The edge of disaster : rebuilding a resilient nation
(Book)

Includes bibliographical references (p. [185]-228) and index.

Americans are in denial, maintains security expert Flynn, about how vulnerable our nation is to disaster, be it terrorist attack or act of God. But what's truly shocking, he argues, is how little we have learned from September 11 and Hurricane Katrina. America is living on borrowed time--and squandering it. Flynn describes how we have become increasingly vulnerable to disaster by grossly neglecting the complex, crumbling infrastructure that provides our water, food, health care, electricity, and transportation. Through a series of realistic scenarios, he dramatizes the prime areas of documented risk, where terrrorist attacks could kill thousands and bring regions to their economic knees--but the wrath of Mother Nature may be our gravest threat. But Flynn also explores what we can do about it, as individuals and as a society, outlining a detailed, pragmatic preparedness program we can embrace right now.--From publisher description.

Includes information on agriculture, airlines, al-Qaeda, Boston, George W. Bush, California, chemical faculities, Coast Guard, infectious diseases, earthquakes, economy, electricity, emergency care system, emergency response, Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), federal government, fire, floods, flu, gasoline, hospitals, Hurricane Katrina, hurricanes, infrastructure, insurance, Iraq, levees, Los Angeles, military, Mississippi, national security, natural disasters, New Jersey, New Orleans, New York,, oil refineries, oil tankers, police, ports, power system, disaster preparedness, private sector, public health system, rail systems, San Francisco, Seattle, September 11 terrorist atacks, state and local governments, transportation system, water systems, etc.