For years, people had warned that New Orleans was vulnerable – but when a hurricane came close to destroying the city, the reaction was muted. Some people took the near miss as a warning – others, as confirmation that there was nothing to worry about.
So why do we struggle to prepare for disasters? And why don’t we draw the obvious lessons from clear warnings?
In the podcast “That Turn to Pascagoula” written and presented by Tim Harford with Andrew Wright, the authors talk about how we do not see and do not act to prevent foreseeable disasters. A thought provoking podcast for anyone interested in how we should be working to mitigate the impacts of disasters and failures before they arrive.
Additional information and readings on the subject can be found on Tim’s website. https://timharford.com/2020/07/cautionary-tales-that-turn-to-pascagoula/
Additional suggested readings on the subject.
Read about Hurricane Ivan in The Ostrich Paradox by Howard Kunreuther and Robert Meyer, and other forebodings of disaster are recounted in Predictable Surprises by Max Bazerman and Michael Watkins.