Katrina's fury
When I wrote my last post on disasters, Katrina was approaching New Orleans and commentators were already predicting it to be a bad one. It's two days since the event and the death toll has crossed the 10,000 mark and still climbing higher. Apart from the trail of destruction the hurricane has left in its wake, there is news of large scale anarchy and looting that is threatening to hamper relief efforts.
This is the third big natural disaster in just one month -- floods in Bombay and parts of Europe and, now, in Louisiana and Mississipi, too. And, of course, Bangladesh has its annual share of horror stories during the monsoon. The earth certainly doesn't look like a safe place anymore.
Now we need to focus our prayers and resources on Louisiana because that's where the problems are... some of us have friends, relatives and loved ones out there and we pray for their safety. We need to pray for the army and relief efforts as they continue their work in providing aid to those affected by the hurricane. And we, also, need to pray for peace and calm as the relief work goes on.
There are numerous stories coming out of New Orleans -- some of it noble, heart-rending, touching, heroic as well as other tales that are downright shameful, sad and disgusting. That's natural. Human beings are not a paragon of divinity and virtue, and natural disasters have a tendency to put a spotlight on some of humanity's most basic instincts. Sometimes it can be a pleasure but most of the time, it is not.
New York Times has an interesting article on some of the innovative ways in which people are adopting to search for loved ones while Craigslist is providing a platform not only for pleas to locate missing relatives but also, offers of free room and board for wearied survivors.
While we can applaud the efforts by governmental and non-governmental organisations in providing relief as well as praise the instinctive acts of goodness by average citizens, it is important that we do not lose sight of some crucial facts. Global warming is an increasing threat to the earth's ecological system and if this problem is not tackled with any degree of seriousness, we are bound to expect more natural disasters. It shouldn't be that way. Governments must show seriousness in clamping rampant industrialisation and stop this reckless pollution of the Earth's atmosphere. They need to understand that industries have to think about the future because of they don't they may not even have much of a future. After all, who'd want to invest in an environment full of natural disasters?
The point is... we, as human beings, need to understand that God has made us stewards of this Earth and we must take this responsibility seriously.
This is the third big natural disaster in just one month -- floods in Bombay and parts of Europe and, now, in Louisiana and Mississipi, too. And, of course, Bangladesh has its annual share of horror stories during the monsoon. The earth certainly doesn't look like a safe place anymore.
Now we need to focus our prayers and resources on Louisiana because that's where the problems are... some of us have friends, relatives and loved ones out there and we pray for their safety. We need to pray for the army and relief efforts as they continue their work in providing aid to those affected by the hurricane. And we, also, need to pray for peace and calm as the relief work goes on.
There are numerous stories coming out of New Orleans -- some of it noble, heart-rending, touching, heroic as well as other tales that are downright shameful, sad and disgusting. That's natural. Human beings are not a paragon of divinity and virtue, and natural disasters have a tendency to put a spotlight on some of humanity's most basic instincts. Sometimes it can be a pleasure but most of the time, it is not.
New York Times has an interesting article on some of the innovative ways in which people are adopting to search for loved ones while Craigslist is providing a platform not only for pleas to locate missing relatives but also, offers of free room and board for wearied survivors.
While we can applaud the efforts by governmental and non-governmental organisations in providing relief as well as praise the instinctive acts of goodness by average citizens, it is important that we do not lose sight of some crucial facts. Global warming is an increasing threat to the earth's ecological system and if this problem is not tackled with any degree of seriousness, we are bound to expect more natural disasters. It shouldn't be that way. Governments must show seriousness in clamping rampant industrialisation and stop this reckless pollution of the Earth's atmosphere. They need to understand that industries have to think about the future because of they don't they may not even have much of a future. After all, who'd want to invest in an environment full of natural disasters?
The point is... we, as human beings, need to understand that God has made us stewards of this Earth and we must take this responsibility seriously.
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