Contrary to much commentary, America’s response to Hurricane Harvey has so far been good. It is tragic but remarkable that fewer than 40 people have lost their lives in Houston and its environs, given the scale of the disaster. The death toll is likely to rise but the contrast with South Asia, where more than 1,200 have died from flooding, is yawning. The US federal disaster response system picked up valuable lessons from the debacle of Hurricane Katrina in 2005, such as deferring to authorities on the ground and drawing on the knowledge of local volunteers.
與諸多評價相反的是，迄今為止，美國對颶風“哈維”(Hurricane Harvey)的應對其實還行。它是一場悲劇，但考慮到這場災難的規模，它又很了不起——在休斯敦及其周邊，喪生者不到40人。死亡人數很可能會上升，但與南亞的情況有天壤之別，在南亞，已有1200多人死于洪水。美國聯邦救災系統從對2005年颶風“卡特里娜”(Hurricane Katrina)的極其失敗的應對中汲取了寶貴的經驗教訓，例如要遵從當地政府的意見，以及要利用當地志愿者的才識。