Playing against Nature: Integrating Science and Economics to Mitigate Natural Hazards in an Uncertain World

2When Nature Won

It was a profoundly man-made disaster – that could and should have been foreseen and prevented.

Fukushima Nuclear Accident Independent Investigation Commission (2012)¹

2.1    The Best-Laid Plans

Until March 11, 2011, residents of Japan's Tohoku coast were proud of their tsunami defenses. The 10-meter high sea walls that extended along a third of the nation's coastline – longer than the Great Wall of China – cost billions of dollars and cut off ocean views. However, these costs were considered a small price to pay for eliminating the threat that had cost many lives over the past hundreds of years. In the town of Taro, people rode bicycles, walked, and jogged on top of the impressive wall. A school principal explained, “For us, ...