ECOSOC – UNDP
Hungary
Mustafa Sharba
Disaster Risk Reduction
Natural Disasters have been and will remain a big issue is our world today if they are not reduced. Annually, 90,000 people are killed because of natural disasters, while 160 million are affected. These natural disasters, which include earthquakes, tsunamis, droughts, etc., cause many people to lose their homes, migrate, lose jobs which in return cause a chain reaction that has disastrous consequences worldwide.
As Hungary is greatly threatened by risks of floods and earthquakes, it fully understands the issue at hand. In 1970, Hungary was hit by one of the most disastrous floods up until 1990. This flood caused more than 300 fatalities and over 500 million dollars in damage. As years went by more and more floods hit and the cost due to them kept rising. Annually, 200,00 people are affected by flooding, and GDP is affected by 2 billion dollars. Hungary’s worst earthquake up until 1990 took place in 1911 and caused great damage to the country. The rise in damage costs caused Hungary’s economy to lower and overall damaged people’s lives. Between, 2005 and 2014, Hungary lost about 49 million dollars due to natural disasters.
Hungary has come at this issue through many ways. Tractable is a company that develops AI solutions for accidents and disaster recovery. This allows for faster settlement of claims and restoration of livelihood. Another way Hungary is combatting the issue is through Drone Hopper. Drone Hopper designs, manufactures and operates heavy-duty, multi-rotor unmanned drones that are intended to be used mainly for wildfires, urban firefighting and agricultural operations. Hungary alerts about natural disasters through Serinus. Serinus provides alarms and crisis management solutions. Its web-based solutions trigger alerts to inform and coordinate all key players and keep track of critical situations, quickly and easily. Since Hungary is greatly affected by floods, it uses Tenevia which uses image sensors to monitor water levels to mitigate the threat of flood. Its system deploys digital surveillance cameras along rivers in order to assess water levels, surface speed and flow. Hungary believes that if it worked with other European nations that share similar ideas on improving this technology, a lot can be accomplished in helping reduce the risk of natural disasters not just in Europe, but worldwide.
- Mustafa Sharba
