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Introducing her book
"I am my father's daughter"
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| Written by Maria Elena Salinas |
| Tuesday, December 27 2005 |
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| LETTER TO MOTHER NATURE
BY MARIA ELENA SALINAS
Dear Mother Nature:
I hope this letter finds you rested and peacefully enjoying the holidays with Father Nature or whomever your significant other may be. Normally at this time of year, I make it a point to write a letter to Santa Claus, but this year I have decided to drop you a line instead.
My desire to reach out to you stems from the painfully horrific weather events of 2005. The way I see it, 2005 was the year of the natural disaster. It was the year in which Earth became a dangerous place for millions of people. There were hurricanes, tropical storms, floods, earthquakes and tornadoes. All across the planet there was death, destruction, injury and no shortage of human suffering.
Simply put, the weather went berserk in 2005. And since you are in charge of the weather, I want to know a couple of things: Why did you have such a bad year in 2005? And can you cut us a break in 2006?
Your bad mood actually started in December 2004 with the devastating tsunami that struck Indonesia and other parts of Southeast Asia, and which killed more than 130,000 people. Many of us knew little about tsunamis until that horrible event. After that happened, many of us thought you would calm down for a while. But we were wrong.
In March of this year, you hit Indonesia again with an 8.7 earthquake that killed more than 1,600 people. In late August, you struck the Gulf Coast of the United States with the worst natural disaster we have ever experienced, in the form of Hurricane Katrina. It killed 1,200 people and literally blew or washed away parts of Mississippi and Louisiana, including a good portion of New Orleans. You made countless people suffer the pain of losing their homes, only to have their suffering compounded by human ineptitude in the recovery process.
In October, you struck again with Hurricane Stan, which caused havoc in parts of Mexico and Central America. In Guatemala, deadly mudslides buried hundreds -- if not thousands -- under tons of dirt. I was there, in places like Panabaj along the Atitlan Lake and in Tacana, near the Mexican border, and I tell you, what I saw was heart-
wrenching: Hundreds of people who had lost not only their homes, but also their loved ones.
As if that wasn't enough, later that same month you sent us Hurricane Wilma. Not only did she devastate one of the most beautiful resorts in the Yucatan peninsula of Mexico, but then she came straight into Florida, leaving us in the dark for weeks. It didn't get much attention from the press, but more than 6 million people lost electricity, and thousands of trees -- the kind you should be protecting -- were uprooted, making up to five counties look like a war zone.
Residents of the Midwest and parts of the South had to deal with an extraordinary number of tornadoes this year. With little warning and in only a matter of seconds, these killer twisters flattened homes and took innocent lives. One tornado alone in Indiana killed 18 people and left 200 injured.
Of course, one of the deadliest natural disasters this year was in Pakistan, where you shook the earth so hard you caused more than 73,000 deaths, and caused more than 125,000 people to be injured. To this day, hospitals are still overflowing with the injured, and medical supplies are hard to come by. So is shelter to protect those who lost their homes from the cruel winter cold. You must have some bone to pick in Pakistan, because there have been more than 900 aftershocks. They need a break.
As I write this, back in this part of the world the hurricane season is extending into the post-hurricane season, with tropical storms named under the Greek alphabet still forming in the Atlantic off the coast of Africa. Mother Nature, did you lose track of time? It is, after all, December. You know, the holiday season, time for you to show your kinder and gentler side. I know that part of your anger stems from mortals who have total disregard for protecting the environment, but please don't take it out on the rest of us. In 2006, try to be more considerate. |
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