A review of the Global Rapid Post-Disaster Damage Estimation (GRADE) assessments: the frontier in rapid post-disaster damage estimations for developing countries 2015 - 2024

This report is a review of GRADEs conducted since 2015, and GRADE's efficiency, comparative advantage through detailed analysis, and future. First, the GRADE approach and how it has been used and evolved since its inception are described, and the GRADE assessments conducted in the last 10 years are reviewed. It is expected that the resultant database of damage from 66 events will be critical for discussions about not only disaster risk management, but also climate resilience, including ongoing loss and damage dialogues.

The in-depth case studies presented in this report - the 7.5-magnitude earthquake in Palu, Indonesia (September 2018); Tropical Cyclone Idai that affected Malawi, Mozambique, and Zimbabwe (March 2019); the situation in Ukraine at the end of March 2022; the 2022 floods in Pakistan; the Kahramanmaraş Türkiye earthquakes in February 2023; Category 5 Hurricane Beryl that hit Grenada in July 2024 - demonstrate the strengths and flexibility of GRADE and its application, challenges, and lessons learned. The report then assesses the speed and accuracy of the GRADE approach by examining various post-disaster assessment methodologies and comparing GRADE with other detailed, on-the-ground post-disaster assessments such as PDNAs to assess the performance, accuracy, and reliability of GRADE results.