This Disaster Zone podcast is from a couple of weeks ago, but it is directly applicable to the situation we see playing out in New Orleans and the other hurricane-impacted areas of Louisiana.
The situation there in Louisiana looks like a catastrophic failure of the power grid. Power plants, large transmission towers and the broader distribution system that brings power to individual homes have all been laid waste.
Eric Holdeman is a contributing writer for Emergency Management magazine and is the former director of the King County, Wash., Office of Emergency Management.