Beech Tree News Network

Since hurricane season began, I’ve been thinking about the impact natural disasters have on people. A natural disaster is defined as a natural event such as a flood, earthquake, or hurricane that causes great damage or loss of life. Some natural disasters mentioned on the Internet include: tornadoes, hurricanes, cyclones, floods, drought, extreme heat, wildfires, volcano eruptions, earthquakes, swarms of locusts, and epidemics or pandemics. Natural disasters are simply outside of our control.

Wondering about others’ experiences, I asked a few friends and family members, “Have you or your family been affected by a natural disaster? If so, what was the disaster and what were the effects?” The responses are listed below.

-None thankfully, but I have made money from them (a lineman).

-Does Covid-19 count? If so, our entire lives have been affected.

-The hurricane in Florida was near my granddaughter and her husband. Worried me.  Such a helpless feeling! Strange that the day her mom was due to be born, a hurricane was predicted for Hampton, VA, where we lived.

-Not my family, but my daddy would tell me the story of a tornado that came through Coopertown before I was born. The storm took a baby in the wind. They found the baby some miles away in a tree – alive. God’s will….

-Two tornados in two days in Minnesota. No running water and no access to the grocery store for about an hour or so.

-I was affected by the Covid-19 pandemic. I was out of a regular school routine for two years.

-Not directly, but the tornado in Bremen affected me at the pharmacy as it affected several customers. We had to help get medicines for those patients.

-I have cared for patients injured during tornadoes and flooding but never been affected personally (a nurse).

-The hailstorm of 1998. We had significant damage to our home and cars. And it destroyed the new flower bed I had just planted. Flowers were jumping up and down like frogs as the hail hit.

-My cousin’s family lives in Bremen. They lost their home and his welding shop in the tornado in December 2021. He had a serious cut on his leg, but he and his family are physically fine now. The trauma and the loss of friends and neighbors are still very real, not only to them but to the whole community. They all will be struggling for a long time in many ways.

-I think Covid-19 should count as a natural disaster.

-The ice storm of January 2009 was hard on our family and our community. We were without power for two weeks, and during that time, my mother-in-law passed away. We had to have her viewing at the funeral home with no electricity; it was a difficult time.

-Yes, my family was affected by the Covid-19 pandemic. I think that everyone was affected from the covid shutdown in one way or another due to the drastically changed lifestyles. People were afraid to leave their homes even wearing a mask. Some people lost close family members to this disaster as well. In my situation, I moved from working in a hospital to working from home with minimal and occasional trips to the hospital to retrieve and leave reports, etc. This turned out to be a blessing for me and my family. I continued to work until I retired with only a couple of weeks at the end training someone at the hospital. Working from home made my retirement transition easy. I know my family was blessed not to have lost any close relatives, but we do know people who were lost to the pandemic. I am so thankful that my family did not suffer as much as many families did.

Marsha Blackburn said, “If a natural disaster strikes your community, reach out to your friends, neighbors, and complete strangers. Lend a helping hand.” Natural disasters have life-altering consequences. We may not have control of the disaster, but we have control of our responses.