You get what you pay for... And sometimes not even that...
When the bid goes to the lowest bid not the best design and construction firm you get what you pay for. This is how an idiocracy functions. This problem is further increased when you add into it the corruption of the whole process.
In many cases the environmental conditions do have effect on the construction regardless of the design and engineering quality. The key here is to find creative and efficient adaptations to extreme natural conditions and apply them in an expedient fashion. This is difficult,t considering the inefficiencies of governmental structures. There needs to be quick reaction teams funded by Gov to effectively meet the challenges of such problems. Those teams should be a partnership between public and private sectors.
It is unrealistic to expect any engineering project to be impervious to extreme natural and man made disasters. But the deign and construction of projects can within reason limit the impact of them and provide contingencies based upon likely extreme senerios.
