Week 6: Japan mourns tsunami dead; grapples with it's aftermath

http://english.alarabiya.net/articles/2012/03/11/199908.html

Sunday March 11th, moments of silence, prayers, and anti-nuclear rallies marked the one year anniversary of the tsunami in Japan. A magnitude 9.0 earthquake triggered a tsunami killing 16,000, leaving 3,300 missing, 326,000 homeless, and 80,000 evacuees from around the nuclear plant. There is a 20km no-go zone around the nuclear plant but residents of the old town Okuma were allowed back for a few hours to honor the dead. The disaster has triggered discussions about Japan's government and nuclear plants inability to deal with the disaster. I think nuclear plants and governments should have better ways to protect and secure such dangerous health concerns so nothing like Japan ever happens again.

Week 5: Tornado alerts follow flooding in southern states

http://usnews.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/03/21/10788247-tornado-alerts-follow-flooding-in-southern-states

Meteorologists are predicting tornados in Mississippi and Louisiana after storms left a foot of water in Louisiana. Flash floods occurred in Eastern Texas, Arkansas, and Louisiana among other southern states. Meteorologist Chris Dolce says " a significant flood threat is unfolding across the south-central states". Motorists are told not to drive on flooded streets for 2/3 of flood related deaths occur in vehicles. Bridges, roadways, and campgrounds have been closed across the central southern states. In Oklahoma, thunder was registering on the seismic scale. The northern states and Canada have recorded higher temperatures. I think that this warm weather is going to cause a lot more natural disasters this year, as already shown in the central-southern states.

Week 4: Family of 5 killed by tornado

http://www.courier-journal.com/article/20120305/NEWS02/303050045/New-Pekin-Family-5-killed-by-tornado-buried-private-ceremony?odyssey=mod%7Cnewswell%7Ctext%7CHome%7Cp

The family of five was buried Monday after the tornado on Friday ripped through their mobile home in New Pekin Indiana. The family, two parents ages twenty-one and twenty and their three children ages two, fifteen months, and two months were among the thirty-four dead in Kentucky and Indiana. The families fifteen month old daughter was the only survivor of the tornado but she too passed on Sunday when she was taken off life support after severe brain injuries. I think especially in places where tornado's are common anyone who does not have an adequate place to find protection should have access to one. All trailer parks should have a place for people to go during a tornado to avoid anymore tragedies.