'Natural disasters at decade low in 2009'

The world this year suffered the fewest number of natural disasters in a decade, but floods, droughts and other extreme weather continued to account for most of the deaths and economic losses, according to a United Nations report released on Monday.

There were 245 natural disasters recorded this year, down from the decade high of 434 in 2005, said the UN International Strategy for Disaster Reduction.
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The lower figures for 2009 were "good news", but "extreme weather disasters remain the top of the list and will continue to affect more and more people in the future" who are living in coastal regions, said Margareta Wahlstrom, the UN special representative of the Secretary-General for Disaster Risk Reduction.
Reuters