Sounding the Warning on Preparedness for Hurricane Sandy

The Times had a strong story on the front page Wednesday under a headline that says a great deal: “For Years, Warnings That It Could Happen Here.”

“It,” of course, refers to a disaster like the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy.

That article, by Mireya Navarro and David Chen, may have reminded some readers about another front-page effort about seven weeks ago by Ms. Navarro.

Consider these paragraphs from her prescient Sept. 11 article:

But even as city officials earn high marks for environmental awareness, critics say New York is moving too slowly to address the potential for flooding that could paralyze transportation, cripple the low-lying financial district and temporarily drive hundreds of thousands of people from their homes.

Only a year ago, they point out, the city shut down the subway system and ordered the evacuation of 370,000 people as Hurricane Irene barreled up the Atlantic coast. Ultim ately, the hurricane weakened to a tropical storm and spared the city, but it exposed how New York is years away from - and billions of dollars short of - armoring itself.

“They lack a sense of urgency about this,” said Douglas Hill, an engineer with the Storm Surge Research Group at Stony Brook University, on Long Island.

I spoke with Ms. Navarro on Wednesday. The Metropolitan section reporter who covers the environment said that she is glad that she wrote that article last month and that The Times gave it front-page display.

But now, she added, the situation â€" in the devastating aftermath of Hurricane Sandy - has moved from the theoretical to the all-too-real.

It's not in the job descriptions of reporters to make policy, but often they are in an unusually good position to make cogent observations about what they cover. Ms. Navarro did just that when we spoke.

“Rather than constant studies, we need some action steps now,† she said. “The subway alone is a major thing. If the subway goes, the city goes.”

It's notable that her September article drew nearly 250 comments from deeply interested readers, from Manhattan to the Netherlands. Infrastructure may not be a sexy topic on its face, but it matters deeply to people's lives and creates passionate responses.

The Times has given this subject significant attention, not only in the metropolitan region, but also nationally.

In its national reporter John Schwartz, The Times has a full-time infrastructure reporter, a major commitment of resources. His reporting has frequently sounded alarms about infrastructure deficiencies in the United States. In the paper's long-term, sustained coverage of Hurricane Katrina's aftermath in New Orleans, The Times showed that it knew just how important infrastructure is.

And talk about prescience. As early as 2008, Mr. Schwartz was writing about New York's vulnerability to storms wit h an article titled “Waiting for the Big One.”

But readers â€" from governors to city residents to federal officials â€" often have short attention spans and limited ability to focus on important, hugely expensive and seemingly unexciting topics.

Now the subject has come home in an undeniable way.

Ms. Navarro noted that those action steps are extremely expensive and take sustained effort over time.

“The plan is to stick with the coverage,” she said. “We know that this is not going to go away.”

Mr. Schwartz put it another way: “People do the right thing after we've been shamed into it. We don't learn our lessons until we have to.”

That moment, apparently, has arrived. But a newspaper can only do so much. So far, The Times has done its job admirably. Now it's time for public officials to do theirs.