3.1. Reconstruction in the context of development
The reconstruction phase is more complex than the rehabilitation phase and requires a planning process that takes many elements into account, including sectoral and development policy. Costs tend to exceed national funding possibilities, particularly in less developed countries, which must seek external financing.
In general terms, the idea of reconstruction is not only to repair infrastructure, but to plan and adopt policies and strategies designed to achieve sustained economic and social development through actions that reduce vulnerability to adverse events, channel resources to works that anticipate the effects of natural phenomena, manage risk, implement preventive measures, and develop systems to provide forecasts and early warning.
These principles have been recognized by PAHO/WHO as early as 1994, as evident in the publication A World Safe from Natural Disasters—The Journey of Latin America and the Caribbean, which stressed that mitigation measures can reduce the physical, social, and economic effects of disasters to manageable levels, thus contributing to long-term development.
Integrated programs that incorporate the management and mitigation of natural hazards into development and investment project planning should also be encouraged. This is a cost-effective, multidisciplinary, and multisectoral approach that benefits the poorest and most vulnerable populations and encourages development assistance agencies to consider:
- Incorporating natural hazard considerations in the initial stages of integrated development planning and investment project development.
- Placing more importance on risk reduction when evaluating investment projects.
In its December 2010 bulletin, ECLAC Economic and Social Disaster Assessment Unit underlined the cumulative impact of disasters in Latin America and the Caribbean over the last four decades. Emergency expenditures alone represented US$2.7511 billion and total cost was US$356.6724 billion.
Cumulative impact of disasters in Latin America and the Caribbean by type of disaster and sectors affected
CUMULATIVE IMPACT OF DISASTERS IN LATIN AMERICA AND THE CARIBBEAN BY TYPE OF DISASTER AND SECTORS AFFECTED (1970-2009)
|
||||||||
Sectors (millions of 2008 dollars)
|
||||||||
Economic
|
Social
|
Infrastructure
|
Environment
|
Other
|
Rubble removal, cleaning
|
Emergency expenditures
|
Total
|
|
Climatological
|
137,064.7
|
22,829.8 |
49,361.2 |
1,582.4 |
1,916.1 |
649.0 |
1,460.5 |
214,863.8 |
Geophysical
|
34,363.8
|
59,551.6 |
33,899.9 |
257.2 |
2,526.1 |
2,587.4 |
1,289.7 |
134,475.8 |
Geophysical-climatological
|
3,105.6
|
1,133.3 |
2,996.2 |
44.6 |
52.3 |
0.0 |
0.9 |
7,332.8 |
TOTAL
|
174,534.1 |
83,514.8 |
86,257.3 |
1,884.2 |
4,494.5 |
3,236.4 |
2,751.1 |
356,672.4 |
Percentage
|
48.9% |
23.4% |
24.2% |
0.5% |
1.3% |
0.9% |
0.8% |
100.0 |
The same bulletin points out that in 2010 alone, countries in the Americas lost a total of US$9,437.5 million as a result of disasters the Chilean earthquake being the most costly event in the Region, followed by January twelfth earthquake in Haiti.
Greater economic impact by country
Country |
Cost Millions of $US |
TOTAL |
49,188
|
Chile |
30,000
|
Haiti |
7,754
|
Mexico |
5,300
|
Brazil |
1,030
|
Guatemala |
1,553
|
Colombia |
342
|
Saint Lucia |
281
|
Source: Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean. Disasters and Development. Estimates based on official preliminary date through December 2010. Available online (in Spanish) http://www.cepal.org/desastres/noticias/noticias/2/42102/Desastres2010_WEB.pdf.
The table below, from the same study, shows the impacts of the most destructive natural disasters from the 1970s to the present, with an economic quantification of the damages.
Deadliest natural disasters since 1970
As a proportion of popualtion
Rank
|
Country
|
Year
|
Description
|
Killed
|
Deaths per million inhabitants
|
Damages (US Millions, 2009)
|
Damages (% of GDP)
|
Haiti | 2010 | Earthquake |
150,000 - 250,000
|
15,000 - 25,000
|
7,200 - 8,100
|
104% - 117%
|
|
1 | Nicaragua | 1972 | Earthquake |
10,000
|
4,046
|
4,325
|
102.0%
|
2 | Guatemala | 1976 | Earthquake |
23,000
|
3,707
|
3,725
|
27.4%
|
3 | Myanmar | 2008 | Cyclone Nargis |
138,366
|
2,836
|
4,113
|
n.a.
|
4 | Honduras | 1974 | Cyclone Fifi |
8,000
|
2,733
|
2,263
|
59.2%
|
5 | Honduras | 1998 | Cyclone Mitch |
14,600
|
2,506
|
5,020
|
81.4%
|
6 | Sri lanka | 2004 | Tsunami* |
35,405
|
1,839
|
1,494
|
7.0%
|
7 | Venezuela | 1999 | Flood |
30,005
|
1,282
|
4,072
|
3.5%
|
8 | Bangladesh | 1991 | Cyclone Gorki |
139,252
|
1,232
|
3,038
|
6.4%
|
9 | Solomon Is | 1975 | Tsunami |
200
|
1,076
|
n.a.
|
n.a.
|
10 | Indonesia | 2004 | Tsunami* |
165,825
|
775
|
5,197
|
2.0%
|
*Indian Ocean Tsunami caused a total of 226,000 deaths over 12 countries.
n.a. Not available
Source: Author's calculations based on EM-DAT and WDI databases
In a study of the cost of disaster reconstruction in Haiti following the 2010 earthquake, the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) states that reconstruction would cost as much as US$14 billion, making the losses sustained in this disaster greater than the 2004 tsunami in Indonesia and the 2008 cyclones in Myanmar.
Considering the close relationship between poverty and disasters, planning for reconstruction should also focus on reducing human vulnerability as an important part of national commitments to achieving the Millennium Development Goals by the end of 2015.