Disaster planning

[jhetley]

(Variations on a theme by Katrina)

I've been involved in a few disaster-response exercises over the years, and one or two live-ammo training sessions on hurricanes that fell short of prediction. I'm sure we'll see plenty of finger-pointing as the fallout falls out after Katrina.

But keep one thing in mind. Sometimes, you get handed a script and the only rational answer is "Oh, shit!" New Orleans and a major hurricane is one of those scripts, nationally recognized as a monumental disaster waiting to happen. The same is true of California geology and The Big One.

Not a question of IF, a question of WHEN. And WHEN it happens, your options are limited. Severely.

If people live in these places, bad things will happen. And all around the world, people live in these places, because the benefits outweigh the risk.

Human history is a long-running serial of people living on the slopes of volcanoes.

Comments

[cinnamonbite.livejournal.com]

And the whining is going to be deafening.

[starcat-jewel.livejournal.com]

This is true. No matter where you live, there is some major disaster that can take you out. Even in the Heartland, you have tornadoes -- and of course New Madrid, which will take out St. Louis and about 30% of America when it lets go...

[jhetley.livejournal.com]

"New Madrid."

People don't like to visualize the Mississippi running backwards...

[wolfette]

Pompei is a case in point.

[kinzel.livejournal.com]

Even a conservative man like Bush the 1st lives on a disaster prone spit of land where he could lose his living room to a drive-by Category 1...