Flooding Found To Be The Biggest Risk to Cities Worldwide
Flooding is the biggest risk to city dwellers around the world, according to a study by Swiss Re Ltd.
The study, published on Sept. 18, 2013, ranks the human and economic exposure to natural catastrophes in 616 cities around the globe.
The study, “Mind the Risk: A Global Ranking of Cities Under Threat from Natural Disasters,” examined the risk that floods, storms, storm surges, earthquakes or tsunamis pose to urban centers.
On the basis of all five perils, the Tokyo-Yokohama region of Japan is the most exposed to loss of human life and working days, the study found.
Coastal cities in Asia are particularly vulnerable to all five perils, the study found.
Outside of Asia, Los Angeles is the ninth-ranked city globally and No. 1 in the United States in the number of people that could be affected by all five perils.
“Already today, major river floods alone have the potential to affect 380 million people living in cities; and some 280 million people could be impacted by severe earthquakes,” Matthias Weber, group chief underwriting officer at Swiss Re, said in a statement. “We need to better understand what makes cities more resilient and what decisions about investments and infrastructure are needed to minimize the loss of life, property and economic production.”
The global ranking of cities under threat can be found here.