It's been an active tornado season in the U.S. midwest so far this year. Yesterday, more tornadoes struck in Oklahoma, where at least 22 were killed. Earlier today, an earthquake of Richter Magnitude 7.8 struck near the city of Chengdu, in the Sichuan province of China (approximately 900 miles from Beijing). As I write this, at least 9000 have been confirmed dead. The death toll will likely rise much higher, as the last time a quake of 7.6 or higher struck central China was in 1976, and 240,000 people died. The area around today's quake is home to 10,000,000 people, and, in at least one community, some 80% of the buildings have been destroyed. School children have been reported buried in the rubble of their own schools, which collapsed on top of them.
Last week, the world watched as a strong hurricane, Cyclone Nargis (hurricanes are called "cyclones" in the Indian Ocean), swept through the country of Myanmar (formerly known as Burma), killing at least 100,000. Natural disasters make us aware that we live on a dynamic, ever changing planet. We must not forget that we can never control the forces of nature, but we can do our part to protect ourselves from the worst of them.
In the face of so many people killed, injured, or left homeless, it almost seems petty to carry on about the rising price of a gallon of gasoline. We may not like the military government of Myanmar, or the repressive regime in China, and we may have political differences with the voters in the midwestern U.S., but the individuals who live in those places, and who have been affected by these disasters are human beings, just like us, and they certainly deserve our sympathy and our aid.
You can help by visiting www.redcross.org and supporting the relief efforts of the American Red Cross, both at home and abroad. Thanks.
