Page 88 - The Truth of the Life of This World

people dead and another 300,000 injured. The total damage was put at 200
billion dollars. 3
There are certainly lessons to be drawn from such a disaster. City-
dwellers, used to leading comfortable lives, were suddenly confronted with
many hardships after the disaster. In a state of shock, they were unable to
figure out what to do with their lives,- let alone make plans for the future.

Typhoons, Hurricanes, Tornadoes...

Typhoons, hurricanes, and tornadoes are natural disasters that people
frequently experience. These disasters and their aftermaths claim thou-
sands of lives every year. These are very strong winds, which can cause
great damage to cities, killing and injuring residents, hurling thousands of
trees, huts, telephone poles, cars, and even buildings miles away.
Great typhoons in particular can cause giant sea waves to raise sud-
denly from the seabed. In this phenomenon, powerful storms send waves
speeding at hundreds of miles per hour across the ocean against seacoasts.
In such cases, water rises onto the land and heavy rains cause serious
floods in delta regions.
The transformation of winds that are generally experienced as mild
breezes into powerful storms capable of moving buildings no doubt forces
us to look for the great power making such events happen. The same ratio-
nale discussed in the section on earthquakes is also true for typhoons, hur-
ricanes and tornadoes: if Allah willed it so, man would very frequently be
confronted by such natural disasters. While recovering from disaster,
human beings could suffer another. In the Qur'an, Allah reminds man that
winds are under His control:
Do you feel secure against Him Who is in heaven causing the earth to swal-
low you up when suddenly it rocks from side to side? Or do you feel secure
against Him Who is in heaven releasing against you a sudden squall of
stones, so that you will know how true My warning was? Those before them
also denied but then how great was My denial! (Surat al-Mulk: 16-18)
However, Allah protects man against hazards. He only occasionally
sends against them violent storms. This is surely to give man a warning.

86 Natural Hazards and Disasters