We describe the flows of aid after large catastrophic natural disasters by using the extensive record of bilateral aid flows, by aid sector, available through the OECD’s Development Assistance Committee. For each large donor, we identify the extent of cross-sector re-allocation that is occurring in the aftermath of large disasters whereby humanitarian aid increases but other types of aid may decrease. Our evidence suggests that the expectation of large surges in post disaster aid flows is not warranted given the past diversity of experience of global foreign aid by donor and by event. We find no evidence, however, that donors reallocate aid between recipient countries (cross-recipient reallocation). These observations suggest that countries which are predicted to face increasing losses from natural disasters in the coming decades (and almost all are) should be devoting significant resources for prevention, insurance, and mitigation.
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