Further proof that being prepared for disaster and post-disaster recovery isn’t something that only Big Gov can do. If you think about it, the best disaster plans and preps are going to be in the private sector….people who *really* have skin in the game.
While large organizations like FEMA, Red Cross, etc, are sort of a one-size-fits-all response, private responses tend to be can be much more focused. My business, for example, only needs to provide for my business’ needs…it doesn’t have to factor in the dozen other businesses in the area. As a result, I can dedicate more and better resources to disaster prep and mitigation than I wold if I were trying to cover everyone on the block.
Businesses have a very real goal in preparedness…being able to continue the business. If a hurricane or blizzard knocks them out of business for too long, they never recover. Once in a while you’ll see articles, similar to this, about businesses that have tenacious plans to ‘survive’ these sorts of events. One of my favorites was this gem about a regional power company during Hurricane Katrina that had its act together in a major way.
I’m a fan of private-sector answers rather than public-sector answers. I find very few necessary (and that is a subjective term) programs/services that cannot, to me, be met more efficiently with private sector solutions. Disaster preparedness is one of those things .gov should be doing, but it should be doing it hand-in-hand with private business and perhaps even taking some lessons from it.
Ever been in a Waffle House? bring along some rubber gloves and disinfectant…
Then again, that might be the FEMA master plan for getting rid of desirables in a grid down scenario.
Heard this on NPR on the way to work. Darn if it slipped my mind this evening and you beat me to it.
THAT was a gem, alright. What a great story at that link…having been a customer of the energy company in the past (and an Uncle-In-Law who worked the mega big projects all over the world for the main unit) I can tell you that you cannot beat a southern man when he has a goal in mind. Do you happen to remember a blog from someone in New Orleans who was essentially in a bldg., managing their systems? Wish I could recall more…gave very interesting views on the day-to-day…
Oh, I’ve a bit more personal interaction with him than just the blog. He’s kind of a prick. He lives in Italy now after knocking up his girlfriend and short-circuiting her modelling career.
An intercontinental survivalist who travels the world from one disaster to the next, leaving a trail of pregnant models in his wake?
Yeah, I’d read that blog.
Goodness…well then. I suppose there is the adage “lie down with dogs…” but dang. Good luck on that Italy decision, goober. Hmph.(I should have known you’d be aware. 🙂 )
He was very smug about it. The US was going to suffer a tremendous economic downturn and he’d ride it out in Italy. Now, from the pictures I’ve seen, he’s a doughy cubicle dweller trying to convince US grocers to sell his company’s pasta. To be fair, though, his Katrina blog was pretty good.
I don’t know if this is the same story being retread or a diifferent version of a story that came out a few years ago that came to the same conclusion. There are two Waffle Houses near my home and, on a lark, I decided to give one a try. It had been years since I last ate in a Waffle House and now will be years more until I forget why I hadn’t eaten there in years.