cause every year? Drought: Rarely a direct cause of death. But, stress associated with drought events may contribute to some deaths. Flood: Causes few hundreds of deaths. Earthquake: For example, In Latur District, Maharashtra, 7,928 people were killed in September 1993. Lesson 7: How drought impacts compared with other natural disasters?

6. Virtual Academy for the Semi Arid Tropics Course on Coping with Drought About Drought What are the average annual costs of this disaster? Drought: For example, Regarding Maharashtra, the Prime Minister said that for 2003-04 the total assistance given to the state amounted to Rs. 700 crores. Flood: For example, Bihar state’s official records reveal that Rs. 30 crore was sanctioned for the purchase of food grain, to be doled out to 2.11 crore people across 20 flooded districts. Lesson 7: How drought impacts compared with other natural disasters?

7. Virtual Academy for the Semi Arid Tropics Course on Coping with Drought About Drought With this, the Lesson 7 on the comparison of drought with other natural disasters, and also this Module II on impacts of drought concludes. If you would like to check your understanding of the comparison of drought with other natural disasters, click “Exercise” button. Exercise The next Module is about monitoring drought. Click “Modules” button to select Module III Virtual Academy for the Semi Arid Tropics Course on Coping with Drought Impacts of Drought Lessons Modules