Ever since Katrina, and more recently the BP oil spill, I've been saying that we need to have a PUBLIC non-profit organization with experts ready to be called on, resources ready to use, etc. And this organization should be funded ahead of time, with a public meter of how much $ is in the fund and statistics for how much it cost to clean up disasters in years prior. It should have knowledge of previous disasters and list the experts that were involved in those. etc.
This should be public information. Data.gov is a great initiative, but we need a global preparedness fund. It doesn't have to be a government program. It takes several dedicated hackers to make a website.
I got reminded of it when reading this, and remembering how BP stood by while people who spent 15 years on this thing, tried to help:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/usoilpollutionenvironmentpeoplecostner
When disasters happen, we should all pull together, not wait for someone like BP and wonder "whose ass to kick".
- disasters are nothing compared to heart disease. Putting money aside for one thing means it's not working for another.
- more money doesn't necessarily more preparedness. The TSA security revamp after 9/11 comes to mind.
- there are already several non-profit institutions that exist to respond to disasters and chronic socio-economic problems alike. Unless you have a revolutionary plan of attack for anything that might happen, you're just one more institution helping as best as you can.