ABSTRACT
Globally, it appears that the toll of death and damage in natural disasters is increasing, although there is no international databank of sufficient comprehensiveness to verify this supposition. However, it seems that the frequency of the most severe impacts on the socio-economic system is decreasing, thanks to improvements in prediction, warning, mitigation and international aid. In the territories of the Commonwealth of Independent States, natural disasters kill 150–200 people each year and injure several thousand, while in the USA, about 30 disasters, including 15 "states of emergency", are declared in an average year. Floods account for about 40 per cent of the damage caused by natural disasters, while hurricanes and other tropical storms produce the largest number of fatalities, about 20 per cent of the total for all natural hazards. The spatial dimension of natural disasters has received remarkably little theoretical treatment, yet it is fundamental to the understanding of how emergencies evolve and how they can be managed.
