It appears that our federal, state, and local govenments view the Great Mississippi Flood of 2011 as just another flood. I suspect that many of the farmers and residents of small communities along the river think differently. After all they thought that with this, like with other floods, they would have the protection of the levies. Alas, they have been sacrificied so that those downstream could be saved.
The question is whether that response will have been the right one. The answer is... "it depends". What is it that it depends upon? I would contend that one of the questions we first ask ourselves is what makes this flood unique? Once we do that we might then ask what the responses ought to be. So....
What makes this situation unique?
