Working Up

by Dwayne Phillips

The aftermath of Hurricane Helene in the mountains of the east coast reminds us of a basic.

Hurricane Helene hit the Gulf Coast of Florida recently. It hit the coast hard. The worst damage and the most deaths, however, occurred in the mountains up the east coast of the US. This is like Hurricane Camille of 1969 which killed several hundred people in Virginia during the days after it hit the Mississippi Gulf Coast.

The mountains and valleys hit by Helene have rivers and creeks and streams and all that. This flowing water occurs in the little valleys between the mountains and hills. Water flows downhill. The streams feed the creeks which feed the rivers which feed the lakes and all that. Water flows downhill. Massive rain for hours and we have floods.

Water flows downhill. It is inevitable. We cannot stop it. We cannot turn off gravity.

If you can help those folks who have been flooded, please do so.

Okay, project managers and other folks who decide things that affect the jobs and livelihoods of others, take heed. There are economic hills. These make economic valleys. Economic water flows downhill just like water in real life. There is no magic to eliminate this.

Take care of those who live in the economic valleys by the river. The water will flood them. We, however, can foresee this and do something. Please, let’s do better.