Do laws make a difference in a disaster?

Over the past 20 years, disasters due to natural hazards have affected 4.4 billion people, claimed 1.3 million lives and caused 2 trillion US dollars in economic losses. These disasters not only brought death and destruction, they did so disproportionately to the poor and marginalised. They have become one of the main threats to sustainable development on a global scale, yet they are preventable.