I like to boast that my part of the world is free from natural distaster.
As we live near a lot of lakes, we don't get the opportunity to be visited by many tornadoes. The amount of snow that we get within a season seems rather big, but really, we only get one or two snow days a year, so it can't be that much. Earthquakes? Hardly. I've seen more movies with earthquakes in 'em, than have actually experienced the event. While I bitch about heat waves, it's nothing compared to more southern areas. You'd think we were safe.
Last Thursday, our small city declared a state of emergency that continues today. We've been experiencing heavy rainfall, which, on Thursday morning, saw over 150 mm accumulate in the time span of less than 2 hours. It's rained every day since then. Forcasts for the rest of the week call for more rain. The city, in many parts, looks like a war zone. My sister lost everything and is temporarily displaced. My parents' home has been flooded as well. And so is over half of the city.
I'm one of the lucky ones whose home remains untouched. I slept through the whole thing, and only found out about 'The Storm' early that morning, via my radio alarm clock. Luckily, no one was injured, but there are a lot of people just walking around, seemingly in shock. My sister is one of them.
All I can think about, is my sister, and all that she has lost.