Imperial County is no stranger to natural disasters. Our cities and roadways straddle earthquake faults that crisscross the county much like a spider’s web. Over the centuries, this Valley has been shaken to its very core by quakes that have struck sometimes by the thousands, as in the aftershocks from the 7.2-magnitude quake of Easter Sunday 2010, and by the hundreds, as in the most recent ones that rattled Brawley and its environs in August.
Storms occasionally take us by surprise, their intensity flooding our roads and fields, and sometimes our homes.
But nothing compares to the cyclone that has been dubbed Superstorm Sandy, “the most devastating storm in decades to hit the country’s most densely populated region,” in the words of The Associated Press.
We watch in horror and awe as video footage and still shots flood our TV and computer screens with havoc an entire nation away, of Mother Nature’s fury unleashed on millions of people living on the eastern seaboard, inundating streets and landmarks familiar to many of us only through the magic of television. As of Tuesday, at least 50 people had been killed, many by falling trees, and it’s likely that number will grow. Millions are without power in 17 states, even as an early winter storm drops snow on areas already affected by Sandy.
As the storm heads west, waves on Lake Michigan have reached more than 20 feet high, high winds are pummeling parts of the Midwest, and more devastation is yet to come.
Already teams of relief workers from across the United States are on their way to devastated areas, where they will help clear streets so power can be restored, search for victims and provide shelter and food for the thousands of evacuees and homeless. This nation has seen its share of disasters, both natural and man-made. But it also is home to a people who have proven they can rise to the challenge that recovery requires, and with Superstorm Sandy, that road to recovery is likely to be a long one.
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