Last year’s Katrina disaster in New Orleans is a far more important event in our nation’s history than today’s date.

Katrina told us we’re unprepared for predictable, frequent, and common events. That’s bad.

Nothing wrong with being unprepared for rare and spectacular events.

“In many ways, the success of 9/11 was an anomaly; there were many points where it could have failed. The main reason we haven’t seen another 9/11 is that it isn’t as easy as it looks.” – Bruce Schneier

There’s something in here about comparing these disasters to technology:
“The impact of technology is often overestimated in the short-term and underestimated in the long-term.” (credited to Bill Gates).