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.
I'm finding the whole thing very interesting to watch (you may have seen my locked posting about one aspect, I don't quite know if I'm ready to talk about this in public yet). Certainly, I see the tendency to blame people for not getting out based on 20/20 hindsight to be rather unattractive, and yet very human.
I think it helps me to realise that very few humans are really all that good at managing risk and uncertainty all that well. It's not a good thing, overall, but it makes my own situation more understandable.
Another thing, I think, is the difference between knowing intellectually, and really feeling knowing something, and I think a lot of what happening here is about the emotional understanding. There's also some interesting observations to be made about the (cultural?) need to "factually" validate emotional experiences.
On the subject of preparing for unforeseen events:
After the power blackout two years ago, I brought up the idea of making arrangements for a back-up generator with my fellow building Board members. My reason? If a similar event happened in the winter, we'd be screwed for one of the essentials, heat, as our natural gas hot water radiator system uses an electronic ignition. Also, we have some owners who can't manage the stairs, and for whom having power to the elevator could make some very key surviveability differences, not to mention the two using CPAP machines for sleep apnea.
I was shot down. They did not foresee similar events happening again in the near future.
I still think we should make arrangements. I have the prices filed. We'd have to add a "power in" plug to an outside wall. We don't need to own it, merely pay the equipment rental company an annual retainer for first right of use in event of a blackout.
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janetmk.
no subject
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.
Re: knowing about the potential in advance
I think it helps me to realise that very few humans are really all that good at managing risk and uncertainty all that well. It's not a good thing, overall, but it makes my own situation more understandable.
Another thing, I think, is the difference between knowing intellectually, and really feeling knowing something, and I think a lot of what happening here is about the emotional understanding. There's also some interesting observations to be made about the (cultural?) need to "factually" validate emotional experiences.
no subject
After the power blackout two years ago, I brought up the idea of making arrangements for a back-up generator with my fellow building Board members. My reason? If a similar event happened in the winter, we'd be screwed for one of the essentials, heat, as our natural gas hot water radiator system uses an electronic ignition. Also, we have some owners who can't manage the stairs, and for whom having power to the elevator could make some very key surviveability differences, not to mention the two using CPAP machines for sleep apnea.
I was shot down. They did not foresee similar events happening again in the near future.
I still think we should make arrangements. I have the prices filed. We'd have to add a "power in" plug to an outside wall. We don't need to own it, merely pay the equipment rental company an annual retainer for first right of use in event of a blackout.