It's hard to wrap my head around what's going on over there in New Orleans. It sounds and looks just as bad as anything any disaster movie director could come up with.

80% of one of America's greatest cities is under water. Hundreds of bodies are floating around decaying in the heat. The poorest people have been left stranded on top of their houses or in and around the Louisiana Superdome. Rescue teams are being called off due to fears of violence. Looting is out of control. There are reports of rape, attacks on hospital supply trucks, assualt..and on and on and on.....

Something went terribly wrong here. And the hurricane can only be partially be blamed for it. What we're seeing now is evidence of a huge divide between the haves who were able to evacuate, and the have-nots, predominantly minorities, who were left behind. It's a recipe for anarchy.

I've never been to New Orleans, but I'm trying to imagine what it must be like for anyone from there to hear the political leaders and newscasters use the term "if" New Orleans gets rebuilt rather than "when" New Orleans gets rebuilt.

I personally have little doubt that the city will rise from the muck. People are far too attached to place to let it go so easily. It's been nearly 100 years since a disaster of this magnitude has hit an American city. 1906, San Francisco. People thought that it was the end of San Francisco, but the city rose from the ashes better than ever before.

Relating what's happening to New Orleans with the 1906 quake though also has a very frightening flipside. Everyone says its only a matter of time before another earthquake of that magnitude tears up the Bay Area, it could happen right here on the Hayward fault. I joke about the alumni side of Memorial Stadium collapsing into a heap of dust...but the thought is terrible. If the quake is strong enough it could physically destroy many of the places we know and love. Assuming it happens in my lifetime, and assuming that I'm still here....I'll probably be very lucky to not lose someone I know because of it.

Are we at all prepared? Judging from what's happening in New Orleans, it doesn't seem like we should rely at all on the Federal Government to swoop to our rescue. If the quake devastates the poorer areas of the Bay, we could very well face the same human chaos that is plaguing New Orleans. Entire neighborhoods, entire cities, could be reduced to piles of rubble or consumed in fire. I hope this serves as a wake up call to the leaders of the Bay Area to get their act together, have their plans in place, get that bridge rebuilt, and make sure that all those rinky-dink apartment complexes that some of our poorest residents (including students) live in are brought up to snuff.

I don't know how to end this post...this has been a random jumble of thoughts I've had the past few days. So...yeah. I guess I'll just say that as a person who plans on making a living off of studying and designing cities, it's quite humbling to be reminded how very fragile they really are. Permanence is an illusion.