90% of Natural Disasters Caused by Weather

Hurricanes - Floods - Tornadoes - Earthquakes - Tsunamis - Drought

Every year, front page news is made as storms claim the lives of thousands and leave areas devastated. Sometimes, recovery is so slow that residents never return to the area. (Think of Hurricane Katrina or the Boxing Day Tsunami.) While families struggle to recover from natural disasters, communities must also recover from the economic losses a natural disaster can bring.

According to the Centre for Research on the Epidemiology of Disasters (CRED) at the University of Leuven, Belgium, between 1992 and 2001 about 90% of natural disasters were meteorological or hydrological in origin. Economically speaking, this is a huge dent in the pockets of most of the world's population. But how do countries, many of which are already burdened by poverty, recover from these storms?

According to Pascal Peduzzi in the Environmental Times

...we cannot put all the blame for the death of 2,750 Haitians on Hurricane Jeanne. The long process of deforestation that preceded it was greeted by deafening media silence. Only after the disaster did USA Today write: “The torrents of water that raged down onto this city, killing hundreds of people, are testimony to a man-made ecological disaster. Poverty has transformed Haiti’s once verdant hills into a moonscape of bedrock ravaged by ravines.” Would any of the mainstream media have written about Haiti’s 98% deforestation rate before Jeanne struck?

While recovery efforts and money spent to re-build communities is important, there is a general need to increase funds for storm prevention and risk management. (Again, think of New Orleans.) But what is the balance? Should we spend more on prevention? Leave your thoughts in the forum now.

Image Credit: Early warning systems. (2005). In UNEP/GRID-Arendal Maps and Graphics Library. Retrieved 20:46, October 12, 2007 from http://maps.grida.no/go/graphic/early_warning_systems.