Reprint: AVANT ET APRES LE DELUGE

I share with you a column from a couple of years ago, unfortunately relevant today.


…the waters then receded steadily from the earth. At the end of one hundred and fifty days the waters diminished   Genesis 8:3 
 
There is no such thing as an inconsequential flood. It doesn’t matter whether we are talking about New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina or that time the water hose to your washing machine burst while you were on vacation. The waters steadily recede, and after some time they diminish.  But the aftermath is a mess. 
 
The first couple of years that we were married, my wife and I lived in the San Fernando Valley section of Los Angeles.  One winter there was an overabundance of rain and my cousins who lived in a house perched mid-way down a mountain found themselves in the path of the run-off.  Not only did the water invade their home, but it caused a “pop-out,” which is a baby mud slide.  (I think it is called a pop-out because it reassures people that they are not about to reenact the last days of Pompeii.) 
 
It wasn’t two days before the sun was out again, but it was a week before the house dried out and it took a crew of workers days of shoveling to remove the heavy mud that covered half of the roadway between the front door and the hillside. 
 
A flood is not like filling the sink with water and then opening the drain to let it out. 
 
There are other kinds of disasters that result from a sudden imbalance of nature.  They, too, create consequences that long outlast the event itself.  But I have a particular interest in floods for two reasons.  First, the verse above comes from the story of Noah’s ark.  And second, one of my kids has devoted her education and career to helping people who have been effected by floods.  It is sacred work because it saves lives and it saves the quality of lives.  At various times she has been dispatched to New Orleans after Katrina, to Cedar Rapids after the river escaped its banks, to New York after Sandy and even to smaller communities dealing with persistent water problems that need an engineered amelioration.  She has done this work on behalf of the United States Congress, a government contractor, a major university and, these days, the Federal Emergency Management Agency. 
 
In other words, mostly the federal government and its supporters. 
 
Reading the story of Noah (and likely other flood epics), it is easy to come away with a sense that the waters rise and then they fall and shortly thereafter everything returns to normal. We can be lured into believing that the highlights reel that makes up the narrative tells the whole story. The ark settles on Mt. Ararat, the dove brings the olive branch, everyone exits the ark and Noah plants a vineyard – on to the rest of the story. 
 
But, in reality, people need a lot of help after a flood.  They need to get rid of absorbent material (furniture, rugs, clothing) before it molds.  They need to know if the wooden doors, drywall and flooring in their home will continue to provide a safe environment.  They need to determine if the ground beneath home and business will support the weight of the structure.  They need to get food, clean water and power safely and accessibly.  They need to access medical care – both usual and emergent.   
 
The finest hour of public service is when it is helping the vulnerable who rely on government in times of need.  And in order for the government to shine in those times of need, it must be prepared before the needs present themselves. 
 
I could make the same argument for police, fire, National Guard and park rangers. And EMTs, and public health officials. And building inspectors, product safety inspectors, public works inspectors.  And educators, social workers, rec center staffers.  And you can continue the list.  All of these people are expendable until they are not, and then they are indispensable. 
 
These services are paid for with tax dollars.  While the keepers of the public trust have a special responsibility to steward those funds well, it is not the case that the goal of good government is to allow people to keep as much of their money as possible.  Bottom-line politics appeal to people who have never had a flood – or who don’t remember its aftermath. 
 


A country is more than an economy, and its government is one that invests in the resources to protect its citizens and advance its values…before the flood.