Preparing for the worst

One of the lessons of Hurricane Katrina is that we can never be too prepared for the worst.

A flood disaster is always possible here on the banks of the Mississippi River, but it's also likely the New Madrid fault will someday produce an earthquake of catastrophic proportions. If that happens, the region could be isolated for days.

Last week's meeting between local, state and federal officials called together to discuss disaster plans illustrated one of the reasons why planning and preparedness are so crucial. U.S. Rep. Jo Ann Emerson discovered to her surprise that no centralized inventory of critical assets that must be protected for use after a quake has been compiled. We are not prepared for such a disaster.

Emerson and U.S. Sen. Jim Talent have called for an exercise to test the region's emergency plans. The drill would compress activities into three or four days that naturally would take place over weeks. Such a drill is necessary to demonstrate any weaknesses in the disaster plan.

As Napoleon Bonaparte observed, "Those who fail to plan can plan to fail."