Synthèse

I. Overview: Recovery Framework

On a visit to an AKDN rural support programme in the mid-1980s, His Highness the Aga Khan saw that, contrary to prevailing thinking that suggested rising incomes alone would solve poverty, there was a need to bring a variety of inputs and disciplines to bear in a given area.

Income disparity was only one aspect of poverty. Other forms could be just as damaging: a lack of access to adequate nutrition or to a quality education, the inability to mitigate the effects of disasters, the unsustainable use of natural resources, or an absence of effective civil society organisations.

Relief operations shifted gears in cyclone-ravaged Cuddalore district and Puducherry on Sunday as traffic resumed on arterial roads and efforts mounted for restoring electricity and supply of essential items even as the death toll increased to 47.

Major roads which remained blocked due to uprooted trees and debris dumped by the cyclone which crossed the state coast near Cuddalore on Friday had been cleared, paving the way for resumption of supplies.

CHENNAI: Severe cyclonic storm 'Thane' today claimed 18 lives as it hit the Tamil Nadu coast, leaving a trail of destruction and throwing life out of gear in Cuddalore district and neighbouring Union Territory of Puducherry. Cuddalore, about 170 km from here on the east coast, bore the brunt of the cylocnic fury, accounting for nine deaths, Puducherry seven and Chennai two in rain-related incidents such as wall collapse and electrocution, officials said.

The very severe cyclonic storm THANE over southwest Bay of Bengal moved westward and lay at centered at 2330 hrs IST of yesterday, the 29th December 2011 near latitude 12.00N and longitude 80.60E, about 90 km east of Puducherry, 125 km south-southeast of Chennai (Tamilnadu) and 380 km northwest of Trincomalee (Sri Lanka). The system is likely to move westwards and cross north Tamil Nadu coast close to Puducherry around early morning of today, the 30th December 2011.

HYDERABAD/CHENNAI: With the cyclonic storm `Thane' closing in on the Bay of Bengal coast, Andhra Pradesh Government got into a high alert today and directed Collectors of vulnerable coastal districts to immediately evacuate people living in low-lying areas and closer to the shore.

Ron Corben | Bangkok

Climate and disaster risk experts say the Asia Pacific region faces rising costs from storms and disasters often tied to climate change, creating new challenges for regions as they try to prepare and recover from such events. Warning comes as Thailand and the Philippines attempt to bounce back from recent disasters and the region gets ready to mark the seventh anniversary of the devastating 2004 Indonesian earthquake and tsunami.