About 50 million homes are in counties with significant earthquake risk. Development continues unabated in the riskiest of areas, along the coasts and floodplains in the U.S. Communities in these high-risk regions, by definition, are not sustainable. Residents cannot count on the communities' survival for generations to come. Some live in fear that the next rain or wind storm could mean the end of normal life. These are people and communities at risk, locked in a costly, life-threatening gamble with the environment.
Sustainable development offers a way out.
For some communities, the only solution is relocation, moving entirely off the floodplain, out of harm's way. For others, sustainable development means restricting new construction in particularly vulnerable areas, elevating structures to remove the threat of flooding, or building smarter, stronger buildings that are more hazard-resistant. Post-disaster evidence and inspections following Hurricane Andrew revealed that insurance losses could have been reduced in some cases by as much as 50 percent if building codes had been properly enforced. Adopting more stringent codes shows promise to reduce losses even further. Sustainable development can help prevent acts of nature from becoming disasters.