U.N. official urges disaster preparedness

UNITED NATIONS, Nov. 21 (UPI) -- The world's nations need to work harder to safeguard citizens from disasters caused by climate change, a United Nations official said in New York.

Emergency preparedness in Bangladesh and Cuba minimized the loss of life and destruction caused by an increasing number of storms in recent years, said Margareta Wahlstrom, head of the U.N. International Strategy for Disaster Reduction.

The United States, on the other hand, was unprepared for Hurricane Katrina in 2005, which showed how even wealthy developed nations must do more to reduce risks from disaster, Wahlstrom said in a release Friday

The world can expect to see an increasing number of climate change-related hazards such as storms, rainfalls, floods, droughts and heat waves, she said.

"Those of us that have worked with disasters for a long time have already seen these extremes developing," Wahlstrom said.