High Profile Hurricanes Spur Preparedness Communities
Hurricane experts have lowered expectations 
for the remainder of this year's season in the Atlantic. Hurricane John , on the other hand, has been upgraded to Category 3 and looms over western Mexico. The upshot is it's hurricane season—some are rougher than others. One year Carolina, another year Baja ...
Are there lessons here? This week has seen a glut of "Lessons of Katrina" media. The biggest issue is still the slow pace of rebuilding, and anger at government as a result. But as I've written, there is another movement of people rebuilding their communities through communication as well as hammers and nails. The blogosphere from the Gulf coast is thriving and doing great things bringing people toward a common goal .
Today I discovered HurricaneMind , whose aim is to collect people's thoughts as hurricanes threaten—and in real time, too. The blog is trying to build a wiki resource and real-time action and news. As people reckon their actions, they go to the blog and see what other people are thinking and how their choices are taking shape. It's instant communication with neighbors in the region. Movement to hardware stores, to evacuation routes and to shelters are spontaneously coordinated as a community of informed, prepared people forms.
It's "buzz." Not buzz about soft drinks or celebrity fashion, either. It's buzz about getting the kids to a safe place, about getting plywood or a hotel room. It's buzz about keeping the community whole, even as a Cat 5 comes howling in.
It could redefine the community and go macro, couldn't it? After a world community begins to emerge, we all band together with professor E.O. Wilson , whose new book calls for a world community of science believers and non-believers alike to organize preparedness against man-made environmental tragedies . Wilson's call is this side of Utopia—salvation of endangered species means salvation for all life. And salvation is important to most every belief.
Think of it: a new paradigm for life on earth based on disaster preparedness. It's way too simple, isn't it?
Guided By History will take a break over the long Labor Day weekend. We'll be back Tuesday, September 5th.
