Water Disasters
The recent hurricane Katrina, that hit Mississippi, Louisiana and Alabama, made me wonder. This is the third water-related natural disaster this year, after the Tsunami in December and the Mumbai floods in June. Each disaster occurred in a single day, came completely without warning, and brought tremendous death and destruction in its wake. Arguably, most of the devastation in each disaster was preventable.
A quick comparison on the relative impact of these disasters.
The tsunami had a dead toll of around 200,000 people [Source], and it’s economic impact is estimated between $8 to $14.5 billion [Source], of which $5.5 to $10 billion is in Indonesia and India.
About 1,000 people [Source] died in Maharastra, with an estimated economic cost of $3.5 billion [Source].
It is too soon to arrive at a final number, but Katrina’s death toll is expected to be “in the hundreds” [Source]. The economic impact has not been quantified, though just the insurance bill is expected to be $25 billion [Source].
I’ll let the numbers speak for themselves.
A quick comparison on the relative impact of these disasters.
The tsunami had a dead toll of around 200,000 people [Source], and it’s economic impact is estimated between $8 to $14.5 billion [Source], of which $5.5 to $10 billion is in Indonesia and India.
About 1,000 people [Source] died in Maharastra, with an estimated economic cost of $3.5 billion [Source].
It is too soon to arrive at a final number, but Katrina’s death toll is expected to be “in the hundreds” [Source]. The economic impact has not been quantified, though just the insurance bill is expected to be $25 billion [Source].
I’ll let the numbers speak for themselves.
