Weathering the storm: What makes anticipating cyclones a success

In tropical cyclone prone regions, storms are more likely to become major events, intensifying faster, producing more rainfall, with extreme windspeeds and coastal flooding prompting countries to invest in early warning systems and scale up AA to reduce impacts on communities, lives and livelihoods. 

2024–2026 have been years of intense cyclone activity, with some of the most powerful storms on record, including Super Typhoon Uwan and Hurricane Melissa. WFP and partner governments have been on the front lines: supporting over 700,000 people at risk to protect themselves with anticipatory cash and/or in-kind food assistance, and over seven million people with early warning messages before the cyclones hit, across the varied contexts of Mozambique, Madagascar, Haiti, Cuba, Bangladesh and the Philippines.

This document reviews WFP’s AA cyclone activations, reflecting on the uniqueness of the operations and the key factors that led to successes and challenges, to help guide the development and improvement of cyclone AA programmes.