In 2005, average global flood losses are estimated to have reached $6 billion a year. This figure is expected to grow to $50 billion a year, and unless cities put money into better flood defences, losses could pass the $1 trillion mark ... Prophecies such as these are intended to be proved wrong: the idea is that a prophet warns of horrors to come, people take steps, and as a consequence the horrors do not arrive ... But as disaster professionals have learned again and again, governments, city authorities, investors and even citizens tend not to listen to prophecies of doom: scientists and engineers repeatedly described what could happen to New Orleans if it was hit by a powerful-enough hurricane, and in 2005, as Hurricane Katrina arrived, the levees gave way, with catastrophic results.
Posted on: Mon, 11 Nov 2013 10:44:32 +0000
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