How do scientists estimate the death toll and damage from a natural disaster?

After a disaster, researchers and emergency agencies gather data from affected communities, transportation networks, hospitals, and local authorities. Satellite imagery helps assess destroyed buildings, flooded areas, landslides, and damaged roads. Death toll estimates may rise over time as missing people are accounted for and access improves. Economic damage is usually measured in direct costs such as destroyed infrastructure and indirect losses such as business interruption. Global databases, including those used by the United Nations and disaster research centers, help compare events across countries and decades.