| By Adam Waxman - Aug 7th, 2007 at 11:24 am EDT |
It struck me how much the bridge collapse is connected to Katrina. I went down to Biloixi, MS a year ago to help with recovery efforts. I worked with a great group called HandsOn Gulf Coast.
Talking to both activists and residents down there, I was struck by how much the most basic functions of government failed. Here's an example: For weeks after the storm, there were no street signs in major intersections around Biloixi. They had been destroyed in the storm, and the local government had yet to replace them. It got to the point where HandsOn went around and put up temporary street signs to help the community. Those signs were still up when I went down in Fall of '06.
The thing about Katrina, as well all know, is that scientists warned officials it was bound to happen. I can't help but feel, after the MN bridge collapse, that overall US government is unable to deal with the increasingly likely after-effects of an overpopulated, dense country. It seems to me that if young people don't take action, more and more of these types of disasters will take place.
!
Comments are closed for this post.
Seismologists have basically said that it is not a matter of if a major earthquake hits, but when. There is a 21% chance that a 6.7 earthquake or greater will strike along a major fault running through the Oakland area in the next 25 years (62.5% chance of an earthquake of that magnitude for the San Francisco Bay Area). When it does, not only will Katrina seem like a piece of cake, but the same images of impoverished people trapped in a bad situation will be broadcast on airwaves all across the world.
While I agree with you that our federal government is not ready to handle another non-terrorist related disaster, I also think that we need to pressure individual states to be ready in the event of a major emergency.