Similar Yet Different ... Why?

Both countries were hit by tropical cyclones of similar strength in the same year. Yet, outcomes were quite different. Why?

Sr.	Characteristic	Nargis	Ike
(1)	Type	Cyclone	Hurricane
(2)	Country	Myanmar	USA
(3)	Wind Speed at Landfall	135 mph	110 mph
(4)	Size (widest diameter)	90 miles	500 miles (about the size of Myanmar)
(5)	Category at Landfall	3	2
(6)	Formation Date	27 April 2008	1 September 2008
(7)	Landfall Date	2 May 2008	13 September 2008
(8)	Population Affected	7.4 million	47.8 million
(9)	Damage & Loss	$ 4 billion	$ 29.5 billion
(10)	Damage & Loss (% of GDP)	6%	0.2%
(11)	Death	140,000	49
(12)	Fatality Rate (per million)	18,918	1

References

PONJA
Wikipedia
US Census Bureau
US Bureau of Economic Analysis

Foot note:

Hurricane Ike hit many other countries before it reached the US, however, this comparison looked at the Hurricane's strength and impact on the US only.

Estimate of population affected was based on population in the county and state that declared state of emergency and reported damage due to hurricane.