Floods are natural, but human decisions make disasters. We need to reflect on the endless cycles of blame

Mon, 14 Nov 2022 19:34:40 +1100

Andrew Pam <xanni [at] glasswings.com.au>

Andrew Pam
<https://theconversation.com/floods-are-natural-but-human-decisions-make-disasters-we-need-to-reflect-on-the-endless-cycles-of-blame-192930>

"As the Victorian city of Echuca prepared for flooding this week, the council
moved rapidly to build a temporary earthen levee as others sandbagged. This
kept some homes dry, likely worsened flooding in others, and prompted blame
from many sides.

For example, homeowner Nick Dean told 3AW:

You can imagine the anger with council who put this levee up and … it’s made
it worse because the waters hit it and bounced back (to my home).

After storms of rain come storms of blame. In the shock that follows disasters
we often focus on those at hand - the emergency services and local government.
While understandable, it is vital we recognise that many people and
organisations contribute to disasters. To avoid future cycles of blame, we need
to better understand and value the hard work involved in preparation."

Cheers,
       *** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net               Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/                 Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/            Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/               Manager, Serious Cybernetics

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