Data for: Spatial-temporal analysis of natural hazards and disasters in the Greater Horn of Africa between 2010 and 2024 to inform disaster risk reduction, and surveillance and control strategies for climate and environmentally sensitive diseases
Data files
Jan 02, 2026 version files 13.41 KB
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README.md
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Summary_of_main_dataset_221225.csv
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Abstract
Objective: To determine the spatial-temporal patterns of natural hazards and disasters in the Greater Horn of Africa and compare the reporting consistencies across multiple open-access databases.
Design: Cross-sectional retrospective secondary analysis of natural hazard and disaster data.
Setting: Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia, Sudan, South Sudan, and Uganda.
Data sources: Primary data from the Emergency Events Database (EM-DAT), and comparative data from ReliefWeb, WHO Disease Outbreak News (WHO-DON), FloodList, and Global Unique Disaster Identifier Number (GLIDE).
Results: EM-DAT reported 228 natural hazards and disasters affecting 145.7 million people; the highest number reported in Uganda (n=48), Kenya (n=46), Somalia (n=38), and Ethiopia (n=35); annual numbers ranged from 7 to 30 (median 14); 175 geophysical. hydrological, meteorological, and climatological hazards reported, including 118 floods, 26 droughts, 11 storms, and 17 landslides; 46 epidemics reported, primarily bacterial (e.g. cholera) or viral (e.g. yellow fever, measles) diseases. The reporting consistency and content varied considerably across the five databases.
Conclusion: Natural hazards and disasters are a major public health problem affecting millions of vulnerable people. There is an urgent need to improve the connectedness of databases to facilitate better monitoring and mapping, which can inform disease forecasting and decision tools to develop preparedness and intervention strategies.
Data for: Spatial-temporal analysis of natural hazards and disasters in the Greater Horn of Africa between 2010 and 2024 to inform disaster risk reduction, and surveillance and control strategies for climate and environmentally sensitive diseases
Dataset DOI: 10.5061/dryad.djh9w0wdc
Description of the data and file structure
The datasets related to this publication comprise a summary dataset and four main datasets on natural hazards and disasters. The summary dataset includes an overview of the variables, descriptions, and ranges in the main dataset. The first dataset includes a subset of information on hazards reported in The International Disaster Database (Emergency Events Database - EM-DAT) (https://www.emdat.be/) for the period January 2010–September 2024, with related information from different sources. The second dataset includes a subset of information on hazards and disasters recorded on ReliefWeb (https://reliefweb.int/) for the same period and notes whether events were also reported in the EM-DAT database. The third dataset includes a subset of informationon the disease outbreaks recorded in the WHO Disease Outbreak News (WHO-DON) (https://www.who.int/emergencies/disease-outbreak-news) for the same period and notes whether events were also reported in the EM-DAT database. The fourth dataset includes a list of hazards and disasters recorded in the Global Unique Disaster Identifier Number (GLIDE) database (https://glidenumber.net/glide/public/search/search.jsp) for the same period and notes whether events were also reported in the EM-DAT database.
In each dataset, missing information is indicated as N/A (not available).
Summary_of_main_dataset_221225.csv
Content: Summary of main dataset information with variable ranges and descriptions.
Period Covered: January 2010 – September 2024.
Data. These data are presented under the following column headings: (i) Variables, (ii) Description of Variable and Data Source, (iii) Maximum / Most Frequently Recorded, and (iv) Minimum / Least Frequently Recorded.
The following data files are located in Zenodo (see Related works section):
1.Main_dataset_201225.csv
Content: Natural hazard, disasters, outbreaks information from different data sources, and related data on the El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO).
Main Data Source: Data compiled from The International Disaster Database (Emergency Events Database - EM-DAT, https://www.emdat.be/).
Period Covered: January 2010 – September 2024.
Data from EM-DAT: The complete dataset for this period is available directly from https://www.emdat.be/. This dataset includes a subset of natural hazard data to enable matching with other data sources. These data are presented under the following column headings: (i) Natural Hazard Type (EM-DAT), (ii) Natural Hazard Subtype (EM-DAT), (iii) Country (EM-DAT), (iv) Start Year (EM-DAT), (v) Start Month (EM-DAT), and (vi) Total Number of People Affected (EM-DAT).
Secondary Data: Sources include events reported in ReliefWeb (https://reliefweb.int), FloodList (https://floodlist.com), the WHO Disease Outbreak News (WHO-DON; https://www.who.int/emergencies/disease-outbreak-news), and GLIDE (https://glidenumber.net/glide/public/search/search.jsp). Events were matched within ±3 months of the corresponding EM-DAT event time periods.
These data are presented under the following column headings: (i) Hazard reported in ReliefWeb, with linked information from GLIDE; (ii) Hazard reported in or linked to information from FloodList (news articles); (iii) Hazard reported in or linked to information from WHO Disease Outbreak News (WHO-DON); and (iv) Hazard reported in or linked to information from GLIDE Number V2.0.
Data related to the ENSO phase were also included and are based on the Oceanic Niño Index (ONI) for the onset month of EM-DAT hazards. These data are presented under the following column headings: (i) ONI value in the onset month; (ii) ENSO phase in the onset month; (iii) Number of months in the ENSO phase up to the onset month; (iv) Strongest ONI value of the ENSO phase up to the onset month; and (v) Weakest ONI value up to the onset month.
ONI data were downloaded from: https://origin.cpc.ncep.noaa.gov/products/analysis_monitoring/ensostuff/ONI_v5.php
2._Reliefweb_211225.csv
Content: Natural hazard and disaster event-related information.
Main Data Source: Data compiled from reports available at ReliefWeb (https://reliefweb.int/).
Period Covered: January 2010 – September 2024.
Data from ReliefWeb: All reports for this period are available directly from https://reliefweb.int/. This dataset includes a subset of information from selected reports and is presented under the following column headings: (i) Country; (ii) ReliefWeb report; (iii) Start year; and (iv) Start month listed in the report title.
Secondary data: Information is presented under the following column headings: (i) Reported in EM-DAT; (ii) Exclusive to ReliefWeb; and (iii) Comments.
3._WHO_DON_211225.csv
Content: Outbreaks of disease and information on related hazards and disasters.
Main Data Source: Data compiled from reports available at WHO Disease Outbreak News https://www.who.int/emergencies/disease-outbreak-news.
Period Covered: January 2010 – September 2024.
Data from WHO-DON: All reports for this period are available directly from WHO Disease Outbreak News https://www.who.int/emergencies/disease-outbreak-news. This dataset includes a subset of information from selected reports and presented under the following column headings: (i) Country; (ii) WHO Disease Outbreak News (DON); (iii) Date News Reported; (iv) Link to Report; and (v) Potential Risk Factors.
Secondary data: Information is presented under the following column heading: (i) Reported in EM-DAT.
4._GLIDE_201225.csv
Content: Natural hazard and disaster event-related information
Main Data Source: Data compiled from reports available at Global Unique Disaster Identifier Number (GLIDE) database https://www.glidenumber.net/glide/public/search/search.jsp
Period Covered: January 2010 – September 2024.
Data from GLIDE: All reports for this period are available directly from the Global Unique Disaster Identifier Number (GLIDE) database (https://glidenumber.net/glide/public/search/search.jsp). This dataset includes a subset of information from selected reports and is presented under the following column headings: (i) GLIDEnumber; (ii) Event; and (iii) Country.
Secondary data: Information is presented under the following column heading: (i) Reported in EM-DAT.e/)
Access information
Data was derived from the following sources:
- EM-DAT database (https://www.emdat.be/)
- ReliefWeb (https://reliefweb.int.)
- FloodList (https://floodlist.com/)
- WHO-DON (https://www.who.int/emergencies/disease-outbreak-news)
- GLIDE (https://glidenumber.net/glide/public/search/search.jsp)
- ONI https://origin.cpc.ncep.noaa.gov/products/analysis_monitoring/ensostuff/ONI_v5.php
Human subjects data
The databases contain information on the number and ways in which people were affected by natural hazards and disasters. No identifiable data on any individuals is available from the primary data sources.