Many folks in New York City, in the lower elevations by the water, thought they were safe because the storm was coming in from the other direction, and therefore they assumed they wouldn't get hit with the waves. This is a faulty assumption based on ignorance of how tidal surges work, and perhaps the media should have done a better job explaining it, or the Mayor of New York City should have been a little more blunt, persuasive, and assertive in the matter. Do I believe this is a problem of failed leadership?
Well, I don't believe that our government leaders should be protecting people from themselves, people should be allowed to have liberty and freedom and make their own choices. However, they should also be allowed to live with those consequence, and yet, on the flip side of that issue, in this case they didn't receive the proper information, had they better known, and if they could've looked at the mathematical tidal flow modeling they would have realized this.
Unfortunately with all this great predictive software and visual graphics, it was never shown on TV for the people to see. I would say those graphic renderings on the nightly news could have certainly changed people's minds, causing them to evacuate as needed.
People on that little island in NY stayed in the homes when the Mayor told them to leave, they didn't heed the warning, felt safer in their own homes, but they didn't understand storm surges, they thought they were safe on the opposite side from the approaching storm. They didn't get the concept of a Venturi-like effect of an inlet or the reality that Hurricane move in circles. It is interesting that in our schools, we are worried about teaching people to read and write, and math and science.
Believe it or not these types of concepts are not hard to explain as long as you show it to someone using visual graphics. They don't need to know the math, in this case they just needed to understand that the mathematical modeling pictures and take all of the future issues into consideration. Mayor Michael Bloomberg constantly pitches Global Warming Theory, and shows us graphics of sea level rise, ice melt, and explains why we must do something about it.
And yet when it comes to something that's happening in real time, such as a hurricane approaching or in this case a downgraded super storm, well, they didn't do that. Many people stayed in their homes because they had feared of the unknown, not knowing where to go, and wanted to stay in a place they felt more comfortable or secure, and something that have come to know; their homes. Because of this, and also because of their ignorance, it became a deadly combination. Indeed I hope you will please consider all this and think on it.
Lance Winslow has launched a new provocative series of eBooks on the Future of Education. Lance Winslow is a retired Founder of a Nationwide Franchise Chain, and now runs the Online Think Tank; http://www.worldthinktank.net
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