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In 2017, Texas and Florida experienced as much as $200 billion dollars in damage due to hurricanes Harvey and Irma. The damages associated with wildfires in the western United States this year has already been reported in the billions as these fires continue to rage in areas much less remote than typical, raining down damage to agricultural lands, wineries, and residences. The key question becomes: are water-related natural disasters becoming more prolific and more intense in terms economic damages and lives lost? This study uses the EM-DAT International Disaster Database and various other sources of data to put in context the natural disasters related to water. Data analyzed will compare disasters from recent years to the natural disasters of the past century on a global and regional basis. Econometrics will be used to determine which disasters tend to result in the most direct economic damages and will predict how these disasters and their associated damages are likely to play out into the future, should these trends continue. Furthermore, the study explores policy implications for those who bear the burden of the rising costs of natural disasters related to climate change. Three micro-case studies illuminate the social, physical and institutional factors that influence the costly nature of these types of natural disasters. The Texas Drought (beginning in 2011), the 2007 California Wildfires, and Hurricane Charley (2004) in Florida were chosen for these highlighted disasters as they all have had catastrophic impacts on their respective states and the changing institutions that deal with natural disaster response. |
