2017 costliest year claims WMO

     Written by : SMTV24x7 | Sat, Mar 24, 2018, 05:30 PM

2017 costliest year claims WMO

New Delhi, Mar 24: Now more than ever, we need to be weather-ready, climate-smart and water-wise," warned Petteri Taalas, secretary-general of World Meteorological Organization (WMO), on Friday to mark the World Meteorological Day.

"The start of 2018 has continued where 2017 left off, with extreme weather claiming lives and destroying livelihoods," said Petteri

According to the report, Major monsoon floods in the Indian subcontinent and severe droughts across East Africa also contributed to 2017 being the most expensive year on record for severe weather and climate events.

It said weather and climate-related events cost countries some $ 320 billion, making 2017 the costliest year on record.

"Excess precipitation in late March and early April 2017 triggered floods in north-eastern agricultural areas of Bangladesh. The monsoon season in South Asia brought the worst flooding in the region for years. Between June and August 2017, flooding in Nepal, Bangladesh and northern India affected millions of people and caused death and displacement across the three countries, the report said.