Each day dozens of potential time bombs float past our community, headed to parts unknown with contents that might as well be from another planet as far as local emergency officials know.

Looking at the majestic views of the Mississippi River from high atop the Natchez bluffs can be a bit deceiving.

“How can anything that picturesque and serene become so deadly?” one might ask.

But in recent days, two different sets of barges struck the Mississippi River bridge. In each case, some of the barges broke loose and sank, risking exposing their cargo to the peril of man and nature alike.

Fortunately, this time, both accidents did no harm and the material within the barges was benign.

But several decades ago residents were terrified by a similar accident involving sunken containers filled with deadly chlorine gas.

The year was 1961; young and old alike were scared to death at the possibility of a deadly cloud rising up the bluffs.

But today, some 46 years later, the reality is that we are potentially no better off than we were so many years ago.

Despite the lessons of Hurricane Katrina and our scribbled upon emergency disaster plan, our county’s emergency management director admits that he’s unaware of the existence of any kind of evacuation plan should another deadly threat emanate from the picturesque riverfront.

The thought seems to be that we’ll depend upon state and federal authorities to handle should another situation arise.

That’s simply not acceptable.

Acknowledging the deficiency is the first step. The second step is getting into gear and getting such a plan in place and communicated to the community. We need action now before the inevitable happens.