Current Events – Natural Disasters

“Signs of a most startling character appear in floods, in hurricanes, in tornadoes, in earthquakes, in casualties by sea and land. The judgments of God are falling on the world, that men may be awakened to the fact that Christ will come speedily.”

The Watchman, March 1, 1909.

Disasters

The restraining Spirit of God is even now being withdrawn from the world. Hurricanes, storms, tempests, disasters by sea and by land, follow one another in quick succession. The signs thickening around us, telling of the near approach of the Son of God, are attributed to any other than the true cause. . . .

Maranatha, 175

Earthquakes

A 7.6-magnitude undersea earthquake struck off the eastern coast of the Philippines late today [August 31], killing at least one person in a house collapse, and a second temblor struck about half an hour later, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. www. CBC.ca, August 31, 2012.

A magnitude-6.6 earthquake struck today [August 31] off the east coast of Greenland, the U.S. Geological Survey reports. The USGS, which initially reported the quake as a magnitude-7.0, says it was followed eight minutes later by a magnitude-5.2 quake in the region. www.USAToday.com, August 31, 2012.

A major earthquake of 7.4 magnitude hit in the Pacific Ocean about 78 miles off the coast of El Salvador late Sunday night [August 26], the U.S. Geological Survey said. www.newsorganizer.com, August 31, 2012.

More than 400 earthquakes greater than magnitude 1.0 have been recorded in Imperial County [California] since Saturday evening, said U.S. Geological Survey geophysicist Elizabeth Cochran. The largest were a 5.3 and a 5.5 about midday Sunday. http://latimesblogs.latimes.com, August 31, 2012.

Hurricanes and Floods

As New Orleans [Louisiana] breathed a sigh of relief over the $14.5 billion in levee defenses that now ring the city, other parts of the state without such protections were not so lucky. The storm’s surge [Hurricane Isaac] caused water to rise nine feet on the north shore of Lake Pontchartrain, flooding towns like Slidell; west of the lake, the waters inundated LaPlace and the surrounding area. Emergency crews tried to take dangerous pressure off a weakened dam on Lake Tangipahoa in Mississippi and to release penned-up water in the drenched communities of Plaquemines Parish southeast of New Orleans. The torrential rains will now move into Arkansas and parts of the Midwest that have suffered through the summer with far too little water, not too much of it. www.nytimes.com, August 31, 2012.

Tornadoes descended from dark skies and hundreds of people had to be rescued from rising waters today as Jackson County [Mississippi] struggled under relentless rains generated by Hurricane Isaac, which made landfall more than 100 miles to the west in Louisiana. http://blog.gulflive.com, August 31, 2012.

Twin typhoons are renewing fears of a humanitarian crisis in North Korea, where poor drainage, widespread deforestation and crumbling infrastructure can turn even a routine rainstorm into a catastrophic flood.

Typhoon Bolaven struck North Korea on Tuesday and Wednesday [August 28, 29], submerging houses and roads, ruining thousands of acres of crops and triggering landslides that buried train tracks. A second major storm, Typhoon Tembin, hit the Korean peninsula with more rains on Thursday [August 30]. The storms come as North Korea is still recovering from earlier floods that killed more than 170 people and destroyed thousands of homes. That in turn followed a springtime drought that was the worst in a century in some areas. www.guardian.co.uk/world, August 30, 2012.

Around 60 per cent of the Philippines were flooded after 11 consecutive days of heavy rain. At least 66 people have been killed and around a million people affected by the deluge. www.christiantoday.com, August 11, 2012.

Current Events – Earthquakes and Floods

“The enemy has worked, and he is working still. He is come down in great power, and the Spirit of God is being withdrawn from the earth. God has withdrawn His hand. We have only to look at Johnstown [Pennsylvania]. He did not prevent the devil from wiping that whole city out of existence. [On May 31, 1889, an estimated 2,200 people lost their lives in the Johnstown flood when a dam broke after many days of heavy rains.] And these very things will increase until the close of this earth’s history.” Last Day Events, 25.

“The earth’s crust will be rent by the outbursts of the elements concealed in the bowels of the earth. These elements, once broken loose, will sweep away the treasures of those who for years have been adding to their wealth by securing large possessions at starvation prices from those in their employ. And the religious world, too, is to be terribly shaken, for the end of all things is at hand.” Ibid.

May 2015 – At least 31 people have died as a result of the devastating storms that have ravaged parts of Texas and northern Mexico. More people are still missing. Floodwaters have washed away cars and even a house was seen floating down a river. In Mexico, the epicenter for this severe weather, a tornado killed 13 people. One river surged from 5½ feet to over 40 feet—which is more than three times its flood stage—in less than two hours, sending raging waters through communities.

“ ‘This is the biggest flood this area of Texas has ever seen,’ Gov. Greg Abbott (R) said on Monday, according to Reuters. ‘It is absolutely massive—the relentless tsunami-type power of this wave of water.’

“In its latest report, the United Nations’ Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change say that heavy precipitation events in North America and Europe appear to have been growing more frequent and more severe and predict the precipitation events will get worse and surface air temperatures will continue to rise in the coming century.”

www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/05/26/texas-flooding-climate-change_n_7444062.html

April 2015 – A powerful 7.8 earthquake shook Nepal near its capital, Katmandu flattening sections of the city’s historic center. Dozens of sightseers were trapped in a 200-foot watchtower that came crashing down into a pile of bricks. The quake set off avalanches around Mount Everest causing the death of many as the wall of snow and ice took out everything in its path. The ancient city was turned to rubble in a matter of minutes killing many thousands of people and injuring more. The death toll has reached over 8,000 with 18,000 injured and hundreds still missing and unaccounted for.

“By midafternoon, the United States Geological Survey counted 12 aftershocks, one of which measured 6.6.

“Seismologists have expected a major earthquake in western Nepal, where there is pent-up pressure from the grinding of the Indian tectonic plate as is it forced underneath the Eurasian plate to the north.”

www.nytimes.com/2015/04/26/world/asia/nepal-earthquake-katmandu.html?_r=0

There is no safe place on this earth outside of the protection of Christ. We should ask ourselves, “Are our feet on the rock of ages? Are we hiding ourselves in our only refuge? The storm is coming, relentless in its fury. Are we prepared to meet it? Are we one with Christ as He is one with the Father? Are we heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ?” Evangelism, 199.