A new report from Zurich Insurance Group has noted the benefits of spending in advance of natural disasters, rather than in recovery – flipping the traditional disaster spending model, according to Scientific American. The report says each dollar spent on disaster resilience saving equals approximately five dollars in recovery costs. Based on a study of 12 events which have occurred since 2013, the report seeks to identify key areas of improvement, and to encourage government agencies to not underfund preventative activities.
Released at a time when preparations are being made for what is expected to be another eventful hurricane season, and with flooding of coastal regions becoming increasingly comment events, the report mentions the advantages of investing on wetlands protection or reforestation, stating “where money is invested on prevention, it typically goes to protecting physical structures rather than more cost-effective risk management such as environmental planning.” The report further notes, in reducing damage from extreme weather events, “the use of environmental planning techniques to manage flood waters, by such measures as reforestation in upper watersheds and static or controlled water retention areas, has been shown to be highly effective.”
Sources:
https://www.eenews.net/assets/2018/06/07/document_cw_01.pdf
