If you're a journalist interviewing an emergency manager or a public official and they tell you that they are *prepared* for hurricane season (or whatever hazard) you should immediately ask how they are defining preparedness because I promise you it's not how you're defining it.
This is a forever rule but it's especially a pandemic rule.
My generous assumption is that the handful of emergency managers who publicly say they're "prepared" for hurricane season think they're doing the public a favor by not worrying them but they're actually just lying and counting on people not asking them what "prepared" means.
You can simultaneously be understanding of the limitations of emergency management agencies and demand that they undertake efforts to effectively and justly protect the pubic.
We extremely desperately need emergency management reform (my god I hope this is obvious to you all now) and pretending that everything is fine is not a useful way to make that happen.
Emergency managers HAVE to talk about the barriers they face because the public does not know.
Emergency managers HAVE to talk about the barriers they face because the public does not know.
Obviously we're not ready to handle hurricane season in the way the public wants emergency management to handle hurricane season.
An EM saying they're prepared for hurricane season *in a pandemic* is the real life manifestation of this gif.
The public isn't stupid.
An EM saying they're prepared for hurricane season *in a pandemic* is the real life manifestation of this gif.
The public isn't stupid.
*Some segments of the public do appear to be stupid but you know what I mean
Okay. I'm done.
Okay. I'm done.
