The Klinenberg article provides important insight regarding the role of the city, and society in general, in preventing individuals from being both injured and killed in large-scale natural disasters. Long-standing governmental and social institutions impact how a city responds to protect its citizens. This observation was very evident during the Chicago heat wave, and also in our own city’s response to Hurricane Sandy.
Two observations:
1. Chicago was much more prepared to respond to large scale tragedy when the second heat wave hit the city. They learned from terrible mistakes during the first heat wave that may have cost the lives of hundreds of residents. The city implemented essential response programs to more adequately deal with the situation. Although the second heat wave was less severe, the government’s ability to respond effectively made a hug difference in the amount of people killed and injured as compared to the first heat wave. Unfortunately, the reverse seemed to happen in New York when most residents passed off Hurricane Sandy as “just another Hurricane Irene”. The media’s decision, and some would say “irresponsibility”, in building hype about Hurricane Irene, ultimately led many New Yorkers to not take the 24/7 news cycle warning about Sandy’s power seriously. The city was ill-prepared for the size and strength of the storm, and the death tool and billions of dollars in damage suffered attest to that fact.
2. Much like the strength of the Latino community in Chicago, certain communities in Staten Island (my home borough), seemed to be better prepared for Hurricane Sandy. Groups that exist on the “edges” of society such as minorities, undocumented immigrants, and the elderly, were more likely to suffer as a result of the storm. Undocumented citizens were afraid to seek government assistance both before and after the storm. With few resources of their own, the ability of these groups to recover from Hurricane Sandy are severely restrained by their place in society.
-Victor Rerick
