Many of comments I see are generalizations about American collectivism, or lack thereof. While I do wish we here in America acted more collectively, that would not change the nature of preparation or mitigate the damage done by Harvey. Storms like Harvey are a reminder of our insignificance when it comes to the wrath of nature. The next few months will have many criticisms of points touched upon in this article, but the bottom line is if this storm had hit anywhere in the world that had the same geographical circumstances, the results would be more or less the same - catastrophic flooding. There are no marshlands, flood insurance, sandbagging, or evacuations that can change the effects of the massive water impact that the surge and rainfall Harvey brought.