After every large scale natural disaster, calls are made to reform and fix the agencies and plans of our emergency response. Often the focus is on the federal response, when the primary response for such events rests with those closest to the disaster - state and local officials and organizations. This episode explores how emergency response efforts require coordination among various agencies and departments across jurisdictional lines. Where natural disasters cannot be fully and accurately predicted, it is also time to start considering what risks we take - as individuals and as communities - when we knowingly put ourselves in areas known to be at risk for such disasters.