Natural calamities cause $15-50m damage to Azerbaijan every year

Every year over 2 billion people suffer from natural calamities all over the world, Director of the Department of Hydrometereology Forecasts of the Ministry of Ecology and Natural Resources, Sahrab Shiraliyev, told a seminar organized by the Ministry on Friday.

According to AssA-Irada, Shiraliyev said 90% of the natural calamities that took place from 1991 to 2001 were caused by hydrometereological factors. 622,000 people were killed in the aftermath of such disasters, he said.

The head of the department also said the economic damage caused by weather-related natural calamities is estimated at $496bn. He noted that just like in many other fields, recession has been observed in hydrometereology activities since the collapse of the former USSR, he said.

"However, Azerbaijan managed to maintain its hydrometereological stations. There are more than 10,000 hydrological and over 1,000 aerological stations throughout the world. The figures are 82 and 1 respectively in Azerbaijan," Shiraliyev said.

12 Azerbaijani hydrological stations are currently under Armenian occupation, he added.

/AzerNEWS/