We are now just really beginning to see the impact of Hurricane Helene. Over the past eight years the continental U.S. has hd eight Cat4 or 5 landfalls; as Bill McKibben points out, that’s as many as occurred in the prior 57 years. What made the storm so deadly inland was the massive increase in water vapor, or 4 feet of rain in the Blue Ridge Mountains to come barreling down on Ashville.
More than 100 people have died at last count, and the aftermath is still moving with rain. The western part of North Carolina is under water with more than 280 roads totally closed and communication lines not yet restored. Parts of Georgia, South Carolina, and Tennessee had overwhelming rainfall.
Just over a year ago, Florida suffered devastating damage from Idalia. The costs of these past two years tops $18 billion. And Congress just dithers along, because, goodness know, how can you blame the climate crisis? Aren’t they just acts of God?
Prayer for the Day
So much destruction, so much lost, so many dead, O God,
While we turn our eyes away from what we have done;
Told we will rebuild, deep inside ourselves, we struggle,
For we need more than just rebuilding.
Why do not these disasters shake those in power,
Or are they too beholden to moneyed interests?
In the name of the One who weeps with us,
Even Christ Jesus our Lord, Amen.
Thoughts for the Day
Were it [overwhelming rain] happening just in one place, a compassionate world could figure out how to offer effective relief. But it’s happening in so many places. . . . This means that our political leaders are finally going to have to make hard choices (or not, which is its own way of choosing).
Bill McKibben, Middlebury College, Vermont, on his weekly blog
As the world continues to warm, the destructive power of hurricanes will extend progressively farther inland.
Lin Li & Pinaki Chakaborty, in the scientific journal Nature
Give ear, O y people, to my teaching; incline your ears to the words of my mouth.
I will open my mouth in a parable, uttering dark sayings from of old,
Things we have heard and known, that our ancestors have told us.
We will not hide them from their children but tell to the coming generation.
Psalm 78: 1-4
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