When the storms of life gather at our door
Life has always been stormy. Some of the storms we encounter are minor, some are major and a few can be catastrophic. Every rainstorm has an end and many times sunshine does follow. Some storms are even beneficial and bring an end to droughts, refill our water supplies and put an end to raging fires. Most of the storms we encounter are physical: floods, tornadoes, hurricanes, blizzards. Some are more subtle such as heat waves and sometimes the winds even transport germs and virus such as our current pandemic. They are all devastating and deadly.
As I write this, a hurricane has just caused misery along our east coast, more storms are brewing in the Atlantic and the fires are raging again out West. The virus continues its deadly toll spreading like wildfire through certain communities. Several weeks ago, the world set a new high temperature reading of 129.2 degrees in Death Valley, California. The forecast for the future is not much different than the forecast of the past, more of the same. Our lives will always encounter storms. It鈥檚 how we handle them that is so important. Being ready so that when the storms want to gather at our door we are prepared.
Many lives are being spared today through better weather forecasts. An innocent cluster of thunderstorms that wants to grow and head across the Atlantic is now able to be tracked and ample warning provided to areas that will be impacted by the developing hurricane as it is supplied fuel from warmer oceans and a warmer planet. Very rarely anymore does a tornado get to develop without the watchful eye of our radar and satellites tracking its birth and movement.
The same is true of devastating thunderstorms that bring flash floods. Just like a virus, a storm wants to live and grow. It鈥檚 the nature of the things that make up life, the good and the bad. Even with better forecasts and improved technology, Mother Nature can still produce a few surprises. Though many times, it鈥檚 us that causes a disaster. A careless campfire or even the careless way we build homes and buildings in the storm鈥檚 path can be the problem. Ocean views, mountain tops and river valleys may be beautiful, but they do present danger. They can all turn into destruction and death when the storm wants to gather near our door.
Our forecasts have improved over the decades, but the storms seem to be getting worse and occur more frequently. This is probably due to a warmer ocean and atmosphere providing more energy to fuel our storms. We are the cause of this through our continued pollution of the planet. This warming is no longer just a theory, but is now a fact of science.
We have come a long way from the Big Snow of 1950 when the forecast was for rain showers turning into snow showers and we ended up with 30 inches of snow. The storm of 1974 was better forecast and left us with 25 inches of heavy wet snow that closed just about all roads and took out power for well over a week. By the time we got to the Blizzard of 鈥�93, we knew four days out that 25 inches of snow would fall and it did.
The forecasts are better and this gives us more time to prepare and it鈥檚 the preparation that we all need to review from time to time. Are we ready: food, water and fuel, an escape route, phones, batteries and medicines? Each family, its location and situation is different and we all need to develop our own plan; one that will work for us when those storms want to visit.