People still seem not to be getting the point of acting now on coronavirus, saying it's not that bad, it's just a flu, maybe it'd be better if we all just got it now, etc, so here's a little story about a flood that might help. <THREAD>
In early March 2012 there was a major flooding event in NSW. 188mm of rain fell in the city of Wagga Wagga, the Murrumbidgee River broke its banks and inundated part of the town. It was the 4th of March. 526km downstream, the town of Hay knew that they had two weeks to get ready. 
There are floods pretty regularly on the Murrumbidgee, and towns downstream of Wagga can reliably predict how much water will arrive and when, depending on how big the flood is was in Wagga. Based on the data, they expected the river would peak at 9m. The levees are 8.1m high.
Residents got to work, dumping dirt on top of the levees. They raised them to 9.5 meters, but the work they did on it wasn't sanctioned by engineers. An evacuation order was issued, despite the mayor saying he was confident the topped up levee would hold.
Vulnerable residents left the town. The flood peak arrived right on time, and to the expected height of 9 meters. The augmented levees held. Disaster averted.
Hay watched what happened in Wagga and acted accordingly with the time they had available. They did more than what was necessary and avoided disaster.
Right now we're watching the floodwaters peak in Wagga... and deciding what to do to mitigate the damage when they arrive here.
Right now we're watching the floodwaters peak in Wagga... and deciding what to do to mitigate the damage when they arrive here.
We're used to seeing measures being taken after the disaster has already happened - putting out fires, rebuilding homes after storms, chasing after terrorists. We've got the unusual opportunity here to do mitigate a disaster before it occurs. It's a gift, not an inconvenience.
