The thunderous Tsunami

It was an ocean wave
That left countless dead
And made children crave
Thousands presumed dead while so many for their lives, fled.

Pilgrims taking a holy dip in the sea
Children playing and the elderly taking their morning stroll
Tourists enjoying a sun bath with glee
All submerged, leaving nothing but a high death toll.

The disaster effects…widespread and severe
It spelt more than just a natural disaster
For the fishermen families lost their sole breadwinners
A mass destruction of marine biology, t’ was a total slayer

Corpses of victims found and buried in shallow graves
The relief efforts….gigantic and complicated
Reconstruction and rehabilitation for thousands saved
Homes for homeless and ruthlessly stranded.

The thunderous roar of the tsunami
still echoes in the mind’s eye.
It will take a long time to heal---
The devastation caused by the sub-marine landslide.


The Avalanche destruction

The sky became overcast and dark
It was a snowstorm that evening
And there, amid the winter blanket of mountains
A slab avalanche slid out in the cohesive snow.
Big, big enough to carry one down
It came so swiftly
That anyone there would not escape
Stilt houses became an instant rubble
As avalanches slithered from all sides
The sole livelihood of inhabitants was destroyed
And the village, was almost flattened
By winter’s raging fury.


The Flood Wreck

They say it was caused by monsoon rains and global warming
A new wave of floods killed hundreds again,
Wreaking havoc , disappearing homes.
Exposing millions to famine and disease as
dozens of corpses, found in the river
causing a damage so serious.
Some still marooned on roof-tops of homes
that collapsed like an accordion
Unplanned forest clearing only led to
large-scale erosion and filled riverbeds to outflow.
Is this nature’s punishment to man’s misgivings
Or is it man’s punishment to nature’s giving
Reckless human use of fossil fuel,
irresistibly by mechanized nations
has only helped the apparition of climatic change
to darken our horizon, leading to economic distress
with a high degree of severity, reassuring a state of calamity.


Hurricane Katrina

The eleventh named storm
Breached land by its surge
It was the deadliest of the century
And the most expensive natural disaster
Millions of people displaced
Causing a humanitarian crisis on a scale unseen so far
It was also the hydrology of the location
It’s extreme size, that weakened only shortly before landfall
Generating large waves at a category 5 intensity.
Air conditioning, electricity, and running water --- all failed,
making for unsanitary and uncomfortable conditions.
Man was subject to frustration and indulged in malicious practices
Unverified rumors and myths only added fuel to the fire.
Hurricane Katrina, the worst catastrophe of the century
The costilest natural disaster in US history.

Suma V S