ABSTRACT
Setting aside the human ‘cost’ of injury and fatality, the value of the losses in goods and services and destruction to buildings of all kinds caused by disasters has steadily risen over recent decades. In this perspective, Hurricane Katrina was the most costly disaster ever to hit the United States; the storms that hit Western Europe in December 1999 and again in 2007 (storm Kyrill) were the most costly so far to hit Europe. This pattern of increased economic loss is repeated around the world. This does not necessarily suggest, however, that the degree of material loss has increased significantly, nor that the violence of ‘natural’ disasters is greater than before – even if some data suggest that the latter might be the case. What this pattern really highlights is that the social and economic costs of recovery or rebuilding have increased massively.
