Not Ready

I've just caught up with a piece published in the Eureka Reporter on Dec. 22, written by Sherry Ferraro, about how the city of Eureka is unprepared for disasters, especially by not having a way for responsible officials to communicate to citizens, nor a designated and properly supplied emergency shelter, that everyone knows about-- citizens in need and those providing emergency services. It's an impressively sane piece--I just hope it inspires some more discussion and action.

But it turns out that the North Coast is hardly alone in lack of preparation. According to a Homeland Security report due out today, of all big cities in America, only four have emergency communications that allow police, fire and other emergency services to talk to each other. This problem was identified nationally because of the first responders at the World Trade Center on 9-11 whose radios were incompatible--and yet, New York City is not among the four.

What's wrong with us? Can't we imagine even that much or that simply? Can't we focus? If we can't even prepare for the kinds of disasters that have already happened, and if we can't prepare for single event disasters, I really despair of us ever getting a handle on something as complex and conceptually challenging as the Climate Crisis.

Here on the North Coast we need to focus on who is in charge and how do we find out what we need to know? These are basic civic responsibilities.