Op-Ed: Invest in Natural-Hazard Mitigation to Save Billions in Disaster Recovery

"Although climate change may be making the occurrence of major storms and floods more frequent, poor planning and bad development decisions are making disasters more expensive," say Conrad, an independent consultant on federal water resources policy, and Thomas, president of the Natural Hazard Mitigation Association.

"The government does not and should not dictate where people can live, own property or operate businesses. But policymakers could reduce the cost of disasters by investing more in natural-hazard mitigation and by implementing measures to discourage development of at-risk areas," argue the authors. "Our research estimates that if the government pursued these policies, it could save some $40 billion over the next decade."

"The goal should be to use federal money to prevent disasters, not merely to clean up afterward. Of course the government should continue to support Americans who are the victims of natural disasters, but we also need to help keep them safe from the next one. An effective way to reduce the cost of such events is to take active steps before a disaster even occurred."