Natural Disasters

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.

Late last month unusual rains hit Chile’s arid region, causing widespread flooding. “The downpour began… in the Atacama region, home to the world’s most arid desert, and lashed the area for hours, turning riverbeds that had been dry for years into torrents” (AFP, March 26, 2015). “President Michelle Bachelet said the downpour—equivalent to at least 10 times the previously drought-hit region’s average annual rainfall—had caught authorities off-guard.” (ibid.).

Cyclone Pam tore through the south Pacific island nation of Vanuatu last Friday and Saturday, packing winds of over 300 kph/180 mph. The Category 5 storm created so much damage that rescue crews from Australia and New Zealand are having difficulty reaching victims. “‘We have no contact of any sort with the outer islands, the priority is to get communications up and running. It’s very, very concerning that we haven’t heard anything from the outlying islands,’ Joe Lowry, a spokesman for International Organisation for Migration (ILM), told Reuters in Port Vila.