"We're in the disaster business--disasters of nature or broken homes, or trying to survive, " says Robert Rudd, community relations and development secretary for the Salvation Army in California.

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In part, Mr Picou says, this is due to the nature of man-made disasters.

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From dealing with disasters to living with nature.

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Most cross-border ventures so far have been disasters, reflecting the parochial nature of beer firms.

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Natural disasters ranging from the Japanese earthquake and tsunami to Hurricane Sandy have demonstrated the destruction that nature can wreak.

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