The Server is Not Robust
Oct. 22nd, 2007 09:36 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
danalwynDear Asshats, Fucktards, and other assorted Bastards,
I noticed that the web servers that supply us with information concerning evacuation zones are down. Both of them. Probably due to excess traffic.
Did it ever occur to any of you witless wonders, who probably make more in a day than I do in a week, that in case of a real emergency people would not be content waiting at home, that they would want to find out just what was going on? Did you not realize that, with the evidence of disaster falling all around us in clouds of gray ash, that people would realize that something was wrong? Would it have killed you to make the emergency web server system robust enough that people could actually access it in case of, you know, an emergency? Or was this concept beyond the ability of your foresight to grasp?
Maybe someone should have taught you how people respond during disaster scenarios. They get worried, they get nervous, they panic, and do you know why? It's because they don't know what's going on, and in the absence of knowledge, fear takes hold. People imagine that the fires are getting closer, that somehow they were missed in the evacuation order. People don't know whether their families have been evacuated, their homes have been lost, a lifetime of memories burned into ash. Their are entire neighborhoods where the television claims that a mandatory evacuation order is in force, and yet nobody there has been told, by anyone, to leave. What are they to do? Panic? Wait until the fire is at their door, or rush out now and get caught in the logjam? Are they supposed to evacuate on their own or what?
The key to a successful evacuation, or a successful management of any disaster, is keeping people informed. If you tell people that you're evacuating one neighborhood at a time, they get out of their cars and go back inside, not trying to race away at the first sign that the wind is shifting. People stop panicking once they know what's happening where, and there's no better way to get that information to the public than via a webpage that you can continually update - one that people can access at work, where they might not have a television. Now there's no coordination. People with kids are sitting at home, with no idea whether they were supposed to have left already, with no idea where they are supposed to go, waiting for the telephone to ring, or the police car to speed by with its megaphone.
Because if a real natural disaster, or a terrorist attack, hits San Diego, you may be dealing with something a thousand times worse. How are you intending to distribute information to a public who may have to be evacuated then? Telegraph? Semaphore? All that fancy tactical equipment you bought so cops could fight terrorists might come in handy, because you're going to have riots on your hands if you can't tell people how to evacuate, and where, and when, and whether they have to do something. Because if you don't have that, you're going to have another Hurricane Katrina on your hands.
And if I find out that you've spent all that DHS money on buying yourself some fancy SWAT cars, I'm going to take that equipment and cram it up your ass.
Sincerely,
An Unhappy Citizen
P.S. I've noticed that the commercial news sites are beginning to go under as the web traffic keeps pounding on them. Do you have any idea how retarded it is for the government to depend on the news outlets to give out emergency information when they can't do it themselves?
I noticed that the web servers that supply us with information concerning evacuation zones are down. Both of them. Probably due to excess traffic.
Did it ever occur to any of you witless wonders, who probably make more in a day than I do in a week, that in case of a real emergency people would not be content waiting at home, that they would want to find out just what was going on? Did you not realize that, with the evidence of disaster falling all around us in clouds of gray ash, that people would realize that something was wrong? Would it have killed you to make the emergency web server system robust enough that people could actually access it in case of, you know, an emergency? Or was this concept beyond the ability of your foresight to grasp?
Maybe someone should have taught you how people respond during disaster scenarios. They get worried, they get nervous, they panic, and do you know why? It's because they don't know what's going on, and in the absence of knowledge, fear takes hold. People imagine that the fires are getting closer, that somehow they were missed in the evacuation order. People don't know whether their families have been evacuated, their homes have been lost, a lifetime of memories burned into ash. Their are entire neighborhoods where the television claims that a mandatory evacuation order is in force, and yet nobody there has been told, by anyone, to leave. What are they to do? Panic? Wait until the fire is at their door, or rush out now and get caught in the logjam? Are they supposed to evacuate on their own or what?
The key to a successful evacuation, or a successful management of any disaster, is keeping people informed. If you tell people that you're evacuating one neighborhood at a time, they get out of their cars and go back inside, not trying to race away at the first sign that the wind is shifting. People stop panicking once they know what's happening where, and there's no better way to get that information to the public than via a webpage that you can continually update - one that people can access at work, where they might not have a television. Now there's no coordination. People with kids are sitting at home, with no idea whether they were supposed to have left already, with no idea where they are supposed to go, waiting for the telephone to ring, or the police car to speed by with its megaphone.
Because if a real natural disaster, or a terrorist attack, hits San Diego, you may be dealing with something a thousand times worse. How are you intending to distribute information to a public who may have to be evacuated then? Telegraph? Semaphore? All that fancy tactical equipment you bought so cops could fight terrorists might come in handy, because you're going to have riots on your hands if you can't tell people how to evacuate, and where, and when, and whether they have to do something. Because if you don't have that, you're going to have another Hurricane Katrina on your hands.
And if I find out that you've spent all that DHS money on buying yourself some fancy SWAT cars, I'm going to take that equipment and cram it up your ass.
Sincerely,
An Unhappy Citizen
P.S. I've noticed that the commercial news sites are beginning to go under as the web traffic keeps pounding on them. Do you have any idea how retarded it is for the government to depend on the news outlets to give out emergency information when they can't do it themselves?
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
(no subject)
Date: 2007-10-23 01:33 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2007-10-23 02:37 am (UTC)The news centers are telling us that there is lots of fire and houses are burning. It's not entirely helpful right now.
(no subject)
Date: 2007-10-23 05:21 am (UTC)*Is distracted by the elections here, & goes to google the latest on the fires*
(no subject)
Date: 2007-10-23 05:29 am (UTC)It's not that they're bad at reporting the official news. It's that the official news is coming in bits and pieces, and most of those bits and pieces are simply too small and too lacking to be of any use.
(no subject)
Date: 2007-10-23 06:29 am (UTC)Which brings up a possibly irrelevant thing to wonder: Is it better to have no information at all, or disjointed information that adds to the mess? There's the creation of fear and panic and hysteria from not knowing, and the fear/panic/hysteria from getting confused and more worked up than may be necessary, depending on the area. Unless, it's clear as day, humans tend to good at panicking. Since the marines near you at Miramar are being evacuated, might be time to go. Except the question is where, and which place would have sufficiently helpful and relevant communication after that?
Either way, hopefully you won't be too highly stressed about this, and that all will be somewhat alright. One can hope.
(no subject)
Date: 2007-10-23 02:26 pm (UTC)I think some information is better than no information because it keeps people in the loop, but I'm very disappointed in how we communicate what's going on with the civilians. Oh well.
I'm waiting for an evacuation order, since they will bring buses.