I am not writing this article because my wife is a member of the organization. I wanted to highlight Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Incorporated because they provide a model for how organizations should respond to extreme weather events. The sorority proactively canceled the remainder of its national convention at the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center on Friday so that members, their families, vendors, and others could leave New Orleans. In the true spirit of the organization, which prides itself on sisterhood and service, the organization also donated 17,000 meals, likely already purchased for convention-related events, to Second Harvest Food Bank according to news reports. Here's why I wanted to highlight their response.
Tropical Storm Barry from the perspective of infrared instruments on a weather satellite. This image was taken on the morning of July 13th, 2019 hours before the storm makes landfall.
NOAA/CIMSS Tropical Website
In 2013, I served as President of the American Meteorological Society (AMS), the nation's largest professional organization focused on the meteorological, atmospheric, climate, and related sciences. As a scientist and professor, it was certainly a highlight of my career to be elected by my peers. One of the hallmarks of my tenure was to set the theme and plan the AMS Annual Meeting, a week-long international conference with multiple thousands of scientists, vendors, media, students, and curious public. I am fully aware of the logistics, costs, and efforts that it takes to organize sessions, banquets, and convention activities for a week. It is not trivial nor optimal to cut short a conference or convention. Delta Sigma Theta did just that. From its official twitter site Friday morning, the organization tweeted:
After consultation with the New Orleans Mayor and others regarding the expectation of Tropical Storm Barry, the 54th National Convention will conclude Friday, July 12, per an announcement by Beverly E. Smith, National President and CEO last night. #DSTconvention2019 #DST1913
Delta Sigma Theta ("the Deltas") is one of nine historically African-American sororities and fraternities. I am a member of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Incorporated ("the Alphas"). Unlike the mental model of collegiate greek life that you may have etched in your mind, organizations like ours are strongly anchored in service, leadership development, community action, and brotherly or sisterly bonds. Activities are less centered around houses on campus, parties, and the concept of "rushing." Another very unique aspect of our organizations is that members are typically active and engaged after college through graduate chapters. This year over 16,000 members of Delta Sigma Theta, both undergraduates and graduates, descended upon New Orleans, Louisiana according to a report on the CBS46 Atlanta website. Many of them were likely not familiar with the impacts of a tropical storm or hurricane and the unique flooding risks associated with a place like New Orleans. Safety considerations and logistics associated with leaving the city warranted a bold move.
As I write this on Saturday morning, Tropical Storm Barry (graphic above) was close to becoming a category 1 hurricane. Candidly, it doesn't matter whether it does or not. It is a strong tropical storm that will inundate the region with 10 to 20+ inches of rainfall. Because of the unique topographic characteristics of New Orleans (it's basically a bowl), flooding is an inevitability. Barry is a slow-moving system, which adds to the dangerous flooding likelihood through Sunday. The storm will also feature tropical storm winds and potential hurricane level gusts. It is going to be a mess. In fact, the city of New Orleans has asked people to shelter in place at this point.
I see the Delta Sigma Theta action as bold because often times, people or organizations use the plan of "hope" or "let's wait and see" to take action. The recent Duck boat tragedy in Missouri or the Sugarland concert in Indiana several years ago are reminders that not proactively acting on available weather information can have tragic consequences. In the era of modern weather forecasting and its technology, "hope is not a credible plan." In 2018, the American Meteorological Society published a statement that said:
Situational awareness can be compromised when hazardous weather threatens, and in the worst of cases, loss of life has occurred. In addition, at many indoor events, and almost all outdoor events, sheltering options against life-threatening weather are limited or nonexistent. In the U.S., hazardous weather kills attendees at entertainment venues each year, and litigation in these instances exceeds tens of millions of dollars....A common theme in the after-action reports and service assessments for these disasters is that the weather plan was inadequate to deal with a comprehensive portfolio of weather risk, or a weather plan didn’t exist. In many instances, organizers simply “hoped that we wouldn’t get hit.
On the Delta Sigma Theta website, it says "Intelligence is the torch of wisdom." The Deltas didn't hope, they trusted the science and acted. Kudos to them.
A picture of street flooding on Monday in New Orleans as members of Delta Sigma Theta arrived in New Orleans.
Alsonia McKenzie via Social Media
#News | https://sciencespies.com/news/delta-sigma-theta-sororitys-response-to-tropical-storm-barry-is-a-model-to-follow/
No comments:
Post a Comment