The recent tragedy in Haiti made me wonder about the ability of the United States to handle a disaster of equal or greater measure. I do not think we are a ready or able.
Sure we can handle the hurricanes that batter Florida and the East Coast, and California is relatively prepared for an earthquake. Keep this in mind: There are roughly 3,000 miles and dozens of densely populated areas between coasts. What about the rest of us?
A major earthquake or natural disaster in a major U.S. city like Pittsburgh, Chicago, Denver or Columbus seems unlikely, and that is a problem. The odds of such an event happening may be small but not impossible.
It is the complacency of odds that worries me about the preparedness of America.
There’s no preparedness in the modern American city. You know the one: riddled with debt and potholes, barely able to educate its children, choked by scandal and inefficiency. It is not prepared for a major disaster. Neither is America.
The truth is that we are spread too thin as a nation to endure a major disaster. The financial crisis has already shattered our piggy bank.
The wars in the Middle East have stretched our physical resources to the breaking point.
The natural disasters in other countries around the globe have strained our ability to give.
Woe betide the city that has to bear the burden of the next 6.5-plus magnitude earthquake or category 5 hurricane.
The immediate loss of life and utter destruction will, of course, be devastating and heart wrenching. This will be nothing compared to the pain the nation will have to endure upon realizing its inability to help.
I don’t mean to discount the human spirit and the incredible ability of people coming to the aid of strangers in a crisis. I mean to state that I do not think the United States has the infrastructure to repair a major American city if a mega-disaster were to happen.
The unthinkable and soul shaking events of 9/11 happened eight years ago and we have still not rebuilt the beloved buildings of the World Trade Center.
The meteorological and social travesty that was Hurricane Katrina happened more than four years ago. New Orleans still lies in shambles.
Hurricane Katrina was hailed as an unprecedented disaster and this gave Federal Emergency Management Agency a bit of an out when it came to its ineffectual control of the situation.
I love this nation and this is why I am supremely concerned. After the lackluster performance of our leaders during national crises, I just do not have the faith in our ability to weather storms.
This is where we come in, Pioneers! O Pioneers!
I look to you, engineering students, to build our country stronger. I look to you, law students, to truss our nation with stricter building codes. I look to you, students of the Ohio State University, to not let complacency rot our nation from the inside out.
Go forth.
