Hurricane season is upon the Western Hemisphere, and 2017 looks to be a record-breaking year. Before Hurricane Irma barreled through Florida, where businesses, government agencies and residents were braced for the deluge, it leveled small islands in the Caribbean with high winds, leaving chaos in its wake. A few states over, the floodwaters of Hurricane Harvey may be receding but the price tag is rising to a multi-billion-dollar record. Unfortunately, ongoing disasters are not just attributable to hurricanes. In the western U.S. and Canada, wild fires continue to encroach upon civilization, spelling destruction for homes and businesses in their path. Mexico’s strongest earthquake in a century left dozens dead and buildings destroyed.
The west isn’t alone in facing life-threatening weather conditions. Heavy monsoon rains paralyzed Mumbai, India's financial hub, flooding streets and disrupting land, air and road traffic. In the Pacific, Macau is suffering an economic loss of US$1.42 billion in the wake of Typhoon Hato, and the Hong Kong Observatory expects three more typhoons to sweep in over the coming weeks.