Parts of the Midwest are still reeling from spring flooding caused by a winter's-worth of snow melting in a very short period of time. The floods have caused hundreds of millions of dollars in property damage, even in places with plans for such occurrences.
But there is less that a small community in Guatemala can do to plan for the devastation caused by a volcanic eruption, and that's where the work of people like Mike Paddock comes in. Paddock is a Milwaukee-area engineer and also a volunteer with the international organization Engineers Without Borders.
Paddock came to the Lake Effect studio to chat about his experience encountering the aftermath of the eruption:
"For engineers, it's all about wane risk. And, for me, it was really amazing at this site because when I walked there for the very first time last July, it was like literally being there after God created the heavens and the earth," Paddock says.
He says the engineers' primary goal while there was to replace four bridges.
"The reason that they were so important is they're really critical evacuation routes. So, if a volcano erupts again, now the people wouldn't be trapped, so, that was the mission," Paddock says.
This was the seventh global disaster response Paddock has helped the organization with.
