Nothing Is Stronger Than Water

It is carved in stone in some comic library that humans will always believe that the horrors of their lives, once experienced, could have been – in some way, in some measure - prevented:

The earthquake that struck northwest of Sumatra, Indonesia, at dawn yesterday was a perfect wave-making machine, and the lack of a tsunami warning system in the Indian Ocean essentially guaranteed the devastation that swept coastal communities around southern Asia, experts said.[...]

"There's no reason for a single individual to get killed in a tsunami," Dr. [Tad] Murty [an expert on the region's tsunamis] said. "The waves are totally predictable. We have travel-time charts covering all of the Indian Ocean. From where this earthquake happened to hit, the travel time for waves to hit the tip of India was four hours. That's enough time for a warning."

Nobody can, or should, be shouldered with the responsibility and shame of not adequately protecting those who died…or who will soon die from various diseases and lingering injuries. However, there is a lesson buried in this story that ought not to (but probably will) be lost in the halls of power: listen to scientists. Mother Nature is a red fanged bitch, more lethal and unforgiving than any terrorist. Pay attention.