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Disaster planning
Aug. 29th, 2005 11:31 am(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.
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.
