What Hurricane Irma Did In the Caribbean

To get a sense, a small sense, of what just that one hurricane, Irma, did across the Caribbean, watch this brief video of St. John's in the US Virgin Islands.  It is stunning.


St. John - Hurricane Irma from Niko Dellios on Vimeo.

Paradise lost, it seems, surely.

The Weather Events Our Media Don't Seem to be Reporting

Sure, we're getting coverage, some, anyway, of first Hurricane Harvey that hit Southeast Texas and Western Louisiana. And then we got coverage of Hurricane Irma that hit Florida---and, far more devastatingly, the Caribbean but hey, let's focus just on our 50 states, right?

We and our media have already seemed to have moved on from the Houston area.

Unless you've actively sought out information on that area and storm, Texas and Louisiana and Harvey, it doesn't seem like we're seeing or reading or hearing much about their plight now. We have, again, moved on, as a country, as a people. We're no longer paying them any "never mind."

Meanwhile, as a matter of fact, yet another hurricane is out there and building strength and heading for the same areas. It is Hurricane Marie, thank you very much. And tropical storm Lee is right behind.

So yeah, we're moving on. We're too busy to keep up with all that rebuilding down there in the ravaged South.

And speaking of moving on, how about the areas of the world that have also, in even recent weeks, let alone the last month or so, been ravaged by weather events? Do you have any idea what's been happening lately, around the world?

The Climate Catastrophe We're All Ignoring

Flooding in Bangladesh has submerged a third of the country. (Photo: British Red Cross)

"...multiply the damage from Harvey and Irma a hundredfold and you’ll get a feeling for the climate-related suffering taking place right now in the rest of the world. In India, Bangladesh, and Nepal, an estimated 40 million people have been affected by massive flooding, with over 1,200 deaths. More than one third of Bangladesh’s land mass has been submerged. As if that’s not enough, Africa has been suffering its own under-reported climate disasters, with hundreds of thousands affected by flooding in Nigeria, Niger, Congo, Sierra Leone, and Uganda.

So yeah, maybe we need to know and recognize what, exactly, is already taking place in the world so we can put things, everything, in perspective. The climate scientists have said our planet is warming. They said devastating climate events would increase, from droughts to floods, at least.

Maybe we need to pay attention?

Listen?

Act?

Hasn't the Time Finally, Finally Come When Humankind Realizes We Must Work Together?

Look at all that's happened, weather-wise, in the last few weeks, around the world.  Consider all that has taken place recently and that is still, just now, occurring. This was at the end of August.

Sierra Leone mudslides 

'kill more than 1,000'

We all know what happened in Southeast Texas and Western Louisiana at about that same time.

Harvey crashes into Texas and Louisiana

This took place last night.

Mexico Earthquake, Strongest in a Century, 

Kills Dozens

Mexico rocked by one of the 

most powerful earthquakes recorded

This, in fact, is what's going on now as most of us know.

Hurricane Irma destroys St. Maarten

Hurricane Irma hit Barbuda like a 'bomb,' 

prime minister says

Hurricane Irma: 

A Practically Impossible Storm 

Major Hurricane Irma to deliver 

destructive blow to Florida this weekend

But this is also going on now, as too many, I think, aren't aware.

South Asia floods: Estimated 40 million across India, Bangladesh, Nepal affected

Then check this out. This is what's coming up, for pity's sake, in the next week or so.

Hurricane Jose looms for Barbuda 

and other Irma-damaged islands

Not to be done there, with all the hurricanes and flooding and all that water, the world over, we can't forget the parts of our own nation, whole sections, over states, that are so dry and hot and what that's doing to them.

Pacific Northwest Fires 

Smother Region in Smoke and Ash

Rare heat wave bakes San Francisco; fires rage through West

San Francisco sets all-time heat record downtown at 106 degrees

Pacific Northwest Wildfires Severe 

in Intensity | NASA

Smoke from British Columbia fires 

shrouds Northwest with poor air

Ash covers Oregon cities, 

wildfire smoke chokes West

It's not just the US, either.

Seattle chokes as wildfire smoke 

from Canada blankets the Northwest

Keep in mind, too, this is only the last few weeks, up to now. It's only a partial list. It's not everything, like this, that has taken place this year. It's my contention we can't, right now, keep up with all the really large, jarring, killing and home destroying weather and Earth events on the planet presently.

So this is my question.

Isn't it time we all, here on this rock, here on planet Earth, all we humans, started realizing we really are all "in this together"? That we need one another? Rich, poor, old, young, everyone?

Isn't it long, long overdue?

Up to now, it seems this has, too much, almost singularly, guided us.

Link:

Disaster Recovery Should Heal, Not Divide, Our Communities