When Manmade Crises Hit Close To Home, What Will It Look Like?

Hi folks,

I've been in Thailand on and off since just after the big tsunami of 2004. This country has coped with military coups, airport shutdowns, protesters igniting huge fires, military crackdowns...but the recent flooding takes the cake.

The current flooding in Thailand is nothing less than disastrous. As of today, between 2-9 million people have been displaced, thousands of factories have been shut, billions of dollars have been lost lost, and at least 370 odd people are dead. And it appears the worst has yet to come, as flood waters are streaming into Bangkok, a city of 12 million.

Perhaps the ugliest — and least reported — facet of this situation is how this is largely a manmade disaster — not nature rearing its ferocious head.

To be fair, this year's monsoon season was a bit worse than normal. In August, 20-percent more rain fell than the average, and September saw 30 percent more, according to Thailand's Meteorological Department.

But Thailand has massive dams to deal with this sort of thing....so what exactly happened?

1) 100 years ago more than 90 percent of Thailand was covered with forests,  now less than 30 percent. Trees, forests, and gullies soak up rain; rice fields and industrial estates don't.

2) Incredible government mismanagement. Even the UN has questioned the Thai government's management skills.To say 'inept' would be a compliment to the current Thai government. They waited too long to release dam water, they broadcast inaccurate information time and time again, they lost civic partners in flood relief, and their own departments have communicated different evaculation measures to the public.

To bring it all back home to Teaneck, my question is: What manmade disasters have we had? If Climate Change + Industrialization continues, what disaster's can Teaneck, and the surrounding communities, expect?

I look forward to hearing your answers.