New Orleans Flooding

Like a lot of people, I've been following the events down in New Orleans over the last few days. It obviously puts all the usual tech stuff into perspective and it must be a pretty harrowing time over in the States. What amazes me is the degree to which things break down when disasters like this happen, even in the USA, the country that you'd have thought would have been best placed to deal with a natural disaster. From seeing the news pictures, it's more like Escape From New York or downtown Baghdad than an American City, certainly scary stuff.

I read a book last year called "Flood" which was set in London during a tidal surge, basically a similar story to what's happening in New Orleans in terms of the outcome - the entire city flooded, thousands displaced, docks and industrial areas destroyed, years to clear up - and the chances are we'll get more of this in the years to come, albeit for different reasons. Tom mentioned in his blog the Red Cross relief appeal, looks like there's a lot of people who are going to need your help, give what you can and I'm sure it'll be most appreciated.