Canada slow to initiate disaster prevention programs, experts warn

"A strategy to better protect Canadian communities from the devastation caused by natural and man-made disasters has been in a holding pattern for well over a decade, experts warn, as threats to public safety and financial burdens grow," reports Canada.com.

"While prevention measures such as dikes and floodways are not cheap — often running into the hundreds of millions — there is a strong economic case to be made for investing up front," said Paul Kovacs, executive director of the Institute for Catastrophic Loss Reduction.