Seize the day

As is evident in David Garrahan’s piece "The meaning of community," (see link below), there is nothing like a disaster for showing us what community really means. Some of us lose the ability to take care of ourselves, and others step up to the plate to get us on our feet. Another takes up the burdens that fall on one person’s shoulders. There is no more “my problem” and “your problem,” but only “our problem.”

But it’s a pity that this ability to work together shows up after, not before, disaster strikes—and then sometimes disappears too soon.

There are lessons to be learned from New York City in the wake of the 9/11 attacks. “We are all New Yorkers today,” said the nation, and for a few weeks the entire country seemed united behind the city. Blood donations soared, volunteers arrived and monetary and other donations poured in.

But all too soon, the support fell away. Disaster relief intended for New York got diverted to other areas. The final betrayal came in the past few weeks when, amazingly, the Department of Homeland Security justified cutbacks in funding for New York City by claiming that it has no national monuments or icons.

The rapid falloff of interest in the victims of Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans, despite the continuing devastation noted in the feature “New Orleans—An American Story” in our June 29 issue, is another example of this phenomenon.

What makes this dynamic especially regretable is the fact that, as valuable as a strong community is in recovering from disaster, it can be even more valuable in helping to prevent it. If the U.S. Congress were operating out of a sense of community rather than of entitlement for senior committee members, it would have appropriated New Orleans the funds long ago to improve its levees, rather than awarding Senator Ted Stevens of Alaska his famous “bridge to nowhere.” If it were operating out of a sense of community, it would continue to fund security measures for New York City, rather than inventing insane rationalizations to divert funds to the districts of powerful congressmen. But with the latest disasters over, congress and the nation have fallen apart into individual interest groups—setting up more disasters for the future.

There is a lesson here for us as well. One cannot help but be heartened by the way that people are pulling together to help each other recover from the latest flood. But just think how powerful we could be if we pulled together in the same way to mitigate the impacts of the next one.

Partly, this means recognizing that a watershed is a vast, complicated, deeply interrelated system in which the activities of every resident and town can affect every other resident and town. Excessive construction upstream will carry excessive amounts of silt downstream to be deposited in the streambeds, making flooding more likely. Those who benefit from the upstream construction need to think about this, and modify the type and amount of development they engage in. The laying down of impermeable surfaces and planting of wide areas of lawn in the place of natural vegetation increases stormwater runoff, forcing the streambeds to carry more water in periods of excessive rain. Those who benefit in the short term from the parking lots or the landscaping need to think broadly about the impact of the activity on themselves and their neighbors: Can the parking lot be built with large strips of vegetation and trees in between the hardtop? Can more trees and shrubs be left in the lawn? And wouldn’t it be better to take community action when the development is being planned, rather than getting together later to scrape muddy carpet off the floor with utility knives?

The latest flood has nailed home the point that stormwater management is not just a sometime thing: it has to be a regular and constant focus of our energy—and not just the energy of some of us, but all of us.

Now is the time to take advantage of the community spirit that has been so admirably aroused in response to the latest disaster, and redirect it to prevent or at least mitigate the next one.

Also in this issue:

• The meaning of community

Dr. Punnybone

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