Thine Alabaster Cities Gleam
I can't sing "America the Beautiful" without crying.
But yesterday, during our national day of prayer and remembrance, I had to stop and think about that line that ends, "undimmed by human tears."
I used to sing this line with gratitude for the fact that we had never known a foreign invasion on American soil.
But that changed on September 11, 2001, so now I wonder what to think when we come to that line.
Hurricane Katrina has raised our awareness of yet another kind of threat: the ever-present possibility of natural disaster. Did you know that, by geological estimates, the Wasatch front is some 500 years overdue for a major earthquake?
The truth is that, as citizens of this great nation and as residents of our own home town, we need to be prepared at all times for the possibility of natural disaster.
In a major disaster, first responders such as fire and ambulance cannot meet all the demands on their services. Neither can the Red Cross. And let's face it: Not everyone has a church to turn to, not even in American Fork.
In the immediate aftermath of a major disaster, people must rely on themselves and on their neighbors to meet their immediate life saving and life sustaining needs.
In this, as in all things, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.
As individuals and families, it only makes sense to have a cache of essentials stored in the home, and to have a relocation plan ready for any emergency.
As a city, there are two things we can start doing right now in American Fork to be prepared for disaster.
As for the earthquake code, this is just another example of the importance of upholding our planning commission.
________________________
"Thine alabaster cities gleam, undimmed by human tears."
This is still a powerful piece of poetry. But human tears are still a fact of life.
Our best hope is that, if we prepare well, we can lessen the impact of a disaster here in American Fork.
But yesterday, during our national day of prayer and remembrance, I had to stop and think about that line that ends, "undimmed by human tears."
I used to sing this line with gratitude for the fact that we had never known a foreign invasion on American soil.
But that changed on September 11, 2001, so now I wonder what to think when we come to that line.
Hurricane Katrina has raised our awareness of yet another kind of threat: the ever-present possibility of natural disaster. Did you know that, by geological estimates, the Wasatch front is some 500 years overdue for a major earthquake?
The truth is that, as citizens of this great nation and as residents of our own home town, we need to be prepared at all times for the possibility of natural disaster.
In a major disaster, first responders such as fire and ambulance cannot meet all the demands on their services. Neither can the Red Cross. And let's face it: Not everyone has a church to turn to, not even in American Fork.
In the immediate aftermath of a major disaster, people must rely on themselves and on their neighbors to meet their immediate life saving and life sustaining needs.
In this, as in all things, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.
As individuals and families, it only makes sense to have a cache of essentials stored in the home, and to have a relocation plan ready for any emergency.
As a city, there are two things we can start doing right now in American Fork to be prepared for disaster.
- First, we can support and expand the CERT program in our community. CERT, which stands for the Community Emergency Response Training supported by FEMA, trains and prepares neighborhoods, businesses, communities, or government teams to provide immediate assistance in their areas, to organize spontaneous volunteers, and to collect disaster intelligence reports.
- Second, all new development should be required to conform to earthquake code. This sounds like a no-brainer, but we seem to have trouble making our developers in American Fork conform to requirements, even when they are clearly marked on the plat map. Just ask any of your friends from the Mountain Meadows area who learned last spring, when the basements in their brand new homes flooded, that basements were prohibited in this marshy part of town. The requirement was in place, but it wasn't enforced.
As for the earthquake code, this is just another example of the importance of upholding our planning commission.
________________________
"Thine alabaster cities gleam, undimmed by human tears."
This is still a powerful piece of poetry. But human tears are still a fact of life.
Our best hope is that, if we prepare well, we can lessen the impact of a disaster here in American Fork.
posted by Heidi Rodeback at 1:49 PM
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