Natural Disasters

In the past few weeks, thousands around the globe have been traumatized by powerful hurricanes in the Atlantic and typhoons in the Pacific that have caused tremendous devastation and suffering.

Last week an 8.1 magnitude earthquake struck off the coast of southern Mexico, killing at least 90 and destroying thousands of homes—filling streets with crowds of mourners (Aljazeera, September 10, 2017; The Guardian, September 8, 2017).

Rivers in Britain are drying up and threatening trout and waterfowl populations, thanks to an unusually dry winter and spring (The Telegraph, May 8, 2017). On the other side of the pond in Montreal, rain and snowmelt are causing devastating floods. Thousands have been evacuated from over 100 towns and cities (BBC, May 8, 2017).

Major rains often bring severe flooding. Last month witnessed extreme flooding in Peru. Last Friday it was Colombia. As Deutsche Welle reported on April 2, “A total of 17 Mocoa districts have been affected. Many houses simply no longer exist: The people in them didn’t stand a chance. The ground literally gave way beneath their feet, washed away by the sudden, unexpected flood.