Natural disasters occur around the world in many different ways such as earthquakes, tsunamis, floods, and hurricanes. They can cause catastrophic damage and kill many people in severe situations. They often roll through villages or cities, destroying everything in its path. They leave poverty, homelessness, pollution, and property damage along with food and water shortages. Poorer affected cities are often in distress after these events in their struggle to rebuild and bounce back from the disaster. They usually end up asking other countries as well as international groups such as the IMF for aid. This aid can be provided through food, military, or financially. When they finally do end up rebuilding and recovering, many countries are still caught up in loads of debt.
These catastrophes have occurred in many cases all over the world and often have the worst effect on third world countries. One instance occurred in Madagascar in 2000. In the month of February devastating floods and a cyclone occurred. Their city was devastated and in desperate need of help and financial support. They looked towards the international community, asking for support in their recovery. The support came slowly as about 300,000 people lost everything they had from floods that continued to wash out the region. Further, many feared that the floods would wash out mines from some of the many minefields that covered the country. In the end, this natural disaster was estimated to have affected 600,000 Madagascans.