Between January and July of 2024, there were 19 ‘billion-dollar disaster events’ recorded in the United States of America (U.S.), where extreme weather events have resulted in the loss of 149 lives and infrastructural damage exceeding $1 billion each. These weather events, oscillating between cold surges and wildfires, are stark reminders of the impending changes and eccentricities to the climate patterns we have experienced in the past.

The most recent billion-dollar disaster was Hurricane Beryl, which formed in the Atlantic Ocean and made landfall in the Caribbean Islands, Yucatan Peninsula and the Gulf Coast from the end of June. It was the earliest-forming Category 5 summer hurricane ever recorded in North America, the highest categorisation of hurricanes with wind speeds over 250 kilometres per hour. Despite it being an unprecedented event, early monitoring allowed for some level of preparedness, with voluntary evacuation measures being introduced in coastal areas, flights and trains being delayed, and ships rerouted. Hurricane Beryl’s landfall still resulted in crisis as millions of homes and businesses lost power for multiple days; there were extreme heat waves, medical facilities were over capacity and of course, the one-billion-dollar price tag thereafter.

What can African countries take away from these billion-dollar disasters?

Most urgent is the need to develop strong meteorological monitoring and detection institutions that are not only able to detect weather more accurately on a regional scale but are also trustworthy and able to communicate in firm yet benevolent ways that local residents can meaningfully understand. In what has been termed the ‘post-truth’ era, the trend of anti-science and anti-intellectual movements in the U.S. has resulted in the politicisation of information from authorities, with strategies such as mass evacuation and stay-at-home orders being perceived as coming from a totalitarian government despite the clear evidence supporting the reduction of loss of life. African governments are largely perceived with less suspicion, but more efforts need to be undertaken to minimise preventable deaths through informed decision-making.

Essential service providers in high-risk regions need to develop protocols and procedures for weather disaster in order to mitigate system collapses such as those that occurred during Beryl’s landfall. The large-scale weather-related power outages experienced in Houston, Texas, are not new, with tropical storms and cold fronts in previous years causing similar havoc. Regardless of the increased frequency of extreme weather events, the slow response from the Texas energy sector has resulted in repeated vulnerability and risk that could have been reduced with a climate-smart redesign of the existing electrical structures. However, as with most African countries, the barriers that hinder the transition to technologies that are able to withstand extreme weather have been exacerbated by the high cost of refurbishing ageing infrastructure and networks, as well as the high cost of new green technologies. This emphasises the need to increase investment and financing for climate change adaptation as the outage was a major contributing factor to the economic losses caused by Beryl.

Hospitals and clinics also came under disproportionate pressure during the hurricane’s landfall. As they are some of the most important services, risk and vulnerability should have been mitigated with sufficient planning. The establishment of temporary medical facilities and the marshalling of additional healthcare workers, such as travel nurses, from less weather-stressed regions would have improved the provision of medical attention. This alternative response is more feasible in the U.S. than in the African continent, as many regions are in short supply of medical practitioners even during normal weather conditions. However, this current impediment could be the catalyst to upscale healthcare skills training and collaborate in weather emergency health programmes with neighbouring countries and international organisations such as the United Nations.

Community networks and social infrastructures need to be strengthened and reinforced to minimise the losses incurred by households and families. Emergency evacuation facilities need to be identified and stocked to the best of local capabilities as a means to incentivise vulnerable people to seek shelter in safe spaces before a high-category disaster event. Most residents in the Gulf Coast opted to remain in their homes, citing the valid fear of crime and property damage, which speaks to a breakdown in the social contract and crime prevention network. The power cuts in Houston also led to excessive food waste and temporary food insecurity as refrigerators were off. Many grocery stores and restaurants were closed, putting poorer residents under even further financial strain, while wealthier residents were able to make use of temporary generators and food stockpiling. As a result, local food banks and shelters were unable to feed residents in need. The key take-away from the social fallout of Hurricane Beryl for African countries is the need to build strong grassroots social networks and links, where communities can support each other in the face of climate crises rather than become disjointed, distrusting and disengaged.

As billion-dollar disasters become more commonplace, every nation needs to prioritise its ability to remain resilient in the face of climate calamity. The strengths and failings in the response to disasters like Hurricane Beryl in the U.S. should be used as an opportunity to improve climate change adaptability before the storm: after all, with the ability to forecast and anticipate extreme weather, forewarned is forearmed.

By Valerie Buthelezi