Why Disaster Management Is Important The developing world will continue to be hardest hit by the cascading effects of climate change, environmental degradation and population pressures. Fires, droughts and floods from [the 1998] El Niño claimed 21,000 lives while the deforestation in China’s Yangtze basin contributed to the flooding which affected the lives of 180 million people. In Russia, the extreme winter weather turned into a disaster when it struck a society where 44 million people are living in poverty, one million children are homeless, and tuberculosis rates are skyrocketing. This insidious combination is throwing millions more into the path of potential disaster. Already, 96 percent of all deaths from natural disasters occur in developing countries. One billion people are living in the world’s unplanned shanty towns and 40 of the 50 fastest growing cities are located in earthquake zones. Another 10 million people live under constant threat of floods.