At the beginning of every hurricane season the advisories start circulating. In case of a hurricane this is what you need to do, these are the things you need to get, and here are the places available to go.
Once a hurricane is forecasted to hit, we scurry about stocking up on food, water, batteries, flashlights, radios etc. and pack our bags ready to go just in case. But how prepared can we really be when Mother Nature truly unleashes her fury.
Within the past couple of years several major natural disasters have been experienced around the world. Some of these are:
In August 2003, 10,000 persons died from a heat wave in France.
August 12, 2004, 115 persons were killed as a typhoon slammed into China.
September 19, 2004, 1050 persons died in Haiti from Hurricane Jeanne.
October 20, 2004 at least 48 were killed by Typhoon in Japan.
November 30, 2004, 1000 were killed by a storm in the Philippines.
December 2004, a 9.00 quake left 212,000 dead in Indonesia.
July 29, 2005, record setting rains caused extensive flooding and triggered landslides killing 850 persons in Mumbai.
August 29, 2005, Hurricane Katrina devastated the US Gulf coast.
To date we still haven’t been able to get a true count of how many people perished in Hurricane Katrina and I don’t think we will get that figure for a while yet. Looking at the photographs and videos being circulated however highlights how vulnerably we are to the elements.
Yes, more people could have evacuated before the hurricane but lets face it, most of us feel safest at home. Also I’m sure many felt that they had done it before, so they’ll do it again. Hurricanes, after all, aren’t new to the US Gulf coast.
Jamaica is also no stranger to hurricanes. Already this season we have faced two, Dennis and Emily and didn’t fear too badly. Many of us have in fact become almost complacent. This latest hurricane has however heightened the awareness to the dangers associated with the wrath of Mother Nature. Let us pray that we never encounter her full fury.
Nuff Love