Trends in water and weather-related disasters between 1980 and 2009 have been analysed using information from the Emergency Events database (EM-DAT), maintained by the Centre for Research on the Epidemiology of Disasters (CRED).3 The database compiles information on the human and economic impacts of water-related disasters and indicators monitor direct economic losses and the number of victims (people affected or killed). Disasters are categorised according to their causes (floods, droughts and storms). The main drivers of this increase are a growing world population, increasing wealth and expansion of built-up areas.