Economic impact of natural disasters
This is an excerpt from the paper...
Natural disasters come in many forms: floods, fires, earthquakes, tornadoes, volcanic eruptions and landslides are but a few of the calamities that people endure. It is when nature comes into conflict with humans that catastrophe results. The response to these natural disasters has been to invest in early warning systems in order to protect lives and property, and to offer residents and businessmen advice on how best to survive the types of disasters that any one area is prone to. Fortunately, not all parts of the world are subject to every type of disaster, which means that people in any one area have to prepare only for those disasters which are likely to occur in their area. Such preparation can take the form of developing evacuation programs and finding ways to minimize damage both to people, livestock and property. This research examines the economic effects of natural disasters, with special emphasis on two major disasters occurring in the 1990s: the floods of the Midwest in 1993 and the earthquake in Southern California in 1994.When a natural disaster hits an area, the first obvious effect is to the infrastructure. Communication lines are severed, and it can be several hours before utilities and communications reach even a basic level of service, depending on the type of disaster. Many types of natural disasters, such as tornadoes and hurricanes, involve some type of warning so that emergency communication stations and a
. . .
n funds. As their profitability falls, the value of the pension funds also fall, with the result that pension funds suffer as a result of the losses in the insurance industry (McLeod 3).
Additionally, the insurance industry is unwilling to absorb the losses that natural disasters bring, and typically raise premiums for their policyholders. Sometimes these premium increases take place across the entire customer base; in other cases, the insurance companies increase premiums for those areas that are at greatest risk for disaster (Steinmetz A2).
Midwest Floods (1993)
In 1993, flooding in the nation's heartland washed away crops, homes and businesses. Unlike flash floods, which are over in days, this flooding broke levees and left entire towns stranded from the outside world. The waters took months to recede, and some farmers expected not to be able to replant crops for as long as two years (Sidey and Farley 28).
Damage from the floods stretched as far as 500 miles in width and 600 miles in length. Estimates regarding damage ran as high as $10 billion. Such estimates are based on local and state inspectors' reports; these reports are based on firsthand examinations in most cases. Inspectors calculate a per-home damage estim
. . .
Some common words found in the essay are:
Southern California, Economic Effects, Homestead Florida, Introduction Natural, Sidey Farley, Trade Center, Summary Despite, Nature's Quarter, Santa Monica, Johnson A14, natural disasters, southern california, insurance companies, natural disaster, insurance industry, 21 1994, hurricane andrew, los angeles, pension funds, sidey farley, losses insurance industry, street journal march, railroads rode quake, wall street journal, system southern california,
Approximate Word count = 2316
Approximate Pages = 9 (250 words per page)
More Essays on Economic impact of natural disasters
|
Customer Service
to Over
32,000 Professionally Written Papers!!!
