Number 30, October 2001

Number 30, October 2001

Research Highlight

Comparing Hurricane and Earthquake Policies

The US Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) report (February 2001) titled HAZUS99 Estimated Annualized Earthquake Losses for the United States estimates that US earthquake exposure (capital losses) is $3.5 billion. This compares apples-to-apples with an estimated US annual hurricane exposure of $5.1 billion (based on Pielke and Landsea 1998, updated data). Policies in response to earthquakes and hurricanes share some interesting similarities and differences. For insight take a look at the following:

An analysis of federal earthquake and hurricane policies can be found in the April 2000 WeatherZine editorial by Thomas Birkland entitled Earthquakes and Weather: Lessons for Policy and Science and his paper Factors Inhibiting a National Hurricane Policy, Coastal Management 25 no. 4 (1997): 387-403.

A discussion of earthquake science and policy can be found in Nigg, J. 2000. Predicting Earthquakes: Science, Pseudoscience and Public Policy Paradox, Chapter 7 in D. Sarewitz, R. A. Pielke, Jr., and R. Byerly (eds.), Prediction: Decision Making and the Future of Nature (Washington, DC: Island Press).

The origins of national hurricane policy are discussed in Simpson, R. H., 1998. Stepping stones in the evolution of a national hurricane policy, Weather and Forecasting 13:617-620.

Articles related to various aspects of the use and value of weather and climate forecasts can be found in our online bibliography.