Disasters cause an estimated $228 billion in housing losses every year, highlighting the urgent need for greater investment in resilient homes, early warning systems and disaster preparedness, the United Nations has warned.
UN Secretary-General António Guterres said millions of homes are damaged or destroyed annually, displacing families and deepening poverty.
Marking the International Day for Disaster Risk Reduction, Guterres stressed that building safer homes was a shared responsibility of governments, developers, engineers and communities as climate and disaster risks continue to grow.
The UN Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNDRR) said damage to housing accounts for 43 per cent of the direct costs of cyclones, floods, tsunamis and earthquakes.
Preparedness Can Save Lives
Reducing disaster impacts requires resilient housing and households that are prepared for emergencies, according to UNDRR.
Jeanette Elsworth, a spokesperson for the office, cited data from the Lloyd’s Register Foundation World Risk Poll 2026 showing that only 27 per cent of people who received an advance disaster warning but lacked both a household disaster plan and confidence in their ability to protect themselves were able to act on the warning.
By contrast, 83 per cent of those who had both a plan and confidence in their ability to respond were able to take action.
Elsworth said progress in reducing disaster-related deaths over the past 11 years had not been matched by a comparable reduction in their economic impact.
She called for all households to have access to risk information, early warnings and the resources needed to protect themselves, stressing that housing resilience must be central to disaster risk reduction.
Building Safer and Stronger Homes
Governments, private companies and community authorities can reduce risks by ensuring homes are built in safer locations, enforcing resilient building standards, retrofitting existing houses and equipping households with the knowledge and tools needed to prepare for disasters, Elsworth said.
The International Organization for Migration (IOM) assisted 1.4 million people across 39 countries through disaster risk reduction programmes in 2025, supporting nearly 1,200 communities.
Maria Moita, IOM's director of humanitarian response and recovery, said that for many people, the end of a disaster marked the beginning of a much longer struggle to return home, restore livelihoods and rebuild their lives.
The agency also helped extend early warning coverage to more than 1.2 million people.
Lessons From Recent Disasters
Recent emergencies in Nepal, Venezuela and Colombia have demonstrated the importance of disaster preparedness, data collection and early recovery planning, IOM said.
In Nepal, devastating flooding following a glacier collapse in August affected more than 84,000 people and damaged approximately 7,500 homes. Assessments conducted by IOM across 48 displacement sites identified 3,650 displaced people and 28 sites that remained operational.
Following earthquakes in Venezuela in June, the agency assisted 50,600 people with temporary accommodation, essential supplies, healthcare and protection. Surveys showed that more than half of affected households considered housing repairs a priority.
Moita said recovery planning needed to begin early to prevent temporary displacement from becoming prolonged.
In Colombia, an earthquake in August reportedly affected nearly 500,000 people and damaged more than 200,000 homes, leaving an estimated 20,000 families displaced in Cali.
Moita stressed that rebuilding homes alone was insufficient, as communities also needed functioning public services and opportunities to restore their livelihoods.
She called for sustained investment in early warning systems, local preparedness, safer housing and recovery efforts that begin at the outset of a disaster and strengthen long-term resilience.
Disasters may strike suddenly, she warned, but displacement can last much longer.