Keeping an eye on the big ball is crucial
Sunday, December 9, 2007 4:31 AM PST
The massive storm that pounded the Oregon coast last week illustrated a host of facts to anyone remotely interested in the event.
One common sense fact the storm delivered was the unpredictability of Mother Nature. We can make forecasts and predictions, but in the end, it is Mother Nature that calls the tune.
Other interesting, not to mention troubling, issues emerged in the wake of the storm.
In one county, the 9-1-1 system proved to be plagued with problems as the huge squall hit the area. Highway officials argued over procedure, thus delaying the opening of a critical piece of Interstate 5 between Oregon and Washington.
There was a lot of good, though. State agencies — including the Oregon National Guard — helped rescue citizens cut off by flood waters or hemmed in by high winds and rain.
Still, the problems that did arrive in the wake of the storm illustrate how, in a time of crisis, it is the big ball that matters. That big ball, though, sometimes becomes obscured during the day-to-day actions of city, county or state government.
It is easy, often, for elected and appointed leaders to get sidetracked in everyday events that seem paramount, only to find out later, when a real crisis arrives, those flash-point issues were largely insignificant.
Often it can be difficult to keep our eye on the big ball, but that kind of concentration separates a prepared community from one unable to respond to a real disaster.
Issues can often appear to be critical, but just as often, when framed against the big picture, those same questions can be placed in a holding pattern.
It is never easy to determine what issues, what problems, are critical. What may appear to be important today, can, with the benefit of hindsight, turn out to be a big waste of time, or even worse, a waste of money.
Disaster like the winter storm that hit the coast and western Oregon signify how important it is to focus on real issues such as coordination between state and federal agencies and 9-1-1 emergency phone systems.
Those issues matter in a time of crisis.
And those subjects make up that “big ball” we must focus on.
If we do not, we risk skirting failure when a real crisis arrives.
