# 478
A cryptic news story, basically a list, crossed the wires yesterday outlining the 13 sectors and four resources that must remain operational during a pandemic, according to the Department of Homeland Security.
Given the lack of `meat' in this article, I suspect this is a Sunday `filler', and is recycled news. Not a bad thing, if the idea is to keep bird flu, and a possible pandemic, in the news.
Most of these make sense. Although I question the need for # 2 on their hit parade; national monuments and icons.
National monuments and icons?
The Feds will have their hands full keeping the banks, the power grid, telecommunications, and national defense operational. How many people, during a pandemic, are likely to visit the Statue of Liberty or Mount Rushmore?
In any event, here is the list:
Sectors to Stay Open in Pandemic
Sunday, February 18, 2007
By The Associated Press
The U.S. government has identified 13 sectors and four resources that must remain operational during a bird flu pandemic. They are:
Critical infrastructure
_ food and agriculture
_ national monuments and icons
_ banking and finance
_ chemical and hazardous materials
_ defense industrial base
_ water
_ public health and health care
_ energy
_ emergency services
_ information technology
_ telecommunications
_ postal and shipping
_ transportation
Key resources
_ government facilities
_ dams
_ commercial facilities
_ nuclear power plants
Source: U.S. Department of Homeland Security
This list appears to be largely derived from a 2003 document entitled National Strategy for the Physical Protection of Critical Infrastructures and Key Assets, which was produced in the aftermath of 9/11, and may explain the inclusion of the monuments and icons in the list.
