Infrastructure-We Need It

So the DC area was hit with some brief, yet powerful storms last Friday night.  If you can read this post, count yourself as one of the lucky ones.  There were about 2 million people without power at the height of the storm, and there are still about a million without power, days later.  Many people are being told that it will take up to a full week for their power to be restored, during the middle of record high temperatures topping out at 110F. 

Observing all the pandemonium, I can't help but think, can't we do better than this?  If one storm manages to knock out power for more than a week for residents of the capital of the United States, then we have absolutely no hope during a terrorist plot.    While my husband and I have refined our emergency procedures since Friday, I wonder what our local and national goverments have learned from these errant storms?  Not only was the power out, but cell phone, water, and the 911 networks were down, right at the time that people needed them the most.  I am still under a "boil water before drinking" advisory, several days after the storm has passed.

Billions and billions have been spent on anti-terrorism and preparedness, but where did all of it go?  The DC area has lots of mature trees, so one of the easiest and obvious solutions is to bury our power lines, so a crashing tree won't take our electricity and stop lights.  While I know it isn't the sexiest uses of anti-terrorism money, it seems like one of the most useful when and if the time comes.  It's disturbing to think how vunerable we all are if something were to ever happen, and how little our local and national governments seem to be doing to address the realities of the threat.