As events around the world dictate, CID will develop special research projects. Currently, the Center is evaluating the economic impact of El Ni o and the economics of Disaster Insurance. In November 1998, Hurricane Mitch struck Honduras, Nicaragua, and Guatemala. It inflicted massive damage on these countries' internal transportation and communication infrastructure, displaced hundreds of thousands of people, and caused approximately 10,000 deaths. Also in 1998, devastating floods hit China and Bangladesh, and massive earthquakes struck several developing countries, including southern Colombia, Afghanistan, and Russia.
Natural disasters pose distinct challenges to the developing world.
In addition, most developing countries lack basic crisis management infrastructure and mechanisms. Researchers at CID have begun to examine the costs of natural disasters around the world, the existing policy frameworks for mitigating these costs in the industrialized world, and the ways in which these policies might be adapted for the developing world. The Economic Impact of El Ni o The Economics of Disaster Insurance Direct site comments or questions to CID's Webmaster . Copyright 2000 by the President and Fellows of Harvard College.