The issue of natural disasters is quite a horrible thing, and it breaks my heart to see people losing their lives when these tragedies strike. I only read about natural disasters in books as a kid and didn't know how much damage they were capable of causing, but everything changed when I saw a clip from the tsunami that happened in India about two decades ago, where thousands of lives were lost to the disaster.
I was shivering, and my eyes were filled with tears as I watched lives and properties being destroyed. I got a clearer picture of what natural disasters were, and it is much bigger than what was in textbooks. While natural disasters happen to be something we can barely control, there are numerous human activities that have contributed to the natural disasters we experience in the world every year.
In Nigeria, the only natural disaster we struggle with is flooding, and I can confidently say that we are part of the cause due to our poor attitude towards waste management in the country. We complain about the lack of drainage, and yet we can't maintain the ones we have properly.
Whenever I step out of my house and see waste, especially plastic, lying everywhere on the road and in our drainage system, I wonder if people are still pretending to be unaware of the danger attached to their actions or if they do not just care about the negative effect of their actions.
We aren't far from flooding in this part of the world, and it happens almost every year between June and September, which is the rainy season. Due to the continuous downpour during this time of the year, different parts of the country experience flooding, and it can be so terrible that the affected people have to migrate for safety.
In 2022, Nigeria experienced the worst flood in the country, and it was a terrible one. Although my community wasn't affected, emotionally I was, watching everything on TV and seeing updates on the internet. While many lost their lives, millions of people were displaced, and the government had to provide temporary shelter for the affected ones.
I can't imagine what it would feel like to live in a camp and struggle with food when I have a home somewhere, but it's a no-go area because it is flooded.
It's been raining here for days, and there have been circulating warnings about flooding, which is already happening slowly. Our road gets flooded in just a few minutes, which isn't a good sign of what we might eventually experience this year.
While it's just flooding here, there are cases of earthquakes, wildfires, and many others in different countries. I remember how a fellow blogger was affected by the wildfire in some parts of the US. My heart raced as I watched the fire tear down trees and houses.
We can blame climate change for everything, but we can't deny influencing the climate with our actions as well. I always tell the people around me that whatever we do to nature is coming back to us in multiple folds.
It's wrong to think we are hurting nature because, with time, nature will heal, but where will we be by then?
Disposing of waste inadequately, both at a personal and industrial level, isn't helping matters.
Should we talk about deforestation? It's sad to see people cutting down trees carelessly while others are trying to plant more. Trees are capable of controlling erosion and flooding, but we do not care just because we want to build houses and industries. In the end, industries and houses are affected by the flood.
It's true that we can't completely stop natural disasters from happening, but we can reduce the impact and casualties.
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