Us humans tend to create our own disasters and call them "Acts of God." When it is her/his work we tend to exacerbate its impact upon us by:• Failing to look out for the warning signals – being distracted, failing to pay attention and focusing on other, typically less significant priorities;
• Ignoring whatever warning signals we do see – ill advised self-serving denial;
• Inadequate preparation and minimal attention to detail – falsely pragmatic bean counter driven failures of leadership;
• Failing to empower individuals – bureaucratic methodologies and central controls typically designed to further empower the powerful and better serve their aspirations;
Yet again these weaknesses and failures are becoming clear via the devastating Queensland floods. They are are having a horrendous impact upon thousands and thousands of Queenslander's lives right now. And, what is more, are set to have very significant impacts upon all Australians lives one way or another for some time to come.
From The Australian, here is one person's take on the consequences of all this but will we actually learn anything from it.
"At the intersections of Victoria, Margaret and Russell streets (in Toowoomba) - where the boiling muddy tsunami was its fiercest and most graphically filmed - the city council had embarked on an ambitious beautification plan to turn the creek into a pleasing urban feature, complete with boardwalks, gardens, illumination and seating. Everyone thought it was wonderful, except for cynics such as my husband and me. In fact, every time we drove past the feature we would say to no one in particular: This little creek is going to make them sorry one day. Tragically, we were right.
Early yesterday morning I went back to the bruised and battered Margaret Street to support any local business that still had the heart to open. My coffee shop was handing out free coffees to the battered owners of the local businesses who had lost so much. When I went to buy my newspaper, the newsagent told me he was devastated, not because of what had happened but because the engineer who had worked on the beautification project told him he couldn't make them listen when he pleaded for bigger pipes - "18-footers" he called them - to let the water through, because it simply didn't suit the aesthetics of the architects and landscapers.
So that's what happened to my city, folks, the same as happened to so much of flooded Queensland. We did stupid and really, really dumb things because we thought we could get away with them. We built the wrong sort of houses and the wrong sort of bridges. We built towns and suburbs on flood plains. And we ignored at our peril the forces of nature and the history of the great floods that have shaped this continent for thousands of years.
In our arrogance, we created towns and cities better suited to the whims of bean-counters and city-bound architects than the natural lie of the land. And for 20 years we cheerfully welcomed new settlers to Queensland with a "beautiful one day, perfect the next".
We didn't tell them what this place was really like when it rained. And we were wrong." ... click here to read the story.Early yesterday morning I went back to the bruised and battered Margaret Street to support any local business that still had the heart to open. My coffee shop was handing out free coffees to the battered owners of the local businesses who had lost so much. When I went to buy my newspaper, the newsagent told me he was devastated, not because of what had happened but because the engineer who had worked on the beautification project told him he couldn't make them listen when he pleaded for bigger pipes - "18-footers" he called them - to let the water through, because it simply didn't suit the aesthetics of the architects and landscapers.
So that's what happened to my city, folks, the same as happened to so much of flooded Queensland. We did stupid and really, really dumb things because we thought we could get away with them. We built the wrong sort of houses and the wrong sort of bridges. We built towns and suburbs on flood plains. And we ignored at our peril the forces of nature and the history of the great floods that have shaped this continent for thousands of years.
In our arrogance, we created towns and cities better suited to the whims of bean-counters and city-bound architects than the natural lie of the land. And for 20 years we cheerfully welcomed new settlers to Queensland with a "beautiful one day, perfect the next".
Everywhere there are lessons of this kind to be learned – some smaller, some much bigger. Will our governments, and the bureaucrats that drive them, ever admit to their failures and deficiencies? It will be revealing and edifying to watch what happens in Queensland in the wake of this catastrophe but one thing is almost certain, there will be a lot of ducking, diving and blame-shifting 'officials' of all kinds seeking to absolve themselves – and keep their salaries despite their non-performance. There will also be some who should have been listened to that we'll find sidelined. There might also be some repentant ones but they will not be allowed to speak up for fear of the damage that might do.
There are salutary lessons to be learned here to do with flooding and other things. However, will anyone be paying attention?
A thought from Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803 - 1882) "I don't want any yes-men around me. I want everybody to tell me the truth even if it costs them their jobs."
There are salutary lessons to be learned here to do with flooding and other things. However, will anyone be paying attention?
A thought from Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803 - 1882) "I don't want any yes-men around me. I want everybody to tell me the truth even if it costs them their jobs."
