NATURAL HAZARD LOSSES IN THE UNITED STATES: A PUBLIC PROBLEM

Using arisk analysis and evaluation approach, the authors estimate losses from nine major natural hazards in the United States. The data show that these probable losses exceed those of many other national social problems, including fire and crime. The article also examines geographic and social distributions of estimated losses. States in the upper quartile of hazard exposure are likely to account for 50 percent of the increase in dollar losses over the next 30 years. Consistent with prior research, the most dependent segments of the population (poor, elderly, non-white) will proportionately suffer the most. While policy options pose inherently difficult choices, many promising avenues have yet to be fully explored. Copyright 1985 by The Policy Studies Organization.

CONCLUSION: NATURAL HAZARD POLITICAL CONTEXTS AND ADOPTION STRATEGIES

Natural hazard mitigation-disaster preparedness involves low probability, high consequence politics. Timelplace indeterminacy of catastrophic events seldom allow them to be factored into public or private investment and risk management decisions. Public policies to alleviate impediments to the implementation of effective policy must acknowledge political cultural biases as well as fiscal limitations. Copyright 1985 by The Policy Studies Organization.

The Value Of Public Participation During a Hazard, Impact, Risk And Vulnerability (HIRV) Analysis

case study, disaster management, hazard, risk and vulnerability analysis, public participation, sustainable hazard mitigation,

A relação entre o social e o natural nas abordagens de hazards e de desastres The relation between the social and the natural in the approach of hazards and disasters

O artigo aborda as teorias dos Hazards e dos Desastres. Nos últimos anos estas duas tradições teóricas têm recebido novos impulsos pela renovação de seus marcos de referência conceitual. Construídas em torno de uma longa tradição de pesquisa empírica, estas teorias explicam os impactos provocados por fenômenos como enchentes, terremotos, tornados e epidemias mediante a integração analítica das dimensões natural e social. Neste sentido, seu estudo pode fornecer subsídios para a interpretação destes problemas no Brasil.<br>The article deals with the theory of hazards and disasters. Over the past years, these two theoretical traditions have received new impulse through the renovation of their conceptual foundations. Constructed around a long tradition of empirical research, these theories explain the impacts brought by phenomena like floods, earthquakes, tornadoes and epidemics through the analytical integration of social and natural dimensions. In this regard, its study may provide grants in order to interpret these problems in Brazil