ABSTRACT
In Chapter One we showed that Nature was the prime culprit of devastation in cyclone-prone areas, according to the government’s perception, and that vulnerability was a function of exposure measureable by losses. In this chapter we expand this perception and widen our understanding of vulnerability by suggesting that Man is the major culprit in creating cyclone devastation compounding the destructive capabilities of cyclones by his own actions. We start by offering other ways of looking at the problem of cyclone vulnerability, starting with a brief resumé of the progress in disasters research since Gilbert White’s work in the 1950s and 1960s and how this work has resulted in the view that is widely held today – that so-called natural disasters are primarily the products of political economies and not the natural hazards themselves.
