We must abandon living in dangerous areas

Some in the media have labeled this disaster “Ma Ying-jeou's Katrina,” a reference to Hurricane Katrina that destroyed many parts of New Orleans in 2005.

Former U.S. president George W. Bush lost much of his political capital after being seen as mounting an inefficient response to the tragedy. The comparisons to Katrina are only partially valid, but it is worth considering what might be the biggest overlooked lesson of Katrina: the futility of trying to fight nature.

U.S. meteorologist Chuck Doswell was one of the very first “storm chasers,” the likes of whom were profiled in the Hollywood movie “Twister,” a film Doswell claims is not at all representative of genuine storm-chasing, which in reality is a series of boring waits of up to 10 days before observing storms from a reasonably safe distance.

Doswell is well-respected in the U.S. scientific community and after Hurricane Katrina, he offered his opinions and suggestions.

In his article, “Thoughts after Hurricane Katrina,” Doswell writes, “Everyone has known for decades that New Orleans is nothing less than a prime target for a major hurricane.

Their situation of being nearly surrounded by water, and yet having a good part of the city below sea level is a disaster that was primed to happen by the very act of building the city in that location.

Years of development have eroded the Mississippi Delta, slowly moving New Orleans closer to the Gulf, and its destiny. Given that it was inevitable that a major hurricane would eventually hit close enough to trigger catastrophic flooding of the city, it seems very odd now, in the wake of Katrina, to think that no one was willing to actually do anything to prevent that disaster.

The real crime of this event is not the responses after the event, however one might feel about those responses — it's the lack of responsibility by governments and even ordinary citizens before the event that is criminally negligent.”

Taiwan's response to Morakot was, by most accounts, too little, too late. But perhaps more importantly as we look to the future is to determine what factors led to the “inevitable.”

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