Community Corner - A TIME TO HELP

The Perfect Storm—From a tropical storm boasting the lowest barometric pressure ever recorded, adding a fast moving front of chilly arctic air from the north, a full moon pushing tides to inconceivable heights combined to create a weather stew of historic proportions which in turn produced devastation on an unimaginable scale.  The cost in human life and dollars will not soon be forgotten….or will it?  The strength and fury of Katrina left us wondering how Mother Nature could ever produce anything so violent and destructive and yet here we are with “storms of the century” seemingly happening every two years or so.

Even disasters of this magnitude are so frequently reported we all but forget about them by the time the next earthquake, monster wildfire or tsunami strikes.  Indonesia, Japan, New Zealand or the US, we are never really quite prepared enough to avert widespread destruction.  Countries are increasingly turning to scientists, geologists and meteorologists for data and intelligence on the likely locations and scope of the next disaster.

In many ways how we think about and prepare for the next natural disaster mirrors how we think about and prepare for the next financial earthquake.  The devastation caused by the most recent recession should not be forgotten as we rebuild our economy and infrastructure.  Our economy, the world economy, is as fragile and volatile as the weather.  Its unpredictability should give us pause to respect that as much as politicians and economist believe they can accurately forecast trends in the economy, truth is, their record is not much better than the local weather forecaster.

While our economic forecast seems to be predicting sunnier skies ahead, we should all remember the lessons from our not too distant past.  Irrational exuberance the result of  easy credit, skyrocketing home prices and a bullish stock market can conspire once again to produce stormy weather.

Let’s hope that we all learn from the past and keep a watchful eye on the weather knowing that if we fail to prepare for the next downturn by not increasing savings, reducing indebtedness and demanding accountability of our financial and government institutions we will be sure to once again be caught in the storm without our umbrellas.

John C. Little, Jr.
Community Affairs Director