A natural hazards expert at the ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ at Boulder says Hurricane Floyd illustrates the increased risk the United States faces from large but infrequent natural events like gigantic hurricanes.
The cost of natural hazards in the United States has averaged as much as $1 billion per week since 1989 and is expected to keep rising, according to Professor Dennis Mileti, chair of the sociology department and director of the CU-Boulder Natural Hazards Research and Applications Information Center.
One reason that the United States faces increased risk from events such as Hurricane Floyd is that more people are living in desirable but hazardous locations, particularly coastal areas, Mileti said. The states that experienced the greatest losses from natural hazards from 1975 to 1994 were California, Texas and Florida.
"The really big catastrophes are getting larger and will continue to get larger because of, among other reasons, everything we've done in the past to reduce risk," Mileti said. "One central problem is that many of the accepted methods for coping with hazards have been based on the idea that people can use technology to control nature to make them totally safe."
While actions to mitigate disasters, such as codes requiring buildings to withstand severe earthquakes, save lives and dollars in the short term, Mileti said, "We are shifting the risk to future generations, much like the national debt. We need to change the culture to think about designing communities for our great grandchildren's children's children."
Mileti can be reached on the morning of Wednesday, Sept. 15, at (303) 492-6818 or between 3 p.m. and 5 p.m. on Thursday, Sept. 16. Or contact Peter Caughey in the Office of News Services at (303) 492-4007.