Natural disasters have been an age long concern and problem to humanity. With news week in and out about these disasters making their marks in many regions and countries of the world, it seems more and more a prevailing menace.
One might ask, can't there be a solution to these natural disasters? Well, I guess they are called natural disasters because they are in sync with nature; as long as nature exists, they too will exist, and find expression in our world.
Different causes are attributed to different natural disasters. Earthquakes for example are attributed to the effects of seismic actions which occur as a result of displacement of tectonic plates. Landslides are caused by heavy rains and the movement of rocks, debris or soil sliding down a hill or mountain.
A difference in the temperature of air masses, causing a movement of air in a violent rotational form leads to tornadoes. To one of the common; floods are caused by heavy rainfall, melting of snow in an area, thereby leading to an overflow of water. Many others include, droughts, tsunamis, hurricanes, wildfires, soil erosion...
As much as these are natural disasters which are borne through natural phenomenon, humanity has done its best in some cases - present day world especially - to avoid and curtail some of these disasters. In some cases, and parts of the world, she has really lagged in doing that, which is widely an unreasonable thing to do, I'll say.
I've not really found myself experiencing these disasters, except for a minor flood case that didn't really cause any harm. Perhaps this can be likened to the fact that a country like mine is privileged to have low level of the occurrence of these disasters. But then, they still happen. These such as soil erosion, drought and of course, flood are more prevalent here.
Flood isn't a thing anyone should have to experience, especially for one with a phobia for water. It comes opening its mouth and swallowing lives and property altogether, with no regard for one's status or whatsoever.
A relative of mine was narrating to me one of her troubling life experiences; the flood. This was caused as a result of a heavy rainfall. But of course, the drainage in the area she resided was not properly cleared and taken care of. So, when the huge volume of rain water poured, it had no place to escape through and hence, resulted to the flood. It was a troubling experience because she was with her family; husband and kids, in such a situation.
The rain water kept building up and flowed powerfully into the house that after some time, the house became flooded. All soaked in the water was their property. At such a point, what mattered most was their lives, so they exited the house with the kids to a friend's place. It was sad to know that they lost almost all their property that day. The ones that could be recovered were collected and dried. The good thing about the situation was that they made it alive, after all.
Through this experience, I got to realise something; natural disasters are caused from nature, but they can also be enhanced and encouraged by man's carelessness and laxity.
This is my entry for the #februaryinleo prompt, Day 9 in collaboration with SciFi Multiverse. You can participate here.