The economic costs of natural hazards are escalating. Rising population in high-risk areas and our increasingly complex infrastructure further increase potential losses. The largest amount of federal funding supports research on weather hazards especially short-term prediction with comparatively little research on long-term loss reduction approaches that improve the resilience of communities and infrastructure. Improving loss data and modeling and a establishing more thoughtful framework for the role of research would help policymakers formulate a more productive hazard loss reduction strategy.
