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Module participatory process. However, integrating adaptation into climate change into development policy
planning and budgeting requires a carefully thought-out process. This process may be referred to as
adaptation mainstreaming (IIED, 2008).

BOX 9 The case of Cyclone Sidr

9-12 December, 2013 Bangladesh is one of the world’s most climate-vulnerable countries, regularly hit by

flooding and cyclones. Yet its highly effective early warning system has already saved tens
of thousands of lives. This capacity is key in a region where extreme weather is set to

become more frequent and intense as climate change progresses. Cyclone Sidr-one of
the strongest storms ever in the Bay of Bengal-hit Bangladesh in November 2007. The
government, however, was prepared: improved early warning technology had supplied
news of Sidr’s direction and intensity 72 hours before its arrival. A network headed by the
World Meteorological Organization’s global cyclone observatory started feeding data to
its regional outpost at the Indian Meteorological Office in New Delhi. The message was
relayed to authorities in Dhaka, who passed it on to the local Red Crescent office. Some

40,000 trained Red Crescent volunteers then disseminated the information to the 15
worst affected districts, cycling around the country, using megaphones to order residents
into 1,800 cyclone shelters and 440 flood shelters. When Sidr hit, 2 million people were in
shelters. Red Crescent estimated the death toll was between 5,000 and 10,000. A cyclone
of a similar magnitude in 1991 killed over 190,000 people.

This integration of hi-tech information into low-tech, low-cost, locally appropriate
information dissemination methods maximized the outreach of the system. It also
demonstrated the value of cross-sector and cross-scale coordination. The system operates
in conjunction with a broader action program supported by donors, including the United
States and the European Union, which, since 1991 has supported disaster preparedness
and improved post-disaster relief and reconstruction. Under this program, early warning
and evacuation systems are integrated with infrastructure such as cyclone walls to protect
from storm surges.

Source: IIED, 2008

46 Volume Two - Themes
Vulnerability and Impact assessments for Adaption to Climate Change (VIA Module)