catastrophe and an unprecedented infra­structural damage. In the US alone, the estimated dam­age made by the storm is well over US$50 billion.
For the millions of people affected, life will never be the same. For the more than 7,5 million US citizens without power, life is currently a nightmare. It is an incident that New Yorkers never imagined would hap­pen to them. Reports also say that Cuban sugar farmers are scram­bling to “drain plantations in the eastern provinces of Granma, Santiago de Cuba and Holguin where Hurri­cane Sandy flattened and flooded sugar plantations late last week”.
In the United States, what puzzled the more than 50 million people affected was how such a monstrous hur­ricane has not only caused so much damage, but that it is also threatening the November 6 presidential elec­tion. In fact in the final week of campaigning, the hur­ricane overshadowed next week’s poll. If the flooding, blizzards and the power outages run into next Tuesday, how many voters will be able to exercise their demo­cratic right? That is an issue worry­ing both president Barack Obama and his challenger, Mitt Romney.
Millions, as I write, are in make-shift homes, and have no idea when they will return to their own homes, that is if they are fortunate to still have one. The power cuts, that also burnt down 80 homes in New York, will take days if not weeks to restore. So too the transport system and other essential services. Those affected do not only need shelter, healthcare and education facili­ties, but they also need to be fed. It is a natural disaster whose implications also give the various leadership structures sleepless nights.
Do we empathise with them? Do we see ourselves extending humanitarian assistance even from the little that we have so that they know that they are not alone in this dark hour? And, how many of us think that a disaster of this magnitude can actually strike us? If it does, how pre­pared are we to deal with it? The Civil Protection Unit has always done its best to rise to the occasion in terms of natural disaster man­agement, however, in the event of a disaster of the mag­nitude caused by Hurricane Sandy, do we have the capacity to cope?
How well have we invested in early warning systems? If they are in place, how easy will it be to reach out to every citizen especially those that are likely to be affected, including the most vulnerable — the elderly, children and the sick — advising them of what steps to take? Do we see the need to train them on what to do in case of eventualities?
Do we have well-trained people to deal with all forms of disaster? Do we also have a volunteer mechanism in place so that those volunteers are on standby when the need arises? As President Mugabe officially opened the Fifth Ses­sion of the Seventh Parliament on Tuesday another question I had was, “Do our MPs ever see themselves caught up between an election campaign and a natural disaster as the American presidential contenders are right now? If so, what will they do?” I am not wishing Zimbabwe any misfortune, but cli­mate change is wreaking havoc in all parts of the world. If we don’t appreciate the natural tragedies that other people are facing, how do we expect them to appreciate our problems and render assistance, even if it is emo­tional support?
The rainy season is upon us, and although we hope for a normal season, we don’t know what Mother Nature has in store for us. All we can do is draw lessons from others and start prioritising. In Shona we say, kugara nhaka huona dzavamwe and loosely said in isiNdebele, senzi izinto ngokubona okwabanye. Cur­rently, we might think that we do not have an economy that can lift people up after a catastrophic natural disas­ter, but who has? Haiti has had its fair share of natural disasters? So too Cuba, which has been under US sanc­tions for more than five decades. What lessons have we learnt from them?
The US economy, which has not been in good shape for some time, is evidently going to take another nose-dive from Superstorm Sandy’s effects. So, eventually, everyone around this globalised world will have to make do with local solutions, funding included, but still drawing lessons from others.
A good example is Nigeria. The government has issued an alert to its citizens. According to a report published on Tuesday, the Lagos State government “warned people living along the Atlantic Ocean to relo­cate immediately, saying there could be ripple effects in seven days.” The Lagos State commissioner for water­front and infrastructure development, Prince Segun Oniru, told journalists that there could be a strong surge in the next seven to 14 days.
He attributed the likely ripple effect of the hurricane to the location of Lagos parallel to the South America region: “We want to let Lagosians know what is going on, and what to expect; it is not to create panic. They should be careful around the ocean and lagoon. In the last five to six days, around the Caribbean — from Jamaica, Haiti, Cuba — Hurricane Sandy has hit the East Coast of America. Normally, when such happens and the magnitude if it hits that part of the world, we always have a ripple effect in Lagos and around the West Coast of Africa. Our main concern is Lagos; it is a warning but not to create panic. Lagos lies parallel to the South America part of the world on the map, but Superstorm Sandy has hit New York City and the Atlantic and the west part.”
On hindsight, the devastating tropical cyclone Eline that hit Mozambique in February 2000 will probably make us realise that chances of this occurring are there.
Some will remember cyclone Eline for the destruc­tion it left when it landed on Zimbabwe, with others remembering it for the 26-year-old Mozambican woman who gave birth in a tree, and was later saved by a South African defence forces helicopter crew.
Below is the story from The Guardian newspaper of Thursday March 2, 2000:
“Rosita Pedro was born in a tree above Mozam­bique’s swirling floodwaters yesterday and minutes later, with her umbilical cord still attached, was winched to safety by a South African helicopter crew. Her mother, Sofia Pedro, torn by labour pains as she clutched the branches where she had sought refuge, was exhausted and near the end when rescuers discov­ered her precarious perch. An airforce medic was low­ered on to the tree to help the mother give birth and cut the umbilical cord. ‘We spotted her just in time,’ said the man, who gave his name only as Godfrey. ‘We then hoisted mother and child on to the helicopter. The crew provided a blanket to wrap the infant and return Rosita to her mother. They are both doing well.’ Ms Pedro had climbed the tree on Sunday to escape the surging waters.”
While the possibilities are there, there is a lot that can be done to minimise damage and suffering.

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