Levels of development affect the ability to manage a hurricane as the more development there is, the harder it is to control the affect of the hurricane. This is as the more development there is, the more chance of the hurricane causing a bigger affect. An example of this is Hurricane Katrina. Hurricane Katrina struck New Orleans a developed city on the coast of the United States. As the city is developed, the hurricane was able to cause a big affect and people were not able to manage it too well although many did leave the city in search for a safer location. New Orleans had built a levee to protect the city from a flood but this was not managed well enough to protect the city from the floods that followed the hurricane. Another example of where the levels of development affected the ability to manage a hurricane is Hurricane Wilma when it struck Mexico. As the country is a holiday destination for many, it is developed to attract tourist and not to survive against natural hazards such as hurricanes. As it is built to attract tourist, at the time when the hurricane struck Mexico, many tourist were in the country although they were able to get to a safe location as the Mexican government and the tourist themselves knew about the hurricane. The countries level of development makes it hard for people and the cities to manage hurricanes as they are not developed or designed to manage natural hazards.
Levels of development also affect the ability to manage an earthquake, although the development of the buildings maybe able to be managed. In some countries and cities, the level of development on some buildings and structures is designed so that when an earthquake happens, they are able to stay standing at the end of it rather then collapse like most would normally. For example, some of the buildings in some cities in Japan are designed to shake when there is an earthquake but not collapse. These are not just the small buildings but are also the sky scrapers. The buildings are designed so they absorb the shock waves and work with them, for example if the waves are traverse waves, then the building will shake from side to side with the waves rather then falling apart against the waves. Another example of a structure built to survive earthquakes is the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco. The bridge is designed so that when an earthquake takes place, the bridge rises to avoid crumbling like the buildings and the land around it and once the earthquake is over, it lowers itself to its normal position, although this is difficult. As not many earthquakes have occurred since this was designed, it is hard to tell whether or not the design will work or not.
Levels of development affect the ability to manage natural hazards as the design and development of a building or structure can help saves lives as well cause the building or structure not to collapse. This is all dependent on the way a building is designed and made. Levels of development can also affect the ability to manage natural hazards as the more developed a place it, the hard it is to manage a natural hazard in that particular location unlike a location that is not as developed.
