In Nature's Way

In November a couple of years ago I attended a conference in the Phoenix, Arizona, area. The weather was a little cool, even for November, and cloudy. It even rained a couple of times. At the Sunday worship service for the conference, the local pastor who led the service started off his greetings to conference attendees by apologizing if the locals were joyful about the weather. They needed the rain, he said.

My immediate thought was, "I have no sympathy for people who move to the desert, plant grass, and then complain about the lack of rain." I'm having a similar reaction after watching news reports from the Florida coast as it was lashed by Hurricane Noel.

I grew up in a coastal community, so I know first hand what storms can do to beaches and other shoreline geography. I also understand the allure of shore front homes. However, if you are going to build on the shore and then complain about the natural effects of wind and water on the shoreline (both erosion and build-up), then you are not going to get a lot of sympathy from me. The same goes for those who decide to build in the mountains, destroy the hillside ecosystem, and then complain about the mudslides. And it even applies to those who build in the woods, refuse to let smaller, controlled fires burn as part of the forest's natural life cycle, and then complain about wildfires.

There are ways to live near the shore, on the hills and in the woods that are less disruptive to the ecosystem. There are even ways to build our homes in ways that lessen the impact of storms. I remember watching news reports a couple of years ago after a fairly severe hurricane passed through central Florida. It was interesting to note that the houses that survived with minimal damage were those built either before 1940 or after the new building codes were implemented in the wake of Hurricane Andrew.

We can never totally eliminate the results of natural "disasters." Sometimes we cannot avoid the destruction, no matter how carefully we plan and build. Nor do I want to belittle the losses of those who have endured the fires in California and Tropical Storm, now Hurricane, Noel. However, if you continue to disregard nature and build in places and ways where you know it is probable that your house will be destroyed, how many times do you honestly expect to be bailed out by insurance companies or the government?

Peace,
Jeffri