Natural Disasters, Science and the Role of Government

As there are discussions about re-evaluating government’s role at a time where there is some skepticism over science, I thought it might be worthwhile to try to start a discussion on where to find observable science, how that data is used today to make decisions, and why government has played an important role in that decision-making. The hope is to get to common ground on some of these topics by avoiding political generalizations and pushing towards scientific observations over what may feel right. I worked for the federal government at both the US Army Corps of Engineers (9 years) and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (16 years) as a hydraulic engineer. The focus will be on natural disasters and the efforts to reduce our exposure to them as well as respond and recover from them as that is what the focus of my work has entailed. I have retired so nothing on this site should be taken as reflecting any federal agency or government policies or viewpoints. The viewpoints on this site are strictly my own and I expect and hope that others will contribute here beyond my own limitations through an open and friendly dialogue.