Weighing the costs of disaster.

• Author: Stafford, Kathryn
• Position: Organization of American States

IN RESPONSE TO THE widespread devastation and loss of life wrought on the U.S. Gulf Coast by Hurricane Katrina, Secretary General Jose Miguel Insulza expressed the condolences of the OAS community "as it joins the government and people of the United States of America in mourning the tragic and regrettable loss of life and the catastrophic damage which resulted in the southern coastal states of Alabama, Louisiana, and Mississippi.

"The Americas have witnessed the power of natural phenomena that hurricanes such as Katrina represent and the subsequent tragedy of such proportions. This must further embolden us to coordinate the collective efforts and enterprise of the inter-American system to strengthen current mechanisms, organs, and agencies engaged in reducing and mitigating the effects of natural disasters," Insulza said.

To that end, experts and officials of the member countries as well as representatives of international agencies convened at OAS headquarters two weeks after Katrina struck to discuss strategies to better deal with natural disasters. They concluded that investing in risk reduction--such as better hazard mapping and stronger building codes and standards for schools, hospitals, roads, homes, and infrastructure--is more cost-effective than relief and rebuilding.

"We need to have a clear idea, in cost-benefit analysis, of the up-front costs of investing in disaster mitigation, as opposed to waiting for disasters to strike and paying the much higher costs of relief and...