Friday, September 29, 2017

Michael Brown: FEMA, the media and disaster victims — Why the cavalry is never fast enough

Via Billy

Michael Brown: FEMA, the media and disaster victims — Why the cavalry is never fast enough

Imagine two lines starting in opposite corners and moving toward each other at a 45 degree angle.

One line represents the beginning of a federal and state response to a disaster. The other line represents the frustration level of people impacted by the disaster.

As the response phase begins and moves along a crescendo to full response, people are simultaneously growing in frustration because they lack power, water, food, shelter. The key is to have the response move faster than the frustration level.

But what causes a response to move slower than the increase in individuals’ frustrations?

Let’s look at Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

Hurricane Maria damaged or destroyed virtually all of the infrastructure, including the power grid, water treatment plants, ice plants, ports, docks, runways, air traffic control systems. Every system you need to respond to the disaster has been damaged or destroyed.

More @ The Hill

2 comments:

  1. Why don't people take responsibility for their own lives, and the lives of their loved ones, by always being prepared ahead of time?

    Why do people wait until a disaster approaches, and then rush panic-stricken, fighting each other, to empty store shelves and create traffic jams?

    Disasters happen.

    Be prepared and stay prepared.

    ReplyDelete