A tragic example of the poor's vulnerability to natural disasters.
by Darris McNeely
During His ministry Christ once
stated that the poor shall always be with you. Nearly two thousand
years later we know this to be true. Today we continually ask, "Why are
the poor always with us?"
Hurricane Mitch, which ravaged Central
America last November, left a tragic example of the modern poor and
how vulnerable they are to natural disasters.
Mitch killed more than 10,500 people,
60 percent of them in Honduras. There are some 13,000 people missing.
The two hardest hit nations, Honduras and Nicaragua, buried their dead
in mass graves to head off the threat of disease epidemics. The economic
damage is in the billions of dollars as the staple crops of bananas
and coffee, the major sources of hard currency, were severely damaged.
It will take years to recover the economic loss.
Disaster is not unknown to these
small third world countries. In 1972 a major earthquake jolted Nicaragua
leaving many thousands dead. Add to this the chronic political instability
of the region and it presents an unpleasant picture.
We Ask Why?
Such a disaster is incomprehensible
in the United States where the eastern and southern coasts are routinely
wracked by hurricanes. What is the difference? Why the massive damage
and loss of life in such countries? The television pictures that came
in from the scene told part of the story. In Nicaragua more than 2,000
died from a mudslide of a collapsed volcano. They were peasants living
in shacks on the sides of the volcano, eking out a meager living. The
conditions are feudal in nature. The poor cannot afford to live in
the safest regions of a land. They must live on land that is in a flood
plain and of little economic value. The better land is often taken
by their wealthier and more fortunate neighbors.
