Stephenson (1994) stressed that development and disasters are closely linked, and disasters can both destroy development initiatives as well as create opportunities. Even as this was underscored, the cause and effect relationship between disasters and socio-economic development was not given prominence in the past. It was further observed that disasters were seen in the context of emergency response rather than as part of long-term development programming (UNISDR, 2007). Overtime, the effects of disasters can seriously degrade a country’s long-term potential for sustained development and cause governments to substantially modify their economic priorities and programs (Stephenson, 1994; Stephenson & Dufrane, 2002). Similarly, Harvey (2005) emphasized that the social and economic cost of natural disasters has increased in recent years. Aside from disruption of the community’s