After the Fact

John Tenneil, Alice in Wonderland

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Ranger Question of the Day:
Why would emergency planners place emergency
generators in areas that are likely to be flooded?
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In the wake of the recent Midwest floods, the Cedar Rapids, IA, hospital was evacuated because emergency generators -- located on the lower levels -- might be flooded.

"Water was seeping into the hospital's lower levels, where the emergency generator is located, said Dustin Hinrichs of the Linn County emergency operations center."

"They proactively and preventatively started evacuation basically guessing on the fact they were going to lose power," he said (Inundated: Midwest Flooding Spurs Evacuation.)

Why were the generators not proactively and preventively placed above the flood plain? Were planners not aware that generators cannot function under water?

Why were the generators not placed on roofs?