- hundreds of millions of poor people are extremely vulnerable to hazards such as earthquakes, tropical storms, flooding, tsunamis or severe droughts, and major disasters put development at risk; stresses that the MDGs will be hard to attain in most low-income countries unless disaster risk reduction, including disaster social insurance schemes, are well integrated into development and poverty reduction strategies;

hundreds of millions of poor people are extremely vulnerable to hazards such as earthquakes, tropical storms, flooding, tsunamis or severe droughts, and major disasters put development at risk; stresses that the MDGs will be hard to attain in most low-income countries unless disaster risk reduction, including disaster social insurance schemes, are well integrated into development and poverty reduction strategies;

The states of the Caribbean are particularly vulnerable to tropical storms, and have also been affected by tsunamis.

Michelle started on 29 October as a tropical storm off the northern coast of Nicaragua and Honduras, where it caused severe floods.

Whereas the supply balance should in accordance with Article 16 (3) of Regulation (EEC) No 404/93, take account of the impact of tropical storms Iris, Luis and Marilyn, which seriously affected production in Martinique, Guadeloupe and traditional imports of bananas from certain ACP States up to July 1996;

Whereas in August and September 1995 the tropical storms Iris, Luis and Marilyn caused severe damage to the banana plantations in the Community regions of Martinique and Guadeloupe and in the ACP States of Saint Vincent, Saint Lucia and Dominica; whereas the effects of these exceptional circumstances on production in Guadeloupe and Dominica will be felt until July 1996 and will greatly affect imports and supplies to the Community markets during the second quarter of 1996; whereas this is likely to cause an appreciable increase in market prices in certain regions of the Community;