hm? they wouldn't be the only ones; it seems that everybody and his brother suddenly knew all about it (kinda like all sorts of people seem to secretly studied hydrology without letting others know, so they can now speak knowledgably about the levees).
i think it's a kind of weird knowledge -- yes, lots of people who had studied the situation clearly knew. including people in louisiana's emergency management, since they actually practiced with this knowledge. and the people who live there, heck, they knew. this isn't the first hurricane that has come through there. but i think there's a disconnect between knowing it can happen, and standing up to your neck in the flood water after it happens (or at least having an imagination that can reach that point without actual immersion).
i can feel it in myself. i know that a tsunami can happen within georgia strait, and that it would be a total disaster (and that i would very likely die, if i am not terribly lucky). but it didn't really hit me until i watched the indian ocean tsunami pictures, that we better take this very much into account when picking a home marina. that it's not just about which marina offers phone, cable, and where we can put a wireless access point. the risk just seems so remote -- and really, it is, compared to the risk of being hit by a truck when crossing the street.
which is why i think it's so ridiculous that people blame the folks who didn't evacuate, who didn't prepare. and it doesn't surprise me at all that the vast majority doing the blaming are not prepared themselves for a natural (or terrorist) disaster.
knowing about the potential in advance
i think it's a kind of weird knowledge -- yes, lots of people who had studied the situation clearly knew. including people in louisiana's emergency management, since they actually practiced with this knowledge. and the people who live there, heck, they knew. this isn't the first hurricane that has come through there. but i think there's a disconnect between knowing it can happen, and standing up to your neck in the flood water after it happens (or at least having an imagination that can reach that point without actual immersion).
i can feel it in myself. i know that a tsunami can happen within georgia strait, and that it would be a total disaster (and that i would very likely die, if i am not terribly lucky). but it didn't really hit me until i watched the indian ocean tsunami pictures, that we better take this very much into account when picking a home marina. that it's not just about which marina offers phone, cable, and where we can put a wireless access point. the risk just seems so remote -- and really, it is, compared to the risk of being hit by a truck when crossing the street.
which is why i think it's so ridiculous that people blame the folks who didn't evacuate, who didn't prepare. and it doesn't surprise me at all that the vast majority doing the blaming are not prepared themselves for a natural (or terrorist) disaster.