Abstract
There is a widespread and growing perception that the rate of natural disasters including floods, fires, earthquakes and other disasters is increasing (EM-DAT, 2012; GRID-Arendal, 2012; World Bank, 2013). While these claims are contested, the weight of the evidence suggests that the perceptions of increased rates of natural disaster have arisen for two reasons. First, as a result of climate change there has been an increase in the rate of hydrometeorological events including hurricanes, typhoons and flooding (GRID-Arendal, 2012; The World Bank, 2010). This trend has been augmented by the growth of the human population, which means that more people are living in areas at increased risks of natural disasters (Arnold et al., 2005; The World Bank, 2010).