I woke up to this morning with my timeline on Facebook going crazy with the news of the F5 Tornado that had turned the town of Moore in Oklahoma to debris. Killing at least 91 people, with at least 20 of them being children, and leaving a ton more people (including children) injured.
I don't usually comment on world news on my blog. But with the continued devastation that has been happening over the years due to crazy weather i wanted to say something as it always really affects me. I think this is because there is something so horrendous about the thought of being so helpless and I just can't stand the thought of it.
When freak weather strikes and natural disasters happen, apart from the run and hide approach - there is not much you can do. You are helpless as your personal world, literally, collapses around you.
Now, I know in the case of Oklahoma, tornadoes are not exactly an unexpected disaster, and with storm warnings etc they have a little bit of a heads up of the devastation that is coming - But really, I don't think even knowing about a tornado and having places to hole up, along with a 5 to 15 min warning can prepare you for devastation such as this. The destruction and loss of lives caused by this tornado is not something that the people of Moore will ever truly recover from. The toll is too steep.
Tsunamis, earthquakes, hurricanes, tornadoes, floods and snow storms have all in recent years caused significant and life changing devastation. Taking lives and livelihoods and making sure that every person that they touched would never be the same again.
I live in the UK so freak storms are not something we are used to. The worst we get is a a ton of snow and floods that ruin businesses and homes (which is horrendous enough, but still not anywhere near the scale seen in any other parts of the world, where occurrences like these seem to happen).
lt is all too easy when reading the news to not really connect with what is going on in lands so far away - but I always feel my heart break slightly at the news of loss of lives and homes and businesses. The world has always been prone to disasters and in an age where we can find out about anything happening across the other side of the world with just a click on your iPhone or through other various media outlets, it has become really clear how precious life really is.
Since becoming a mommy to my twins, I am always rocked by news stories, especially ones with loss of life and children, as for me it is too hard to imagine a day or a life without them. And for some of these poor families - that is exactly what they are having to do.
I find that perfectly awful and my thoughts and sympathies go out to all the people that are affected.
I don't mean this post to be trite, I just wanted to post about how I feel.
I really wish there were less disasters and a bit more love in the world. We all really need it.
And with that last very hippy-like statement I am off to give River and Indigo lots of mommy hugs and kisses!