The number of natural disasters that occurred in Europe during 2010 reached a new level, increasing by over 18 percent. According to Margareta Wahlström, chief of the UN International Strategy for Disaster Reduction (UNISDR),  “In terms of economic damages, it accounted for 14.3 per cent of reported global disaster losses in 2010, with most of the damages caused by climatological and hydro meteorological events."