Addressing Natural Hazards: Challenges and Lessons for Public Policy

This paper offers thoughts about challenges and lessons for the design of public policies that address natural hazards. Two basic points are made. One is that there has been a worldwide experiment in the search for solutions to problems posed by natural hazards. Different choices have been made regarding such things as the objectives of natural hazards policies, the mix of approaches in addressing problems posed by natural hazards, governance of hazards programs, and the scope of hazards-related policies. An understanding of the consequences of these choices provides a basis for tentative lessons. The second point is that changes in the political context and regulatory environment simultaneously place new constraints on governmental intervention and new demands for hazards policies. These trends necessitate a rethinking of the objectives for hazards policies and the role of different levels of government in fulfilling those objectives. The paper concludes with some principles that might be applied to future efforts to craft hazards policies.