Dave_Osterberg's Blog

Over the weekend the country of Myanmar (which used to be called Burma) experienced a cyclone equivalent to what we would know of as a category 3 hurricane. As last check this storm has killed at least 15,000 people. That begs this question; how in this day and age could this happen. We in the US sometimes have days notice that a storm is coming. First I will start by telling you that this is one of the poorest countries in the world. They don't have TV's, internet, cell phones, etc. Most of them probably had no idea this storm was coming.

When I was in college, I did a paper on Bangladesh. There was a cyclone in the 1970s, that killed over 100,000 people. Thats astonishing!! Most of the people worked and lived near the rice patties. That is their living. That is how they feed their families. Can you imagine not knowing a storm is coming, and for those that did, they couldn't do anything about it. It's not like they have cars to drive away. This is the exact same thing that happened in Myanmar. Now the fear is disease. With no homes, clean water, or food around, thousands and thousands are left to find a way to survive.  Often times polluted water can leade to many water borne diseases and many more deaths. The good news about this catastrophe is that the country has allowed the United Nations to send food, water, and medical supplies to help. That will no doubt help to raise morale and save a few lives. I know our country has its problems, but sometimes you have to sit back see how lucky we do have it, compared to some of these third world countries.