In disasters, whether it's caused by the unpredictable (the 03.11.11 earthquake in Japan, and subsequent tsunami), or the predictable (the brutal winter weather that swept through the US, and subsequent days long failure of the Texas power grid), our reliance on public and private institutions are tested.
Infrastructure
Depending on where you live, this is a mix of public and private investments into roads, electricity, gas, water , emergency services (fire, medical) and public transportation (bus, trains, etc.)
Information
Although you may frequently associate information with paid organizations that deliver the news, access to information is made available through mediums such as radio and TV. Not to mention the work of local, state and regional officials to directly connect with their constituents.
In the aftermath of disasters, some may focus on what individuals can do to be prepared in these types of situations:
- Having a bedside emergency bag ready with essentials (clothing, water, medicines, food, light, power brick)
- Having non-refrigerated food in stock in your house (canned or dry goods that can be eaten or prepared without needing heat or long cooking times)
What's more vital, is doing the year-round work of examining how reliable our reliance on public and private institutions are. In the event of loss of service, or a complete outage, what will that mean? What it means can very dramatically depending on who you are, and where you live.
Someone living in a house, in a suburb is going to have a different set of challenges than someone living in a decades old residential high rise. Losing access to power, heat or water can vary dramatically, especially if you're older or have accessibility or mobility issues.
You may not think of the roads or sidewalks in an emergency, but what if they were flooded or blocked with snow or ice. Would you be able to go out to get food or supplies in that case? Would you be able to get anyone to deliver it to you? What if you needed fire or medical assistance?
As much as we use our information gathering devices (phones, tablets, computers, televisions) to gather entertainment, we also use it to get information. What happens when that underlying infrastructure breaks down? How do we handle when information channels are available, yet flooded with noise and inaccurate information?
We choose to live in a society - a society that allows us to pool our resources to create an acceptable standard of reliance. We then allow private companies and institutions to fill gaps and add value.
We need to do more of the year-round work of fortifying these public and private institutions that we put so much trust and reliance on. We can't wait for disasters to identify where our systems are frail. We have to proactively identify these weak points, and do so with the most vulnerable in mind. Our independence is strengthened when we have shared systems and institutions that we can equally rely on.
Infrastructure
Depending on where you live, this is a mix of public and private investments into roads, electricity, gas, water , emergency services (fire, medical) and public transportation (bus, trains, etc.)
Information
Although you may frequently associate information with paid organizations that deliver the news, access to information is made available through mediums such as radio and TV. Not to mention the work of local, state and regional officials to directly connect with their constituents.
In the aftermath of disasters, some may focus on what individuals can do to be prepared in these types of situations:
- Having a bedside emergency bag ready with essentials (clothing, water, medicines, food, light, power brick)
- Having non-refrigerated food in stock in your house (canned or dry goods that can be eaten or prepared without needing heat or long cooking times)
What's more vital, is doing the year-round work of examining how reliable our reliance on public and private institutions are. In the event of loss of service, or a complete outage, what will that mean? What it means can very dramatically depending on who you are, and where you live.
Someone living in a house, in a suburb is going to have a different set of challenges than someone living in a decades old residential high rise. Losing access to power, heat or water can vary dramatically, especially if you're older or have accessibility or mobility issues.
You may not think of the roads or sidewalks in an emergency, but what if they were flooded or blocked with snow or ice. Would you be able to go out to get food or supplies in that case? Would you be able to get anyone to deliver it to you? What if you needed fire or medical assistance?
As much as we use our information gathering devices (phones, tablets, computers, televisions) to gather entertainment, we also use it to get information. What happens when that underlying infrastructure breaks down? How do we handle when information channels are available, yet flooded with noise and inaccurate information?
We choose to live in a society - a society that allows us to pool our resources to create an acceptable standard of reliance. We then allow private companies and institutions to fill gaps and add value.
We need to do more of the year-round work of fortifying these public and private institutions that we put so much trust and reliance on. We can't wait for disasters to identify where our systems are frail. We have to proactively identify these weak points, and do so with the most vulnerable in mind. Our independence is strengthened when we have shared systems and institutions that we can equally rely on.