ABSTRACT
As evidenced in this book, with ongoing huge investments to facilitate better infrastructure, major infrastructure planning remains a central point of discussion globally. Nonetheless, disruptions to existing infrastructure have increasingly become commonplace, leading to plunging opportunities for employment and hindering health and education in addition to restraining economic growth in both developing and developed nations. In March 2019, for instance, Cyclone Idai devastated communities across three African nations (Malawi, Mozambique and Zimbabwe). The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) noted that the cyclone claimed over one thousand lives while several others were displaced because of severe damages to infrastructure and their means of livelihood (ICRC, 2019). A foremost observation from this cyclone incidence was that disaster preparedness is still grossly inadequate and governments in the affected countries simply lacked disaster preparedness. On the other side of the hemisphere, the mention of Hurricanes Harvey, Sandy, Snowvember, Irma and Maria bring very unpleasant memories associated with infrastructural breakdown, social structural failures and the impact that extreme weather events had on the affected locations. Despite the fact that Idai, Irma, Maria, and the others left very catastrophic damages, without being cynical, are they likely to be the last? This chapter is unable to provide a definite answer; nevertheless, it is able to make some noteworthy deductions from the above. Firstly, natural hazards can affect the seamless usage of infrastructure in developed and developing nations alike. More importantly, the lessons from these hostile events underscore a call to action for highly susceptible nations to develop resistance against further high-impact storms, coastal flooding and intense rainfall linked directly or indirectly to 48climate change. Beyond the impact of extreme weather events, uncertainties from the ongoing COVID-19 crisis also intensify the emergent demands for resilient and adaptable infrastructure that can effectively operate during periods of catastrophe and great uncertainty. Therefore, lasting and forward-looking strategies that support nations and key stakeholders in ensuring safer climates, while at the same time unlocking new economic opportunities through infrastructure development, are required.
