Reflecting on the lessons of emergencies in Mexico City, Islamabad, and Hendersonville
Photo: Florida Fish and Wildlife photo from their Flickr account. Used under a Creative Commons license.
Since the January fires that destroyed two sections of greater Los Angeles, Zócalo Public Square has been commissioning essays from people around the world who lived through similar disaster. Responding to terrible events is the most important task of local democracy, and these letters remind us that our cities and local communities are facing remarkably similar emergencies, even in very different contexts. Here are three such letters you shouldn't miss.
• In this letter from Mexico City, recounts the 1985 earthquake there and how the possibility of quakes hangs over the city and its people.
• Writing from Islamabad, Todd Shea recounts two decades as an aid work in Pakistan and explains why every disaster is different.
• In this letter from Hendersonville, North Carolina, pediatrician Derek Moss, whose office flooded in Hurricane Helene, describes the post-storm reality and his recognition that disasters may never really end.
