This year I’ve written about severe cold weather, tornadoes, earthquakes and tsunamis. Now, sadly, I’m doing it again…
On Sunday a tornado ripped through Joplin, Missouri, killing 118 people, according to CNN. It was the deadliest tornado since 1953, when a tornado killed 116 people in Flint, Michigan.
President Barack Obama declared the event a disaster, with the Federal Emergency Management Agency and other agencies rushing to provide aid.
CNN reported that rescuers are still looking through the devastation for more survivors or otherwise. Hundreds were injured in the tornado and some 1,500 are still missing, although most of them likely fled the area and have yet to return.
Meanwhile, the National Weather Service (NWS) has issued warnings for more severe tornadoes later today in Arkansas, Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas and Missouri again.
So far this year, the NWS has logged 1,000 tornadoes, which is above average this early in the year. Over the past decade, we’ve averaged 1,274 tornadoes a year, with 2004 logging the most ever with 1,817. The NWS began official recordkeeping in 1950.
Including the Joplin tornado, almost 500 people have lost their lives from tornadoes this year—a record high through this point, still in May.
I’m not even sure what to say about it, really, other than how sorry I feel. And I don’t know where to look for explanations.
Some people say we’ve changed our environment, and the crazy weather is a result. Others say that’s not true. I tend to think we probably have changed our environment, but how do I really know?
I don’t know. I can just act. I can only try to do my small part to make sure it doesn’t continue, or at least slows. It’s all any of us can do.
