From the Wash Post: The decisions that cost some lives and saved others during Helene’s wrath. Six workers, most of whom were Latino, died after showing up for work at a factory in Tennessee. A mile down the road, 70 people stuck at a hospital were rescued from the roof.
“The flooding in the small rural town of Erwin on Sept. 27 that stemmed from Hurricane Helene would later be deemed the result of a 5,000-year event. But the deluge wasn’t the only force determining who lived and died that day. A Washington Post investigation based on videos and photos — some recorded by victims in their final moments — as well as interviews with survivors, victims’ relatives and local leaders, shows how decisions by county and business leaders also played a role in who survived.”
Recovery Diva
Long-Term Recovery from Disasters
Recovery Diva 
This article is an unfortunate testament to the fact that people must be trained to assess hazards for themselves instead of relying on others who are also poorly informed. In large disasters, people also must understand that they may not be able to rely on those of us in emergency response organizations to help them.
The article describes so many failures. The concise video segments attest to the horror that unfolded. From old FEMA maps that do not consider climate change as potentially changing the intensity, frequency, and location of flooding, to people who relied on bosses to let them leave when clearly flooding was happening, to those who did receive the disaster alerts but did not act on them, and the business management that did not apparently act quickly enough regarding the safety of their employees, this article just makes me sick.
We must do more to educate people about hazards, including climate change. Understanding how climate change can alter what we once thought were survivable floods and changing the perception that rescuers can get there in time is crucial for saving people’s lives. Better warning systems and people’s understanding of the warnings might also have made a difference.
FEMA has been underfunded and understaffed for years. The public must better understand FEMA’s mission and the capabilities of their local emergency preparedness and response groups. Given the incoming administration in January, I fear it will only worsen. Worse yet, we will have a leader who thinks NOAA is dispensable and has already demonstrated a lack of understanding of the challenges the country and the world face as regards climate change. His prior attitudes and activities (tossing paper towels to people in need in Puerto Rico, for example) and his talk of getting rid of the NWS and privatizing much of what our professionals do to predict and prepare for such scenarios such as this one are of enormous concern. The catastrophes, man-made or natural, that will come in the future should be cause for concern for all of us who continue to work in emergency response, preparation, and management.
Thank you Diva for sharing your time, experience and knowledge with us.