US Cities and Disaster Preparedness

In the wake of the disasters which devastated parts of Japan, Russell Nichols of Governing investigates the state of disaster preparedness in US cities and states.

1 minute read

March 16, 2011, 11:00 AM PDT

By Victor Negrete

According to Nichols' interviews with Oregon State University scientists, "a major earthquake - such as the ones that have hit Indonesia, Chile, Haiti, New Zealand and now Japan - has a one-in-three chance of striking the U.S. in the next 50 years."

Reasons for concern in the U.S., according to Nichols:

- "The U.S. is not nearly as well prepared as Japan was," says John Orcutt, a seismologist from the Scripps Institution of Oceanography.

- The U.S. is still not prepared for another tsunami, according to a report from the National Research Council.

- A study by the American Medical Association showed that 45% of the states with nuclear power plants had "no response for a nuclear disaster."

FULL STORY: Are U.S. States and Cities Prepared for a Disaster?

Wednesday, March 16, 2011 in Governing

Community / Economic Development Environment Government / Politics Infrastructure Technology World Asia-Pacific United States Disaster Preparedness; Japan; Earthquake; Tsunami; US cities View More

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