Asia Pacific Region Faces Rising Costs From Storms, Disasters

December 24, 2011

A backhoe performs flood recovery work in Muang Ake, 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.

The backhoe lifts piles of discarded rubbish left from flood-stricken homes and businesses in the Muang Ake community on the outskirts of Bangkok.

The community, in Pathum Thani province, was hard hit during the recent floods, with waters of up to two meters inundating the area for over six weeks.

On a drive through, the community is a scene of devastation. Furniture and wall panels lay discarded, as people go about cleaning up from the most severe floods in Thailand in over 50 years.

On Saturday, Bangkok Governor Sukhumbhand Paribatra was reported to have declared that the flood waters have receded from the area.

But for communities such as Muang Ake, recovery remains a distant goal, says Charun Likitrattanaporn, dean of agriculture at Rajamangala University of Technology campus at Muang Ake.