[at-l] Natural Disasters and Solutions to Future Problems

[jbullar1 at twcny.rr.com (Jim Bullard)]

At 11:52 PM 9/6/2005 -0400, AT r3dhead wrote:
> >
> > Agreed, Jim. This isn't about politics by the way, Ryan :) Simply
> > something I heard him say that struck a sour cord with me. I don't even
> > begin to blame it on the party, or politics. It wasn't as bad as I thought
> > it was initially - but I still thing he could have shown a little
> > graciousness.
>
>And yea - I won't be holding my breath for a lot of that aid promised. But
>I'm sure at least some of them would actually come thru - even if its only 3
>out of the 20 something that offered. That would be more than we currently
>have.
>
>And logistics - hell, yes, that would be a nightmare in itself.

Speaking of logistics... Whatever happened to Civil Defense? When I was a 
kid (1950s) every community had Civil Defense. It wasn't *just* a Cold War 
thing. They had stashes of food and water in every community that would 
serve in the event of an attack or other disaster. When the Cold War was 
over they dismantled the whole system. Well, duh! The potential for other 
types of disasters didn't go away. A lot of the agony in New Orleans (and 
elsewhere along the Gulf Coast) could have been avoided if there were 
hurricane proof shelters already there stocked with food and water for a 
week. It wouldn't have been a matter of how to get it there quickly from 
somewhere else. It would only be a distribution problem within the city.