Raheem DeVaughn Quotes

The state of emergency and critical nature of the times do not allow me, as they do not allow anyone, to embark on a blame game.

So, all during the '90s and, you know, for the first half of this decade, we had opportunities to get evacuation plans in place, better communications in place.

Emergency does not read the law.

Emergency does not create power.

You take care of emergencies first—in life and in politics.

The nation’s disaster mechanisms do not seem to be in the hands of those who know how to use them.

Over the years, I've been involved in many business crises. I qualify this, since my crises have never involved life and death or the survival of the human race. But they are still crises.

When you're in a crisis, there's really no playbook.

We're hoping for the best, but we need to prepare for the worst.

We know we cannot underestimate the importance of emergency planning in our region, nor can we assume we'll have ample warning time. If an earthquake or terrorist attack hits, we won't necessarily have advance alerts or opportunities to double- and triple-check our plans.

But I think the bottom line right now is to take the constructive criticism and use that to build toward, as I say, the hurricane season that is 100 days away. And we don't have a lot of time to waste before we start to address that next set of challenges.

If my house was on fire, I can't compromise about which part of the house I'm going to save. You save the whole house or it will all burn down. We either save this country or we do not.

When you have an emergency, there is the urge to do whatever it takes to see people get assistance.

My life has been a series of emergencies.

I want to assure your excellency that I am occupying myself permanently and jointly with my team to achieve a solution as soon as possible to this crisis, the principal objective being the safeguarding of the health and life of those who are inside.

There are times when fixing things quickly is the only option: when you have to channel MacGyver, reach for the duct tape, and cobble together whatever solution works right now. If someone is choking on a morsel of food, you don't sit back, stroke your chin and take the Aristotelian long view. You quickly administer the Heimlich maneuvre.

City government can and must help San Franciscans prepare for emergencies in order to avoid tragedy where possible and minimize loss of life and property when emergencies occur.

If national safety - the ability to respond to hurricanes, terrorist attacks, earthquakes - depends on the execution of explicit plans, on soldierly obedience, and on showy security drills, then a decentralized security scheme is useless.

We are ready for an unforeseen event that may or may not occur .

Anything you say before a pandemic occurs sounds alarmist; anything you say after it occurs is inadequate.

The actions you plan to take and the actions you actually decide to take [in a crisis] are not always the same.

When your house is on fire—that is not the time to talk

Many today feel troubled and distressed; many feel that, at any moment, the ships of their lives could capsize or sink.

Patience, they say, is a virtue. Yet in times of emergency, the government needs to be able to make snap decisions and take bold, decisive action to protect the American people.

When we have a disaster in Japan, I wonder, how can we prevent our lives and traditions and history from the disaster?