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Saturday, December 31, 2005
Pena: 2005 is a year of natural disasters
By Rox Pena
MOTHER Nature almost made it as Time magazine's "Person of the Year" for 2005. It topped the unofficial list of nominees at a panel discussion held by the magazine a few days before the official announcement. In the final judgment, rock legend Bono and billionaire couple Bill and Melinda Gates were chosen for the annual award.
The reason for Mother Nature being a top choice for the award is that 2005 was a year of big natural disasters. It showed us that with all the advances we made in the field of Science and Technology, we are still no match against the forces of nature. We cannot accurately predict, much less prevent, an earthquake, tsunami or typhoon.
Here are the worst natural disasters of 2005:
• Dec. 26, 2004 spilling over 2005 - the Great Asian Tsunami triggered by a 9.15 magnitude earthquake. Giant waves engulfed Indonesia, Sri Lanka and India, killing more than 230,000, people including tourists. The tsunamis also reached Thailand and Maldives.
• Feb. 22, 2005 in Iran - an earthquake with a magnitude of 6.4 hit the town of Zarand which is about 700 kilometers southeast of capital Tehran. More than 600 people were killed and more than a thousand injured.
• March 28 in Indonesia - some 1,000 people were killed when an earthquake of magnitude 8.7 hit the coast of Sumatra.
• June in China - flooding and landslides in areas throughout China killed more than 500 people and forced the evacuation of more than a million people. It is said to be one of the deadliest summer rainy season in a decade.
• Late July to early August in India - heaviest rainfall ever recorded in the western Indian state of Maharashtra. Death toll was at 1,044, 147 injured and 49 missing.
• August 29, the US - the world's only superpower humbled by Hurricane Katrina. Its 140-mile per hour wind struck into Louisiana and Mississippi. Death toll was at 1,228 and damage to property was around US$80 billion. It was the costliest natural disaster ever to strike the US.
• October 8 in Pakistan and India - More than 70,000 killed in Pakistan and more than a thousand in India, when a magnitude 7.6 quake struck about 95 kilometers northeast of Islamabad.
• October 8 in Guatemala - Hurricane Stan hits Guatemala and El Salvador, destroying many communities. More than a thousand were killed by floods and mudslides.
• October 17-19 in Cuba and the US - Hurricane Wilma became the most intense Hurricane ever recorded as it moves toward Western Cuba and Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula and threatened Florida.
Here in the Philippines, floodwaters submerged the City of Calapan in Mindoro in early December, affecting more than 121,000 people. Officials cited this flooding as the biggest humanitarian crisis in the history of the province. Heavy monsoon rains also caused flooding in Quezon province and the Bicol region.
Are we in the end-times? Nobody knows. What we do know is that we are helpless against the wrath of Mother Nature. Let's give her the respect and care it deserves. This 2006, let us resolve to help save the environment in any way we can.
Happy New Year to all!
(December 30, 2005 issue)
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