Earthquake & Hurricane Irene

All within a week, NY has been hit with an Earthquake and a Hurricane (now called a Tropical Storm).

On Tuesday afternoon, it felt so surreal when I heard that Virginia had a 5.8 magnitude earthquake  and the vibrations were felt in NYC and the surrounding areas. NY of all the places had an earthquake while the chances of feeling an earthquake while we lived in the West for over 2 years was much higher. We never felt a tremble, or a slight vibration during the years we lived in Reno. New Yorkers trembled for a second but moved on very quickly. NY hasn't experienced an earthquake like this in a really long time.

Hurricane Irene, a predicted Category 2 or 3 Hurricane expected to hit NY and vicinity on Saturday night into Sunday was downgraded to a tropical storm.

New Yorkers prepared for the Hurricane with evacuations, stocking up food & water, and taking necessary precautions - at least majority of them did.  Even the electronic road signs warned about the impending hurricane and evacuation plan.  MTA shut down, toll booths were free of charge, and bridges and major roads were closed to prepare for a monster that was on the path to NYC. A city which never sleeps had a day of rest.

Luckily, the hurricane warning became a tropical storm by the time it reached NY area. Severe flooding on highways, train tracks and local roads became the main issue. Trees were uprooted and branches broke off  on to roads, houses, and cars. Powers are down for thousands of people in the area.

In a nutshell, though hurricane Irene changed to a tropical storm the impact of the storm was quite big. The devastation would have been much more if the path of Hurricane had not have weakened. Yet, it will take days for everything to normalize. It will take time for people to rebuild.

Air Traffic Gridlock

On April 14, Wednesday, 2010, the world awakened to the news about the eruption of  Iceland's Eyjafjallajokull volcano which was dormant for about 200 years. As ashes, fumes, and lava fill the air, it caused chaos all over the world when all jets and airplanes were grounded in the surrounding areas. Travel planes for thousands were disrupted and airliners lost millions due to the recent havoc.

Today, flights resume in Europe as authorities confirmed the safety of the air-crafts after almost a week of chaos. Perhaps it will take days or even weeks to recuperate as airliners struggle to reconcile the effects of more than 95,000 canceled flights. Time will tell and time will heal. 

Yet another one.

Another breaking news alarmed the world today when the broadcast of the earthquake in Chile reached millions through the media. It hasn't been 2 months since the Haiti earthquake disaster which took the lives of about 200,000 and left millions homeless, hopeless, and in despair. In the midst of these another one strikes.

Chile was hit with a massive earthquake today which had a magnitude of 8.8 and the aftermath was a prediction of Tsunami in the Pacific Ocean threatening shorelines of Hawaii, Alaska, and California.  The aftershocks have caused numerous smaller magnitude earthquakes in and around Chile and one among them was in Argentina. Japan and Philippines among others have tsunami warnings and evacuations in progress. In the midst of all these, we can only do one thing, PRAY.

Remember the hundreds who will never see another daylight. Pray for the millions affected by the disaster and the aftershocks. Petition for the thousands living in fear each second.