ABSTRACT
Globally, it is estimated that more than 535,000 people were killed by natural disasters during the past decade with more than $684 billion in losses from direct damages to infrastructure and crops (IFRCRCS, 2002). In the US every state in the union (except Alaska) has experienced at least $1 billion weather disaster in the past two decades (NCDC, 2003).The longer-term economic impact of these disasters, both domestically and internationally, continues to affect economies at all scales (local to global).
