Earl Blumenauer: “numerous natural events of the past few months, including the earthquake in the State of Washington and Tropical Storm…”

“numerous natural events of the past few months, including the earthquake in the State of Washington and Tropical Storm Allison of just recent days in Texas and Louisiana, have underscored our need for disaster preparedness. What we have learned from these events is that we can in fact save lives and money by making investments up front to protect our communities. What we have learned is that what we do in the beginning by hardening the sites, preparing people's responses, moving out of harm's way, has an overwhelming payback, a payback not just in money but in lives saved and injury and human misery avoided. As was pointed out in yesterday's Washington Post, spending money in disaster mitigation pays off. It has often been cited that in the great flood of 1993, Charles County, Missouri, suffered $26 million in damages. However, the same area, after a significant buyout and a similar flood 2 years later, caused only $300,000 in damage. Our friends at the Federal Emergency Management Agency believe that in the past 8 years the buyout programs of the Federal government have received a 200 percent rate of return in investment in disaster mitigation.”