OPINION:
Why does prevention have to be born out of tragic events? It’s the question every quality professional has lost sleep over. The speed at which our light bulbs come on after bad things happen and we know what needs to be done to keep them from ever happening again is impressive but also sad.
I’m quite sure a 26-foot flash flood didn’t need to sweep through the Guadalupe River Valley for Kerr County, Texas, to know it needed a siren system, better cellphone reception and a dispatcher with the authority to push the button, especially when San Marcos, a city 87 miles away, has 14 outdoor warning systems.
A “failure of imagination” is what was found as the critical factor leading up to 9/11. If my 30 years as a quality engineer taught me anything, it’s the value of taking the time to imagine what can go wrong and implement the preventive actions.
Kerr County’s 2024 hazard mitigation plan read, in part: “It is likely that Kerry County will experience a flood event in the next year.” A “local flood warning system” was estimated to cost “less than $1 million” and had a “medium” priority assigned to it. One million dollars is a mere 1.5% of Kerr County’s $67 million budget.
During my tenure on a city council, I would’ve spent every last dime we had to make sure we had an early warning system.
The tragedy of Kerr County should wake up every elected city official to make their hazard mitigation plans their absolute highest priority.
BEN FURLEIGH
Port Charlotte, Florida
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