Petite Catastrophe

France has its own set of floods to worry about. The annual flooding of Nimes is going on right now and rivers and creeks are swollen from the abundant rainfall. Although it pales in comparison to what just happend along the Gulf Coast in the US, it leads the news morning and night for now. Apparently Katrina has given France a new impetus to consider how it deals with its own potential disasters. Perhaps telling this morning was an interview with a worker at the city hall where utilities are out and the water has come up almost to the door. Asked how they were holding up he just shook his head and replied:

"Je suis catastrophé, catastrophé. Plus d'électricité, plus de téléphone. On ne sait plus quoi faire!"
[It's a disaster, a disaster. No electricity, no telephone. What are we supposed to do?!]

Now far be it from me to belittle anyone their own disaster scenario, but when this guy gets power back perhaps he should watch a little television to put his petite catastrophe into perspective. Just google France and flood and you get a history of floods in this southeastern region. It's not like they weren't expecting rain this time of year. Still, natural disasters just seem to proliferate these days. I guess when it rains...