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Saturday, September 16, 2017

BERMUDA is not BARBUDA



They were tumultuous times in the early days of what we now know as our world. What we now know as deserts were once under water, and mountains were likewise under water. The Americas and Europe/Africa were once connected before the plates split and drifted apart. Volcanoes, tornadoes and incredible storms raged leading to tremendous fires as weather went through cycles.

What's to say that has all permanently ended?

Believe it or not our weather is entering a period of global warming and one effect is that hurricanes are growing more intense in their strength. The norm was for hurricanes in the Atlantic to make up off Africa and to drift across until they met high pressure systems coming off the east coast of America. That would then turn them to the east whereupon they would then start a northward trek into colder waters.

Now, they are so strong because of warmer waters that when they encounter the high pressure system they smash right through and go inland into Mexico and the southern region of New Orleans and Texas and they plough into the middle of America where people are learning what it means to have to cope.

I was born in Bermuda where I came to be only too familiar with the experience of having no place to hide. We simply had to build our homes super well to cope, but even then Mother Nature does not  respect man's mere efforts to stand up to the Awesome Power. When a powerful storm is still in its infancy thousands of miles away from Bermuda the waters around our island start to change. The colour of the water changes from clear to muddled and we get long breakers in the way of waves.

Our stress begins at that stage as we go into acute hurricane watch mode. They always made that right turn when they came face to face with America so they were bound to pass us on the way to blowing themselves out; the only question was whether we, as such a small land mass would take a hit or not.

Before mankind got in the way hurricanes would blow and blow, changing the landscape as they crossed the land; and equally fires did the same thing, often bringing a great benefit to all in their path by burning away clutter and promoting growth at the same time. It's only with the coming of man where we build so much for fire and windstorm, including floods to destroy that we have carefully created that we think the worst.

These natural weather elements continue to bring renewal and growth even to those man-made structures that get knocked down, but re-built in a better manner. We are shown the awful damage left in the wake of  passing storms but this normally means employment.

When we see people looting under such circumstances it could really be survival. All it takes is for one person to enter a store and help himself and others will do it as well. I have never had to do that, and if I ever do I would like to think I would make a careful note of what I took so that I could go to the owner and pay for it.

With the passing of the most powerful hurricane ever recorded, hurricane Irma the island of Barbuda has been totally wiped off the map. It is currently uninhabitable. At the time the hurricane struck there were about 1700 people there, but now, for the first time in 300 years there is not a single person living there. All the residents were evacuated to Antigua which is located south as they were expecting the arrival of yet another hurricane, Hurricane Jose.

As the media reported this news most people in North America heard the word Barbuda, but what they digested was Bermuda. There are 60,000 people living on Bermuda. The sad thing is that with the current model hurricane it is possible that Bermuda could likewise get wiped out. There would be no mistaking that as the tragedy would capture everybody's attention.

Every Bermudian wherever we are in the world will empathise with the people of Barbuda and our hearts and prayers go out for them as we remember them in their hour of need.

For everybody else we are faced with a new threat that makes terrorism seem like a Sunday picnic. When nature comes to call in the future we need to take the visitor extremely serious indeed.

There is no other power like the power of Nature, for Nature is God!

Copyright (c) 2017
Eugene Carmichael