Tales from 'narrative spinners' are trying to change our city's formula for success
"Imagine the following scenario:
A major metropolitan area with millions of people is hit with a natural disaster of unprecedented proportions. Everyone expects a catastrophe of biblical proportions.
After the disaster passes, you learn the following:
- 99.5 percent of people are able to remain in their homes.
- 94 percent of homes suffered no damage.
- 0.0000075 percent of the population dies from the disaster, an increase in the annual death rate of about 0.1 percent.
...City, county, corporate, non-profit, and community leaders do a great job of responding to the disaster, as do state and federal government emergency management agencies.
Average, everyday citizens step up in a big way to take care of family, friends, and neighbors.
The economic damage caused by the disaster is estimated to be than 10 percent to 20 percent of annual regional economic output, most of which is covered by insurance or tax deductible.
This is like someone who makes a salary of $60,000 having suffering loss of $6,000 to $12,000.
Houstonians don't have to imagine this scenario - we just lived it.
But Hurricane Harvey was not a catastrophe.
It was Houston's finest hour, evidence that our distinctive approach to self-governance works, even under the stress of a major storm..."
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