Learning the lessons - Floods just a glimpse of the future

AS many people struggle to rebuild homes or businesses after the floods, their emotions may be a combination of anger, despair and the unspoken trepidation that it is only a matter of time before the floods return.

Just as with so many of the terrible challenges facing us, anger and a feeling of helplessness are predictable. We feel better if we can rationalise these disasters; if we can put a face on those we imagine responsible for the floods; if we can point to clerics who protected paedophile colleagues; if we can prosecute bankers who crossed the line and if we can pillory the politicians we blame for nearly everything.

This may be predictable but it is not altogether helpful. Any one calamity is the consequence of a series of decisions, some taken decades ago.