More on Katrina and lessons to be learned The deterioration of the levees in New Orleans had been well known and it seems that the budget for their maintenance was cut in order to help fund the war in Iraq. The lawlessness remains unexplained, although the immediate presence of federal troops might have been a strong deterrent to looters and other criminal elements. Certainly, there was no equivalent looting and shooting in Montreal during the 1998 ice storm, or in Japan in the wake of the Kobe earthquake of 1995. While the effectiveness of disaster plans cannot be determined until they have been tested in real time, infrastructure throughout North America is known to be in an advanced state of deterioration; why hasn't the necessary investment taken place? The answer most likely lies in the lack of immediate return for administrations that have a 4-year life. We are quick to judge the slowness of reaction time, pointing to our success in overcoming the ice storm in Québec and the Toronto SARS epidemic. But, today, Canada is not in any position to point fingers; there is a total lack of preparedness, despite warnings from such bodies as the Canadian Medical Association. And we can be sure that another occasion will arise, possibly related to the avian flu. For more see: http://www.wednesday-night.com/Wed1229page2.htm