Just as I was about to write this post, I received an email message from India. The sender of the email said: “I am from India state of Andhra Pradesh, our old capital city Kurnool filled with floods, people are without hope this night.”
I had not been paying attention to the Indian subcontinent, so this message sent me scurrying to investigate what is happening in India. I came across a AFP report which states that southern India has just been hit by the worst flash floods and heavy rain in recent history. Already 172 people have died, and more bodies are expected to be retrieved in the coming days.
In Andra Pradesh, several dams were overflowing while in the seaside resort of Goa, at least 250 houses had collapsed.
H V Parashwanath, secretary of Karnataka’s disaster monitoring agency said: “We are seeing some of the worst flooding since 1972 in the northern part of the state. The toll may go up as we try to reach those areas and villages that remain cut off.”
It has been raining continuously for 4 days already. According to Sam Rizvi, a local administrator in Andhra Pradesh: “The flood is of an unprecedented magnitude.” D Prasad Rao, Andhra Pradesh state revenue minister added: “We are concentrating on relief operations and evacuation to a safer place.”
Speaking of flooding, the Philippines is still suffering from the massive rain dumped by Typhoon Ketsana (local name “Ondoy”). And in the last 24 hours it was facing the threat of a super typhoon hitting Manila and other areas already suffering from Typhoon Ketsana. The weather bureau said Super Typhoon Parma (known locally as Super Typhoon Pepeng) has maximum sustained winds of 175 kilometers per hour near the center and gustiness of up to 210 kph.
The Philippines Coast Guard said earlier: “This is a really big storm, and we expect this to become a super typhoon really soon. We should take this seriously.”
Faced with this threat from Super Typhoon Parma, President Gloria Arroyo declared a “state of calamity.” Then starring at disaster, the Filipino people turned to God. Manila housewife Nita Solita who lost her house and possessions to Typhoon Ketsana 8 days ago said: ‘‘I don’t know what’s happening to our country. We’re praying very hard that the super typhoon will spare us.”
As it turned out, her prayer was answered. Just as Super Typhoon Parma (Pepeng) was gushing straight towards Manila, its path was diverted by a High Pressure Area (HPA) near Hong Kong driving Super Typhoon Parma towards the extreme northern part of Luzon in the less populated areas of Cagayan, including Babuyan Islands, Kalinga, Apayao, and Ilocos Norteinstead.
Manila has escaped, but Super Typhoon Parma is now going straight for Taiwan, and authorities there are on full alert, evacuating coastal residents. However the rain water from Super Typhoon Parma is adding to the woes of the areas already flooding under Typhoon Ketsana.
But let’s not forget about Britain. A Daily Mail report says that severe weather warnings have been issued following forecasts of winds gusting at up to 75mph over parts of northern England and Scotland today. Drivers have been warned to drive carefully and defensively, to beware of debris, tree branches or even other cars being blown into their paths.
Think about it. What is happening to this world? Earthquakes in Indonesia, tsunami in Samao, typhoon in Philippines, flooding in India, strong winds in Britain, etc. Not forgetting that we also recently seen unprecedented duststorms in Australia and New Zealand. Is planet earth sending us a message of sort? Is the world heading towards a major catastrophe? Is the end of the world coming?
Earlier posts:
Indonesia Earthquake, Samao Tsunami And Typhoon Ketsana
Earthquake In Java
Earthquakes Increasing In Frequency
More Earthquakes Hit Indonesia
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