Boy Scout Troop 325
Scoutmaster Minute
The Katrina Disaster
September 6, 2005
Larry Polyak, Scoutmaster

Last week, as we were celebrating at our Court of Honor, the city of New Orleans was being flooded. Hurricane Katrina had hit the gulf coast at over 140 mph and broke the levee system in three places, allowing water to spill into most of the city. By all accounts, this is the worst disaster to hit the United States. The worst ever. Thousands lost their lives and more will still die. As estimated 5 million people are without power. The area affected covers 90,000 square miles, an area almost as large as the United Kingdom. Disaster relief and aid is pouring is, albeit slower than most would like to see. But the fact is, the United States was unprepared to deal with a situation of this magnitude.

Disasters always seem to happen to someone else, don't they? Closer to home, next year is the 100th anniversary of the 1906 San Francisco earthquake. That quake, along with the resulting fires, nearly destroyed the city of San Francisco. Although there is virtually noone alive who lived through it, anyone who lives in this area knows about it, and the destruction that was caused.

Closer yet was the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake. You guys are just a little young to remember that one, but I remember it vividly. It was Tuesday, October 17th, 1989, 5:04 pm. Erik, if you can believe it, was only this big and not quite 3 weeks old. I had decided to give Karen a short break from looking after our new baby boy so I took him and brought him to work with me. He was sitting asleep in a baby basket on my desk. I happened to be talking on the phone with someone who was working in the Santa Cruz mountains, near the epicenter of the quake.

All of a sudden the person on the other end of the phone said "Earthquake". He felt it first. I wondered what he was talking about. Then the phone went dead. Then the earth started to shake. There was a pile of computer paper on a shelf that started to fall. As the paper cascaded off the shelf, it gave the impression that everything was flying off the walls. I hunched over the baby basket to protect Erik with my own body, picked him up and ran, hunched over, outside. The ground continued to sway back and forth. There was something very unsettling about the ground moving below my feet. It was scary. Fortunately, we were not hurt. But many people died or were injured, and life in this area was disrupted for quite some time.

The point is... disasters can happen to anyone, anywhere. Not just to someone else, somewhere else.

The Boy Scout motto is "Be Prepared". To be prepared requires knowledge. Eagle required merit badges include First Aid and either Lifesaving or Emergency Preparedness, in order to gain this knowledge. Also required is Citizenship, which is knowledge of your community, state, and country. Along with knowledge, being prepared requires ability. That's why Eagle required badges also include Personal Fitness, and either Swimming, Hiking, or Cycling.

I hope that in all of your lives, you are never faced with any major disasters. But chances are, you will at least be faced with minor problems and situtations where your Scouting knowledge and abilities can be put to use. It will be up to you to have the courage to step forward and help. Are you up to the task?

Thank you for listening.