The wrath of Mother Nature can be dealt to us in a variety of ways. From floods to earthquakes, volcanoes to blizzards, the experiences we endure are various and in some cases deadly. But the two natural phenomenon that get the most play on the television newscasts are the most destructive and most common: Tornadoes and Hurricanes.
For sheer magnitude of a storm, you cannot top the hurricane. It is like a heavyweight fighter taking a long, slow stroll down the aisle of an arena, getting ready to lay waste to the pretender standing in the ring. You know what is coming, yet you wait to see just how powerful he is. The hurricane never sneaks up on anybody. People harmed or killed by this storm have taken their life into their own hands and make a supreme mistake in believing they can withstand these monsters.
I have watched hurricanes for nearly twenty years with sheer amazement. In a way I liken the overdevelopment of our coast line to Russian roulette with hurricanes. Look at the destruction wrought by Katrina. Camille remodeled the United States Gulf Coast in 1969, yet developers went right back as did most residents to resume their lives. Many made a fatal mistake in doing this. Yes, hurricanes are deadly, but not the deadlier of the two storms from which this article applies.
Perhaps hurricanes are the sexy sister of this pair. After all they get names and are talked about like family members to the point that people develop a sick attraction. Everyone in the USA knows what you talk about when you say Katrina. But what about the tornado that killed just as many people in Oklahoma, Texas and Kansas that same year.
Tornadoes are more deadly because they can strike without any notice. These giants descend from the clouds in mere seconds and begin to ravage whatever has the unfortunate privilege of being in their path. Mobile homes, trees, houses, tractor trailer rigs, signs, sky scrapers are whatever stands waiting are shredded by these terrors.
Like hurricanes, tornadoes are survivable provided the people affected know enough to prepare for the eventuality that their sky disperses this “wind of death”. Many people survive tornadoes as they do hurricanes and they always find a reporter or camera eager to share their story. Perhaps that time would be best spent describing how to survive this deadly facet of Mother Nature’s wrath.
