January 2005

Weather & Natural Disasters

The year of 2004 came to an abrupt end in this world with the horrible events of December 26. Approximately 231,127 souls either departed their bodies or are still listed as missing because of the Asian earthquake and tsunami. Giant ocean waves crashed into Indonesia, Sri Lanka and India, drowning thousands and swamping tourist isles in Thailand and the Maldives. The dynamic quake measured 9.15 in magnitude.

It was February 22, 2005, somewhere in Iran when an earthquake that measured 6.4 magnitude, struck the town of Zarand about 700 km (440 miles) southeast of Tehran. A count of 612 people were killed and about another 1,411 were injured.

On March 28, 2005, nearly 1,000 people in Indonesia were killed after
a quake of magnitude 8.7 struck the coast of Sumatra.

Sometime in June of 2005, swollen rivers from torrential rains flooded parts of southern and eastern China. Up until late June, floods had killed about 567 people, another 165 are reported missing and the waters forced the emergency relocation of about 2.46 million people across the country.

During the months of July and August of 2005, more than 1,000 people were killed -- mostly drowned and buried by landslides -- after a day of the heaviest rainfall ever recorded in the western Indian state of Maharashtra.

Hurricane Katrina slammed into Louisiana and Mississippi with 140 mile-per-hour winds (224 kph) and a 30-foot (9-metre) storm surge on August 29, 2005. Katrina killed 1,228 people and caused at least $80 billion in damage, making it the costliest hurricane on record and probably the costliest natural disaster ever to strike the United States. Previously, the most costly hurricane was Andrew, which caused $26.5 billion in losses when it hit southeast Florida and Louisiana in
1992. Katrina was followed in September by Hurricane Rita.

At least 73,320 people were killed in Pakistan by a 7.6 magnitude quake that struck about 95 km (60 miles) northeast of Islamabad on October
8, 2005.. The quake also rocked Indian Kashmir, killing and additional 1,244. Many thousands more could suffer or die during winter cold if supplies are not made available to those who are still isolated.

Hurricane Stan swept across Guatemala and El Salvador, laying waste to many poor communities, destroying coffee and other crops and killing more than 1,000 in mudslides and floods on October 8, 2005.

Hurricane Wilma became the most intense Atlantic hurricane ever recorded as it churned toward western Cuba and Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula and threatened densely populated Florida in October 17 through 19 of 2005.

Many other weather-related events brought destruction, death, and injury during 2005, but we have insufficient space on this page for a full accounting. As we consider what has happened this year and what the future might be holding in store, we are wondering if there will be more bad weather or natural disasters before January of 2006? Are we ready to survive if something worse should happen? Are we ready to die if tragedy should strike us where we live?