Listening to the rain battering down day after day just over a week ago, made the alarm bells go off.
Then all hell broke loose, as I shared about how we were adrift in the storm!
To sum it up briefly, we heard a thunderous noise followed by screaming when a mudslide hit our neighbour's granny cottage, with a young man inside.
I will never forget that feeling - is the young guy still alive or is he trapped, what could we do to help? A million thoughts went through my mind! Who do we call in a situation like that?
The young man escaped just in time but naturally was severely traumatized.
About two hours later, another humungous mudslide hit and destroyed most of their neighbour's home, they miraculously escaped; had they been on that side of the house, they most certainly would not have made it out alive!
Fortunately all our friends survived, but over 400 have not been so lucky, with many still missing!
This massive crater is now running right against the side of our neighbour's home, where the second massive mudslide took place. I took the pic below from the house that was destroyed, and could not get closer, so one does not really get a good perspective of it, but should there be more rain, our neighbour's home will certainly be in danger!
Images taken by my neighbour, their once pristine garden destroyed by the forces of nature!
Image below is a view of the crater from our neighbour's side, showing some of the destruction of the home of our friends next door to them.
Edit to my post - to add insult to injury, our friends' whose home was partially destroyed, was vandalized yesterday by thieves ripping copper pipes off the walls and stealing small items from the one bedroom that's accessible. The mud thankfully stops them from opening the cupboard doors, so they now have 24 hour armed security!
All this was caused by the subtropical Depression Issa.
Global warming is playing a role in these unusual and severe weather patterns; have we left it too late or can we still try and do something about it?
What can we do?
Tomorrow is Earth Day and I believe we can still effect small changes.
Start in the home by recycling as much as you can by having separate bins for glass, paper, plastic, compost; you'll be surprised how much smaller your refuse bag will be.
We recently went on a beach walk, and every so often one would see old plastic washed up and half buried in the sand; what is this debris doing to marine life?
Although it may seem minuscule, we can try and bring about small changes; teach our children to be responsible and look after our planet, get the older children community involved, create awareness and arrange a beach clean-up; or take a bag to pick up rubbish when you take a beach walk.
I know many will say "It's not my job!" BUT it is our earth!
Photo by OCG Saving The Ocean on Unsplash
We need to start taking responsibility when the authorities are lax; clean up the sidewalks ourselves as many people simply toss rubbish without thinking when walking and willfully when driving, as we see here on our highways in the suburban areas!
Take a peek at Earth Day on how you can help trying to save our planet, and watch out for events in your area tomorrow, but continue taking responsibility for Mother Earth every day of your life!
Finally try and be proactive by cleaning up your little part of the world as best as possible; is that not what our forefathers taught us or have we forgotten?
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