A window of opportunity: rebuilding the right way

Much of today’s infrastructure needs rebuilding. What needs to be done before catastrophe strikes? Emergency Magazine explores the question.

According to the report, America’s GPA with regard to the state of critical infrastructure — roads, bridges, dams, drinking water, hazardous waste — is about a 1.3, equivalent to a grade of D+, according to the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE).

An example of addressing the issue is the Regional Plan Association, who addresses building back better and planning by using scenario planning as a tool to develop plans. The concept is to consider a number of options that might occur in the future. “The idea is you don’t just plan for the storm that just happened; you know the future is uncertain and that any number of things might happen,” said Robert Freudenberg, director of the association’s Division of Energy and Environment. “You choose a range of scenarios that are likely to happen and start thinking through each of those.”

“There’s a window of opportunity to think differently after a disaster, and unfortunately a disaster is often the motivating factor for thinking differently,” he said. “That starts to wear off after a while and things go back to business as usual.”