How Much Can (and Should) Government Protect People from Natural Disaster?

submitted by Samuel Bendett

Washington Air National Guardsmen methodically make their way through the mud and wreckage left behind by the March 22 mudslide in Oso, Wash. (Photo by Spc. Matthew Sissel/122D PAOC)

By letting citizens live in vulnerable places even after disaster strikes, governments plant the seeds for future disasters.

emergencymgmt.com - by Donald F. Kettl - May 28, 2014

It didn’t take long after the tragedy of the Oso, Wash., March mudslide for everyone to wonder: Should local officials have done more to prevent people from building in harm’s way? . . .

. . . The feds often know a great deal about the risks but don’t have the authority to act. Local governments have the authority to act, especially through zoning requirements, but often don’t have the capacity to collect all the technical information or the will to interfere in local development.

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