Not to sound crass, but I'd like to make an observation here ....
Back in the 60's, it seemed we had -maybe- one or two 'disaster' stories, worldwide, every year. These were truly catastrophic events- entire municipal areas wiped off the map (Managua Quake), millions starving (India famine), or exceptionally dramatic (Chicago blizzard).
These days every dark cloud is accompanied by hysterical warnings, and every little thing is a 'disaster.' I am personally fond of all the dire quake warnings here atop the New Madrid epicenter - this might have been the scene of America's strongest quake, but the darn thing hasn't hiccuped in 200 years!
We even have towns declaring a 'disaster' when they simply run out of money.
Maybe I'm jaded, but after a century of development I'd expect every Florida home to be on stilts, every California home on springs, and every Chicago home to be darn near fireproof.
Oh, wait .... Chicago DID write a pretty stout code after the city burnt down twice. There hasn't been an inferno since.
And to think we're footing the bill to rebuild New Orleans - in place. It must take one mighty pump to keep up with the Mississippi River.
Even on a lesser scale ... how many power outages do you need to suffer before you decide to get a little generator? How many times will your basement flood before you decide that -maybe- thick carpet and vital records don't belong down there?
Last edited by renosteinke; 07/09/12 10:55 AM.
