Getting ready for the Big One

摘要

Earthquakes, wildfires, floods and mudslides: by almost any criterion California, the nation's most populous state, is also its most vulnerable to natural disaster. And perhaps to man-made disaster, too: Los Angeles Airport, the Los Angeles-Long Beach port complex, San Francisco's Golden Gate and Bay bridges and Disneyland are all targets for terrorists. This week, when most of Los Angeles suddenly suffered an electricity blackout, the immediate fear was al-Qaeda. That was misplaced, but it raised an obvious question: faced by a massive disaster, how well would California cope?