This is day 5. We are moving into “this is unbearable and it must be someone’s fault”. Blame and criticism are the weapons we have to deal with our frustrations.

Disasters by definition exceed the ability of our systems to function. We prepare by staging and calling up additional resources when a disaster strikes. It’s imperfect.

Disasters also reveal vulnerabilities- instances where we thought we had a reserve or a resource but turns out – nope – it was fragile too; in ways we didn’t anticipate. Disasters are revelatory. Coulda. Shoulda. Woulda.

This is not excuse making. Institutions with any sort of performance integrity don’t make excuses, they look for insights and information about what they got right and what they missed. Humility is an essential element of disaster response. As is saying “I’m so sorry we missed the boat.  I’m so sorry we let you down.” 

I AM sorry that there are so many people hurting physically and emotionally and sorry the help is not faster and more precise. All we can do is not enough right now.

The other side of it is how we – the big WE – the residents of this vulnerable region manage our expectations. We have chosen to live in a place that tops the list of vulnerabilities. As these events increase in terms of impact and frequency, we will be managing – or trying to – conditions that fall outside of the parameters our institutions were built to handle. Our expectations for things to work the way they once did won’t be met.

Houston is a highly interconnected hub of critical economic, cultural and social significance. It’s a big responsibility to make it work. And it belongs to all of us.

Love,

Angela