Hurricanes: Nature’s Last Word
By Felice Gerwitz
Well, we thought we had escaped the wrath of hurricane season, here in Southwest, Florida. That is until Monday October 24th when Hurricane Wilma blasted its way through our yard, and those of thousands of others. (Update: 2008. Since then we have had Charlie, Gustav, Fay (outer bands), Hannah, and Ike is looming offshore.) Thankfully, while we sustained much damage to our yard—in downed trees, no power, and no internet (gasp!), we are safe. Our home lost a few shingles and most of our screens from our porch enclosure are gone, but we survived. We have generator power so our food did not perish and we can run either our electricity—or our water (but not both at the same time). Yes, these are inconveniences and we’ve learned to adapt.
I tend to look at life and try to learn lessons in everything that happens. This can be a daunting task. Some look at hurricanes as a punishment from God. He obviously knew it was coming and could have stopped it, if He chose to do so. Yet, He didn’t and it happened. I don’t want to get into the debate, “Is it punishment against an evil society, or isn’t it?” We definitely deserve to be punished. The only one perfect is Christ. I would rather focus on what we teach our children; we turn to God for everything and thank Him—even for hurricanes. I read recently that the one thing we should never loose is hope!
I have learned so many things through this event. I know more (than I ever wanted to know) about wind speed and velocity, eye-of-the-storm, categories (as in strength) 1 through 5, storm surge, etc. Each of these terms means life or death for residents of the impacted area, so we must become aware and take heed. We listen to weather updates on television, log onto websites and talk to neighbors and friends about their take on whether (no pun intended) or not the storm is coming our way. We have many choices we can make. Do we stay, or do we pack up whatever we deem our most important belongings and leave? We are fortunate we can make these decisions.
We can even laugh. I received an email from Jill (my co-author in the Creation Science Series) with a whirling hurricane and the head of Wilma (of the Flintstones fame) in the middle. The email read “Wilma is coming”.
I have found at times such as these to focus on the positive and be prepared. We talk to our children about these times lightly. I don’t believe children should be scared or worried. We pray and stock our shelves with water, canned goods and other non-perishable foods. We praise God that we have a generator and money to buy gas to power it. We thank God for the ability to get into our cars and leave, if we so choose. We thank the Lord that when we have problems in our life we can turn to Him for strength. And, we can learn.
We can learn about the historic path hurricanes have taken, learn about latitude and longitude, and map where the hurricane currently resides. We learn about the seas, how the hurricane can cause flooding, and the precautions people should take. We learn about evacuation routes, abiding by local laws and listening, attentively to the news. We also learn how the oceans and weather are not independent of each other. The temperature of the ocean effects the strength of a hurricane, and the jet stream (upper air currents), regulate the direction a hurricane may take. (We laugh as a family when we hear the term “cone of uncertainty”. Weather forecasters use this term for the cone, or path the hurricane may or may not take. How is that for definite?) Someday, when Jill finishes all her research on weather and oceans we will have a study guide for you to use with your children!
Remember to focus on the immediate, with an eye to the future. What are your concerns for your family today and what do we need to do to prepare? These life lessons are invaluable and can go beyond the threat of the storm today, to be useful to our children later in life. I am certain that after the fall of Adam and Eve there were storms that effected the population. How they weathered them without up to date “Doppler radar” or other modern conveniences, I just don’t know!
Here are some guidelines you may use which apply to any life crisis… use them, tweak them, and add some more of your own:
1. Pray, ask God for mercy, wisdom, and strength.
2. Focus on immediate concerns. What needs to be done today?
3. Make a list
4. Tweak your list. Put the items listed in order of importance.
5. Make a plan. Know what you and each member of your family is going to do to prepare.
6. Pray. Ask the Lord to bring to mind things you may have forgotten.
7. Look at your list and pick several things you can accomplish, now. There is no time like the present!
8. Add or subtract from your list, and get busy. Keeping active helps in time of crisis.
9. Make phone calls to reassure friends in need.
10. Pray. Ask the Lord for the ability to stay calm and at peace and know that He is Lord.
Felice Gerwitz has lectured extensively on the topic of science fairs. She is an award winning author and her book “An Insider’s Guide to Successful Science Fair Projects” was chosen book of the month by God’s World Publishing.
