Theory of relativity

A couple of days ago I spoke to a friend from Haiti.  He told me that when he was a college student in that country over 20 years ago, he worked with a group of professors and students on an emergency plan for the government.  They were tasked with coming up with the worst possible natural disaster or crisis they could imagine, and a concrete plan for how the country should deal with the crisis. 

So they met and tied to determine the worst kind of event.  A hurricane?  No, those happen all the time--everyone knows what to do in a hurricane.  A tsunami? Maybe--that would be bad.  Instead, they came up with something that in their minds would be even worse: A snowstorm. 

Yep, they put together an emergency plan so the government would know what to do if Haiti ever received 15 inches of snow in a 24-hour period.  Ironically, he said the idea of an earthquake never even made it on their list, as it was considered such a remote possibility.  "Even more remote than a snowstorm in Haiti?" I asked.  He said, "Well, we had to come up with something."  It was the worst thing they could possibly imagine.  I don't know if that's funny or sad; maybe it's a little of both.  He thinks it's funny, now that he's lived through so many Indiana winters.