Thoughts on the Cyclone and Earthquakes

I am not necessarily in the mood for bad news, but my internet homepage has been practically shouting at me for days about the cyclone in Myanmar and the Earthquake in China. I mean, it's news here in the states that Hilary Clinton won the W.VA primary and that 20 people died in tornadoes. Sure, those are both instances of somewhat upsetting news, especially the tornadoes, which is surely devastating for some communities. However, in comparison, Asia is seriously going through some shit right now.

The death toll in China has already topped 15,000 people, and that includes many children and teens who were killed in collapsing school buildings. There are still an estimated 26,000 people who are buried under rubble and 14,000 who are just plain missing. In one area, only 3000 of the town's 12,000 people survived. I come from a pretty small town in Georgia. I cannot even imagine what it would be like it 3/4's of my hometown was just wiped out in a single day. That means almost everyone you know would be dead. The horror of their situation is just unimaginable.

Except that the people in Myanmar are even worse off right now. I honestly had to look it up on a map because I wasn't sure where Myanmar, or what has also been called Burma, was in the world. I knew it was an Asian country near India, but other than that, I couldn't pinpoint it on a map, I am sorry to say. But even though I could not have located them on a map two weeks ago, my heart goes out to its citizens who are truly in pain today. A cyclone sent surging storm waters through the delta there, devastating the area. The Myanmar government is not letting foreign aid workers into the country, which is the big news right now.

In some ways, I can't blame them. I mean, look at how our own country has handled storms. We didn't do that great of a job ourselves during Katrina honestly, but then again, not anywhere near that many people died here in the US. Myanmar is reporting that 28,000 people died in the cyclone, but the UN is saying that it's more like 60,000 plus, with the threat of thousands more. Also, there is no fuel to burn the bodies, so the threat of spreading disease is upon them as well. There are millions of people with no homes right now, and I look around at all the comforts I have around me, feeling incredibly grateful and terribly sad for these people.

According to news, there are threats of another cyclone that might hit the area. I think it's interesting that CNN makes a point to note that the Myanmar government would not allow stations to broadcast that news within the country. Now, don't get me wrong, I am not a communist or someone who believes by any means that the government should control my freedoms. However, these people are very upset, they have lost everything and almost everyone they loved. They have no defenses if there is another cyclone anyway, so why upset them with the news that there might be another one? I can understand where the government is coming from there.

On the other hand, if the people had more information and more aid was made available, they might have more of a chance at survival, and doesn't everyone deserve that? It's a complicated issue, and one that I do not even have my own head on straight about, much less advice for anyone else. I just thought it was sad that looking down the list of CNN's 10 most popular stories, the Clinton/Obama issue ranks much higher in news priority than millions of people being suddenly homeless and tens of thousands dead on the other side of the world. My heart and thoughts go out to them, and I hope that they get the aid they need to make it through this tragedy.