Even as extreme weather and climate disasters are multiplying, half of countries lack the advanced early warning systems needed to save lives, the United Nations warned Thursday.

In a fresh report, the UN agencies for weather and for disaster risk reduction found countries with poor early warning systems on average see eight times greater mortality from disasters than countries with strong measures.

Proper early warning systems for floods, droughts, heatwaves, storms or other disasters allow for planning to minimise adverse impacts.

"Extreme weather events will happen. But they do not need to become deadly disasters," UN chief Antonio Guterres said.

As the impacts of climate change are increasingly felt, the world is seeing more disasters that have "compounding and cascading impacts", Thursday's report said.

Countries should therefore be equipped with multi-hazard early warning systems, but only half of the world's nations currently have such mechanisms in place, the report found.

Poorer regions, often the most vulnerable to climate shocks and natural disasters, are the worst equipped with countries increasingly facing situations with multiple impacts.

- 'Significant gaps' -

Fewer than half of the world's least developed countries and only one-third of small island developing states have multi-hazard early warning systems, it said.

Mami Mizutori, head of the UN Office for Disaster Risk Reduction, voiced alarm at the "significant gaps in protection".

"This is a situation that needs to urgently change to save lives, livelihoods, and assets."

As the threats rise, early warning systems have meanwhile contributed towards significantly reducing disaster-related mortality.

The UN report showed the number of people affected by disasters had nearly doubled from an average of 1,147 per 100,000 per year between 2005 and 2014, to 2,066 from 2012 to 2021.

At the same time though, the number of people killed by or missing after disasters annually fell from 1.77 per 100,000 people in the earlier period to 0.84 in the later one.

Mizutori pointed to the recent catastrophic monsoon floods in Pakistan, which submerged one-third of the country, and left nearly 1,700 people dead.

"Despite this carnage, the death toll would have been much higher if not for early warning systems," she said.

The UN wants all countries to put in place early warning systems within five years, and is due to present an action plan during November's COP27 climate summit in Egypt.

"Those who have done the least to cause the climate crisis are paying the highest price," Guterres said.

18 flood victims killed in Pakistan bus fire
Karachi (AFP) Oct 13, 2022 - At least 18 Pakistanis, including 12 children, were killed in a bus fire as they journeyed home after fleeing catastrophic monsoon flooding, officials and rescue workers said Thursday.

Pakistan has been hit by unprecedented monsoon rains this year, putting a third of the nation underwater, displacing eight million people, and causing $28 billion worth of devastation.

As the waters slowly recede, thousands of the displaced -- many living in ramshackle tent cities -- are travelling back to their sodden homes to remake their lives.

Police said the passengers died when flames broke out overnight on a northbound bus outside the city of Karachi, where they settled after fleeing one of the worst flood-hit areas.

"They were going back to their village when they were overtaken by this accident," Vinod Kumar, a district health official present at the scene, told AFP.

"Apparently, the fire broke out in the air-conditioning system of the bus but investigations will reveal the real cause," said police officer Hashim Brohi, who was also present.

Pakistan has a dismal record of fatal traffic accidents due to badly maintained vehicles, poor roads, reckless driving and poorly trained emergency services.

The historic floods across the nation -- which have killed 1,700 -- have been linked to climate change.

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