How we are quick to call poor planning an emergency
What is an emergency? According to Webster’s, emerg’ency, is an unexpected occurrence or situation demanding immediate action.
On Oct. 20, 2007, Georgia Gov. Sonny Perdue declared a state of emergency in northern Georgia due to very low levels of water resources. In a letter he wrote to President Bush, Perdue noted that, “Drought is a natural disaster. We are experiencing the singe worst drought in north Georgia’s history.”
There is no doubt that the drought is bad, perhaps even the worst in Georgia’s history. But. “Natural disaster?”
Perdue is now seeking an injunction against the Army Corps of Engineers, whose policies control water flow out of Georgia’s reservoirs to provide energy for power plants. They also protect species of endangered sturgeon and mussels that live in the Chattahoochee River. As governor, Perdue would like to see the water flow slowed in order to preserve it for drinking.
“No one is sacrificing, no one is sharing the pain like the people in north Georgia are,” Perdue said in an interview with CNN.
So in the name of sacrifice, we can be sure that no one in Georgia is using their swimming pools. right? And golf courses. surely north Georgia is letting the green die to hydrate its citizens? Wrong.
Also quoted on CNN’s Web site was U.S. Rep. John Linder.
“What we’ve learned from this is what a blunt weapon the Endangered Species Act has become, where some obscure bureaucrat in Fish and Wildlife and some obscure judge can decide that mussels are more important than our children and grandchildren,” said Linder, who spoke in a press conference after Perdue.
Now I must choose between my grandchildren and mussels? If politicians like Perdue and Linder are making me choose, then I have a question for them. What makes this drought a disaster and not just the result of poor planning?
By definition, we as a society have the idea of disasters and emergencies completely wrong.
Storms in Tornado Alley, California landslides, flooding, volcanoes, Hurricane Katrina: These are all tragic and traumatic occurrences. But most of them happen at a predictable time every year. We do know when and where hurricanes will occur. But when they happen, devastation and shock seem to float out of an unexpected context, and we are quick to call it a natural disaster. And then, as soon as the dust settles and we clear away the rubble, we move right back to Tornado Alley.
Yes, Mother Nature can take its toll in devastating ways that can make us feel like tiny insects. No, not a single family ever deserves to lose their home. When we see footage of Americans wading through water and looting like citizens of a third-world country after Katrina, we should be devastated. But we should feel even more devastated to know that a metal brace and some cement between New Orleans, Lake Mississippi, and Lake Pontchartrain could have prevented it.
I feel that we as Americans have made ourselves vulnerable to tragic situations through neglect and magnification of all of the wrong issues. If we are to better prepare ourselves for disasters, we need to take a more proactive approach in learning from tragedies. We also need politicians who can set this standard and make examples of what can happen if we plan poorly. The Georgia drought is just another example. If Endangered Species Acts are so “obscure,” so is Perdue’s focus on a single explanation for why his state has a water shortage.
