"Twelve years ago, terrorism seemed to be the biggest safety threat to the D.C. region. Now many area emergency management officials think a bigger threat has emerged: natural disasters."
"Kenneth Mallette is the director of Maryland's Emergency Management Agency. He says the weather that the D.C. region has seen in the past two years in many ways surpasses terrorism as a threat.
'The strength and severity of Superstorm Sandy and the 2012 derecho make it clear to Maryland and the National Capital Region that we face greater threats of property damage and loss of life from natural disasters than previously experienced,' Mallette says.
Emergency officials often point to the "lessons of 9/11" — how they've changed their response to catastrophes through better training, procedures, and technology because of what first responders faced that day. But now, 9/11 is rarely the driving force even for that."
Matt Bush reports for WAMU News September 11, 2013.
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