Over the past few days, Eagle-Eyes has spotted newspaper headlines and viewed TV newscasts related to “Katrina: Five Years Later,” as the current hurricane season gets underway. For example: Surviving the next Katrina, Problems, progress in New Orleans, and Katrina: finding the silver linings that come out of disasters.
When “The Trio” (Me, Myself & I) woke up this morning, Eagle-Eyes challenged them by saying, “Well, what are you going to blog about now, considering all these news items related to that mega-disaster … five years ago?” After some thought, Me stated, “What do you think we’ve been writing about since September 7, 2006, when we posted our first Emergency Preparedness blog titled, “We are not alone … EP-wise.” Myself reminded Eagle-Eyes that today’s blog is the 62nd to be posted under the EP category heading. (Just look to the right of this column.) I suggested that Eagle-Eyes take the time to read some of these blogs because they are just as applicable to mega-disasters today, as they were back then.
Hammerhead jumped into the conversation and suggested that The Trio might possibly hit the nail on the head with readers by posting periodic reminders over the next few weeks since FEMA is sponsoring its 7th Annual Emergency Preparedness Month in September, and October 21st is the next Great Shake Out Day for California. All, any interested or concerned reader would have to do is simply click on the EP heading to the right and look up a specific EP blog by date. The Trio agreed to try out Hammerhead’s idea.
Just in case some readers might not choose to go back over “old stuff,” here is a brief report from the Pew Research Organization dated August 26, 2010, and titled Five Years After Katrina: Progress Seen in New Orleans; Nation Not Prepared for Natural Disaster.
“Five years after Hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans and the Gulf Coast, a majority of Americans (57%) say that the nation is no better prepared for hurricanes and other natural disasters than it was in 2005. However, the public does see progress in rebuilding New Orleans and the Gulf Coast region: 69% say there has been a lot or some progress made rebuilding New Orleans and the Gulf, up from 56% in 2006.
The national survey by the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press, conducted Aug. 19-22 among 1,0093 adults, finds that midway through the 2010 hurricane season, there is broad skepticism about the nation’s preparedness to deal with hurricanes and other natural disasters. Majorities of most political and demographic groups — including 57% of Democrats and 54% of Republicans — say the nation is not better prepared for such disasters than it was when Katrina devastated the Gulf Coast.”
OK, readers (especially those living in “Earthquake Country” like California); it’s up to you … are you interested enough in Emergency Preparedness issues to review some of the blogs posted by The Trio? Stay tuned.