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This week, like most weeks this year, disasters have happened around the world that have irrevocably changed people’s lives: Earthquakes in Peru and Venezuela, Flooding in Laos, Wildfires in Canada and the US and many many more events that barely made the news.

In April, my suburb in Wellington, New Zealand was hit by the heaviest rainfall for the area on record. The amount of rain that normally falls in half a month in April, came crashing down in one hour. At 3.30am, we were woken by the intense noise of rain on the roof and pipes gurgling. A few minutes later we saw some rain coming through the gap under our front door, but by the time we ran to get towels we realized it was too late. The water could not be stopped. We woke the children and told them to sit on the couch, but soon the couch was floating. By 4am, we were waist-deep in water throughout the house. We climbed into our attic and waited for the fire department to come and help us evacuate across the river that was flowing where our street had been. We spent the next week throwing out everything in our house that was below waist height, including the carpet and insulation behind the........

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