Katrina spotlights `price of paradise'

chicagotribune.com >> Nation/World

Katrina spotlights `price of paradise'
`A state of perpetual denial' puts some of the world's most desirable cities on a collision course with catastrophe, insurers say

By Greg Burns
Tribune staff reporter
Published September 19, 2005


Tokyo is a catastrophe waiting to happen. Same goes for San Francisco and Los Angeles. As for Miami? Batten down the hatches.

Those cities carry some of the highest risks for natural disaster, according to the insurance industry's latest measurements. Yet, with their ocean views, night life and economic opportunities, each one of them is growing at a healthy clip regardless.

Hurricane Katrina has spotlighted the emerging science of disaster-risk modeling and its implications for some of the world's more important urban centers. A powerful new breed of computer programs is providing much more accurate estimates of the potential damage that earthquakes, storms or floods can cause.

The result is growing recognition that some of the most vulnerable cities in the world are booming despite the likelihood of future catastrophes. Their growth stands to increase losses in property and lives when all-too-predictable perils eventually come to pass.


snip

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/chi-050919katrina,1,6040995.story?coll=chi-news-hed