Tomorrow’s Economist (pay site) will have an article on California’s emergency preparedness vis-a-vis New Orleans

“… California, the nation’s most populous state, is also its most vulnerable to natural disaster. And perhaps to man-made disaster, too: Los Angeles Airport, the Los Angeles-Long Beach port complex, San Francisco’s Golden Gate and Bay bridges and Disneyland are all targets for terrorists.”

California’s major advantage? Its propensity for small and medium-sized disasters …

“Californian authorities, unlike foundering Louisiana, have had plenty of “disaster practice”. There have been around 70 state-declared emergencies since 1970 in Los Angeles County, and 30 in both Orange County and San Diego County.”

On the other hand, when there was the chance of a Pacific coast tsunami after an offshore earthquake in June, with few exceptions no one in Southern California seemed to know what to do. So while post-disaster response may be practiced, perhaps California’s risk assessment is faulty.

—
Oregon is better prepared for a tsunami; see their after-action report on the June alert here

This entry was posted on Thursday, September 15th, 2005 at 12:06 pm by A Senior Administration Official and is filed under California Schemin'. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.