'Disaster City' Trains Rescuers for Real-Life Catastrophes
Disasters happen. Being prepared is almost always the ideal, but rarely the reality. A disaster training facility in Texas is trying to change that.
Known as Disaster City, this 52-acre site simulates what it's like for rescue workers responding to disaster situations in urban areas.
"Disaster City isn't a city but a vast disaster-simulation center designed to look and feel as close to catastrophe as you ever want to be. Each hairline crack, each mangled car, all the mountains of rubble are modeled on wreckage from real disasters, like the 1994 Northridge earthquake in Los Angeles that killed 72 people and injured nearly 12,000. The 1993 World Trade Center bombing inspired the collapsed parking garage, with cars dangling off the sides like spiders from a ceiling, while the 12-foot-deep rubble catacombs resemble those from Ground Zero."
Published on Friday, July 31, 2009 in
Topics
- A 20-Year To-Do List for Cities
- The Argument Against Home Ownership
- As More 'Superstar' Cities Emerge, the Gap With Other Cities Grows
- Does the Plan to Revitalize a D.C. Canal Too Much Resemble the High Line?
- Study: Not All Gentrification Effects Are Equal
- Transit Oriented Development Shifts Into High Gear Near BART Stations in the Bay Area
- Multi-Family Market Grinds to a Halt in New York City
- U.S. Economic Growth Shows Urban-Rural Divide
- Report Makes Business Case for Vancouver-to-Portland High Speed Rail
- The Great O'Hare Race (And its Discontents)
- In Crosswalks, Public Art Meets Transportation
- Shuttering a Large Coal Plant: A Tale of Two States
- Controversial ADU Allowances Approved in Maryland
- The Post-Wildfire Dilemma: Rebuild or Retreat?
- Congressional Report on Transit Spending Stops Short of Accountability
- Public Opinion Differs on New Bay Area Road Diet
- Et Tu, Portland?
- Rethinking Downtown Streets in a Revitalizing Pittsburgh
- 'Community Preference' Housing Policy Under the Microscope on Either Side of the Country
- The Car-Centric World and the Ongoing Expansion of Police Powers
