Can disasters be prevented?

From United Nations University: WorldRiskReport 2011

"The WorldRiskReport 2011 helps to evaluate the vulnerability of societies to natural hazards. Using world maps to visualize, it shows on the one hand where the probability of a natural hazard to occur is particularly high; on the other hand it is shown in which countries the population can cope with these events especially good or bad."

World Disasters Report 2010 available

The focus of the 2010 World Disasters Report is urban disasters.
From: Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies

Twitter and other social media are becoming an important communication tool in disasters

From: Red Cross Emergency Social Data Summit:
results from a study of social media in disasters and emergencies.