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The world's riskiest cities for natural disasters

Thomas M. Kostigen
Special for USA TODAY
Men load food packages onto boats in Tacloban following Super Typhoon Haiyan on Nov. 18, 2013, in Leyte, Philippines.

More than half of the riskiest cities in the world for natural disasters reside in just four countries: the Philippines, China, Japan and Bangladesh.

Verisk Maplecroft, a London-based global risk analytics company, ranked more than 1,300 cities worldwide for their exposure to tropical storms and cyclones, floods, earthquakes, tsunamis, severe storms, extra-tropical cyclones, wildfires, storm surges, volcanoes and landslides.

The tiny capital city of Port Vila, located on the isolated South Pacific island nation of Vanuatu, came out on top as the world's riskiest due to its exposure to a combination of hazards, including tropical storms and cyclones, seismic activity and tsunamis. But the danger is greatest in the Philippines, home to eight of the top 10 riskiest cities and host to 21 cities on the list overall.

The destruction wrought by Haiyan — the strongest tropical cyclone ever to make landfall — proved just how much the Philippine islands are vulnerable to being hit by massive cyclones and tropical storms. The storm killed thousands of people, displaced millions and caused billions of dollars of destruction.

In addition to tropical storms, the Philippines are also uniquely at risk of earthquakes and landslides — a threat compounded by a poor institutional and societal capacity to manage, respond and recover from natural hazards, Verisk Maplecroft says.

Other countries are reckoning with extreme weather and natural disasters in major population zones — China has 16 of the world's riskiest cities, Japan has 11 and Bangladesh has eight. Beyond the indigenous losses, foreign investment and businesses are also jeopardized.

"As typhoon Haiyan in the Philippines and the tsunami in Japan showed us, natural hazard events can have far-reaching and long-lasting impacts on supply chains, business and economies," says Richard Hewston, the principal environmental analyst at Verisk Maplecroft.

Japan is still recovering from its 2011 tsunami, and Haiyan's cost is reportedly in the range of $13 billion. The Philippine storm's impact — according to a report by the Congressional Research Service prepared for members of Congress — is "of significant interest to the United States." The report notes the U.S. and the Philippines maintain close ties stemming from colonial period times as well as a security alliance, extensive military cooperation and common strategic and economic interests.

Economic ripple effects can involve everything from apparel manufacturing to rice exports. Several other key manufacturing and business hubs around the world — including Tokyo, Manila, Taipei City and Dhaka — are also currently highly exposed to natural disasters, according to Verisk Maplecroft's report.

While the only U.S. city to make the top 50 of those most at risk was New Orleans, the U.S. as a country ranked second in terms of being most vulnerable because of its economic exposure. That's because so many U.S. investment dollars and business supply chains are in locations susceptible to natural hazards.

With an El Niño officially declared this week by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, stormy weather is likely to continue worldwide. El Niño is an oscillation pattern characterized by warmer Pacific Ocean temperatures. It results in abnormal weather, such as increased rainfall across the southern and western U.S. and droughts in Australia, among numerous other global extreme weather events.

NOAA keeps a site devoted to El Niño observations and forecasts. It's worth checking to see what weather conditions you may be in for.

At the same time, businesses and investors should begin to take note of more than market risk. Mother Nature poses even greater problems than monetary crashes: hers can actually be felt, right down to the ground beneath our feet.

Thomas M. Kostigen is the founder of TheClimateSurvivalist.com and a New York Times best-selling author and journalist. He is the National Geographic author of "The Extreme Weather Survival Guide: Understand, Prepare, Survive, Recover" and the NG Kids book "Extreme Weather: Surviving Tornadoes, Tsunamis, Hailstorms, Thundersnow, Hurricanes and More!" Follow him @weathersurvival, or e-mail kostigen@theclimatesurvivalist.com

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