For the untold killed in Typhoon Haiyan: Rest in Peace

I have now been witness to a number of major natural disasters in my life time.  Hurricane Katrina exposed many social ills in the United States.  New Orleans was devastated and many people blamed a slow U.S. response on the fact that it was a poor city.  New Orleans was not the only area to sustain damage from the Hurricane:

However, the worst property damage occurred in coastal areas, such as all Mississippi beachfront towns, which were flooded over 90% in hours, as boats and casino barges rammed buildings, pushing cars and houses inland, with waters reaching 6–12 miles (10–19 km) from the beach.

I can just remember images of people stranded in the New Orleans Super Dome and wondering why the government had forsaken them.  It was a costly storm and it took a long time for the area to recover.  President Bush was excoriated in some circles for failing to provide more timely assistance.  This hurricane tested the resolve of the American people and caused us to look inward for strength.

A Tsunami occurred in the Indian Ocean in 2004 as a result of an earthquake under the ocean.  I remember it for a strange reason.  Reggie White, a Philadelphia Eagles luminary, had died during the same time period. This tsunami will go down as one of the most devastating storms on record.  The alarming thing to me is the regularity of these events:

According to the U.S. Geological Survey a total of 227,898 people died (see table below for details).[1] Measured in lives lost, this is one of the ten worst earthquakes in recorded history, as well as the single worst tsunami in history. Indonesia was the worst affected area, with most death toll estimates at around 170,000.[52] However, another report by Siti Fadilah Supari, the Indonesian Minister of Health at the time, estimated the death total to be as high as 220,000 in Indonesia alone, giving a total of 280,000 casualties.[4]

Hurricane Sandy occurred a year ago and hit New Jersey and New York especially hard:

Sandy is being blamed for about $62 billion in damage and other losses in the U.S., the vast majority of it in New York and New Jersey — a number that could increase. It's the second-costliest storm in U.S. history after 2005's Hurricane Katrina, which caused $128 billion in damage in inflation-adjusted dollars. Sandy caused at least $315 million in damage in the Caribbean.

Approximately 153 people died in the U.S. with a subsequent number of deaths in the Caribbean.  
We have a better infrastructure here in the U.S. and we are still struggling to recover.  I can imagine the pain ans suffering in the islands.

In 2010, an earthquake struck Port Au Prince Haiti and killed almost 250,000 people.  In 2009, a 7.9 earthquake killed almost 70,000 people in Sichuan Province, China.  In 2011, an 8.9 earthquake caused a devastating Tsunami in Japan that also wrecked a nuclear reactor.  As an astute observer of the news, I am totally aware of how helpless humans are when natural disasters destroy everything we hold dear.

For the people affected by Typhoon Haiyan in the Philippines, I wish you Godspeed in your recovery.  I have read of armed gangs that are marauding through affected areas.  The U.S. has sent help and I hope it gets to those who need it most.  There is a city called Tacloban which was hit very hard:

Economically, Tacloban is one of the fastest growing cities in the Philippines. It has one of the lowest poverty incidence rates in the country (at roughly 9%, while the national poverty incidence stands at 30%), and is the richest local government unit in Eastern Visayas. The Daniel Z. Romualdez Airport located in the city is the region's largest domestic airport, with plans for expansion into an international standard facility underway.

This city was rich in history and was devastated by one of the most powerful storms to ever make landfall.  As they try to recover, I want to wish the unfortunate souls that lost their lives a place in Heaven.  

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