ABSTRACT
In Chapter One we became aware of the awesome and destructive nature of cyclones and how the “savagery of nature” was held to blame for the widespread devastation after cyclone strikes, and the perpetuation of poverty that was characteristic of many coastal areas (section 1.2.1.). We saw how policies evolved over 20 years, with the work of the Cyclone Distress Mitigation Committee in 1971 and the 1977 cyclone acting as the catalysts for change, and how cyclone mitigation policy had progressed from trying to cure the effects of cyclones after they had happened to trying to prevent the loss of life and assets before they happened (section 1.2.2).
