Home › News ›

Hurricane Katrina: A Man-made Disaster?

Posted by: Chris Steins
Thanks to: Chris Steins
2 September 2005 - 7:00am

Some scientists believe that storms such as Hurricane Katrina that are sometimes called an act of God or a natural disaster, are partly man-made.

"The temporary lull in hurricane activity in Florida, from 1969 to 1989, spurred a reckless building boom, for example, putting billions of dollars worth of condos and hotels within reach of storm surges, notes Roger Pielke Jr., of the University of Colorado, Boulder. The Great Miami Hurricane of 1926 would have caused an estimated $90 billion damage had it occurred in 2000, he calculated. It caused just over $1 billion, in today's dollars."

[Editor's note: The link below is available to non-subscribers for a period of 7 days.]

Full Story: Man-Made Mistakes Increase Devastation Caused by Storms
Source: Wall St. Journal, September 1, 2005
»
Bookmark and Share
“
But what can planners do to support the kind of connections between people I just described? One idea is promoting mixed-use places where there are simply more opportunities for people to run into each other and connect.
”