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Winds and Tornadoes
Natural
disasters also destroy major cities. Statistics
reveal that our time has seen an increase
in both the number and the seriousness of
natural disasters. In the last 10 years,
disasters caused by climactic changes have
become a novel phenomenon. A dangerous and
unwanted byproduct of the Industrial Age
is global warming. Industry is gradually
disturbing the balance in the world's atmosphere,
giving rise to climactic changes. According
to the American National Climatic Data Center,
many disasters occurred in 1998.26
For example, several observers called Hurricane
Mitch one of Central America's worst natural
disasters.27
This hurricane hit Honduras and Nicaragua
on 26th October 1998, and killed more than
10,000 people.28
The following are the most important disasters
arising from climactic changes that have
occurred in recent years:
On October 1987, the
largest storm since 1703 hit southeast England.
Around 15 million trees were felled, a great
part of the forests disappeared, 16 people
died, buildings were damaged, and ships
were driven on to shore.29
In 1992, Hurricane Andrew
caused around $0.5 billion worth of damage
in the Gulf of Mexico alone. Damage in the
Bahamas was estimated at $0.25 billion,
and around 2 million people living along
the eastern coast of America evacuated their
homes.30
Approximately 500 to 1,000 people were
killed by the storms that hit western Bangladesh
on 13 May 1996. A further 30,000 people
were injured and 100,000 people lost their
homes.
On 27 March 1997, 27 people died in a
tornado that hit Texas.
On 20 May 1998, 12 people died in a tornado
that hit Georgia, USA.
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Murderous
Mitch (Time, November 16, 1998)
The Panic of Isabel (Turkiye,
September 20, 2003)
The Fury of Georges ( Newsweek,
October 5, 1998)
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The floods that affected
middle and eastern Europe on August 2002
caused 114 casualties. During the severest
hurricane of the last 40 years in South
Korea on September 21, 2003, around 200
people died only in 2 days.31
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Newsweek,
November 16, 1998
"The Typhoon of the Age"
in Asia ( Radikal, September
15, 2003) |
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In the last few years, hurricanes, storms,
typhoons, and other such disasters have
devastated quite a few areas. In addition,
floods have caused mudslides that then engulfed
entire villages or parts of cities. Earthquakes,
volcanoes, and tidal waves also have caused
great devastation. All of this destruction
is an important sign.
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26.
"Billion Dollar U.S. Weather Disasters,"
National Climatic Data Center, October 2000.
Online at: www.ncdc.noaa.gov/ol/reports/billionz.html.
2 7. M. Encarta Encyclopedia 2000, "Central
America."
28. "Severe Weather," St. Vincent College,
January 1999. Online at: www.stvincent.ac.uk/Resources/Weather/Severe/index.html.
29. "The Great Storm in South East England
- October 1987," St. Vincent College. Online
at: www.stvincent.ac.uk/Resources/Weather/Severe/oct87.html.
30. Ibid.
31. 2003 World Almanac (Dunya Publishings),
395.
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