One crazy thing about hazard mitigation plans is a tendency to plan big for disasters with a hip factor. It is why we still must take off our shoes in airports. One thing that makes disasters so disastrous is their unpredictability. Sure, good investments can be made for early warning systems, redundant communications features, collection and deployment of staples, hardy search and rescue equipment, and such. We don’t know if the next big thing is going to be a flood or an earthquake, but we would be ill-advised to, say, keep the ambulances in queue for the next close call from a meteorite.
Taking a new tack on how to select which hazards should be prepped, the NC Emergency Management office is circulating a survey to ask residents of Henderson, Polk, Rutherford and Transylvania counties questions like where they live and what they think the “top two natural hazards are in their neighborhood.” At least that way, officials can blame their lack of prescience on the masses.
