Tonight, a major hurricane, Irene, is making its way along the Eastern sea coast. The entire sea coast is on some kind of alert. All kinds of emergency alerts, procedures and evacuations have been ordered. There is a large amount of pre-emergency emergency preparedness and disaster relief coordination in effect.
Have we learned our lessons from Katrina and Ike? We can not prepare much for tornadoes, except to build storm shelters. We can not prepare for earthquakes, except to build earthquake sustainable structures. We can not get totally out of the way of hurricanes, but we can batten down the hatches, evacuate the vulnerable, close entities such as underground transportation vulnerable to flooding, evacuate susceptible skyscraper areas, put holds on outdoor activity, remove materials susceptible to the wind, and have plenty of emergency supplies on hand.
The East Coast is doing this. This is an expensive proposition, but the unprepared alternative will cost even more. I am thankful we have a government who understands its responsibility to protect the citizenry.
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