There is so much talk about hurricane anniversaries, New
Orleans, rebuilding, recovery, who’s not recovered… it makes many of us who
went through it turn a blind eye to the news.
The anniversary is one week away, so the Greater New Orleans region is
inundated with stories and images to remind everyone here of how far we have
come.
But something interesting about this environmental
anniversary article surprised me. It
wasn’t how much land-loss we’ve had on the coastline of Louisiana (I’ve done
enough work in marshes and beach clean up to almost know the blades of grass
and grains of sand reclaimed by the sea).
If things have changed over one hundred years, why do we
keep clinging to something that is one hundred years old?
I’m not talking about nostalgia and traditions, such as your
grandmother’s pecan pie recipe. I mean a
FACTUAL document that has turned into a marketing piece – a map. If you see a road map, you expect it to get
you to the place you want to go. You have selected your destination and use the
map to plan how to get there.
But if you change your destination, you change your
plan. Then why haven’t we, as a society,
changed things (such as maps) when facts show they should be different?
Italy is a boot. It’s
still a boot. Louisiana was a shoe. It’s not still a shoe. So why do we represent it as still a
shoe? If we used the new picture in this
article, it should make a lot of sense how we need to adjust emergency planning
and response tactics for the disasters ahead.
This article explains other less discussed issues for the New Orleans
region as we approach this catastrophe’s anniversary; it’s long but well worth
reading for the insights presented.
If you change your plan, make sure you adjust your
facts. And if the facts change – throw
out the old shoe and get a new one that represents the new plan!
