Natural Disasters

This year is shaping up to be a record year for hurricanes or typhoons. “NASA’s Terra satellite saw Hurricanes Kilo, Ignacio, and Jimena, all Category Four Hurricanes, lined up across the Central and Eastern Pacific Ocean on August 29 at 22:25 UTC (6:25 p.m. EDT). This is the first time there have been three active hurricanes in the Eastern or Central Pacific Ocean this season, and they’re all major hurricanes” (NASA, August 30, 2015).

The New Yorker recently discussed the potential of a major earthquake in the Cascadia Subduction Zone—between northern California and Vancouver Island (July 20, 2015). The Zone packs far greater energy than the famous San Andreas Fault to the south. The author writes “An earthquake will destroy a sizable portion of the coastal Northwest. The question is when” (ibid.). This overdue quake could range in magnitude from 8.0-9.2.

Some news reports grab your attention and will not let go—particularly when they involve some desperate situation that affects masses of people. We see many such epochal forces going on now with massive flooding across the South in the United States, resulting in widespread property damage and loss of life. Yet a few hundred miles away from some of the affected areas, California—America’s most populous state—parches in prolonged drought.

“A deluge of rainfall has burst rivers and brought flood warnings to several southern US states, with Texas and Oklahoma the worst hit so far… Parts of Texas saw up to 10 inches (25cm) of rain over a 24-hour period, with more predicted across the region into next week. An official declared it the ‘largest flood in the history of this region’” (BBC, May 25, 2015).

On April 25, a devastating 7.8 earthquake struck the landlocked nation of Nepal and caused a fatal avalanche on Mount Everest.