Are Natural Disasters Increasing In Frequency?

Over on the Rapture Ready Message Board, we had a interesting discussion about how often natural disasters are happening these days. Julie-a made a list of the disasters that have happened up through October of this year. Take a look at this:

I did some research and I have compiled a list of NATURAL DISASTERS that have happened from Jan 1, 2005 until the end of October. I only included disasters that cause major damage and death. Remember that I did NOT include any man made disasters such a stampedes, bombings, explosions, or fires. These are NATURAL occuring disasters that could NOT have been prevented.

• Jan 16-13 Heavy reain (11in) cause major mudslide in California killing 11. The same system killed 25 in Arizona, Nevada, and Ohio.
• Jan. 22-23 Snow storm sweeps across midwest atlantic states, killing 20 and dumping up to 38 inches of snow.
• Feb. 17-23 California storms cause flooding, killing at least 9. Over nine inches fell in L.A. alone.
• Feb. 22 Iran has a 6.4 mag. earthquake killing 612 and injuring 14,000.
• March 20 Japan has a 7.0 mag. earthquake killing one, injuring 500.
• March 18-22 Heavy rains and melting snow kill more than 200 and left thousand homeless worst in years. (north Asia)
• March 28 Sumatra, India has a 8.7 earthquake killing 1313 people.
• SAME AREA HIT BY HUGE TSUNAMI IN DEC. KILLING AT LEAST 283,000.
• April Deadliest outbreak of Marburg, a hemorrhagic fever similiar to the deadly Eboli virus kills 280 people. THere is no effective treatment for disease.
• May Fierce snow storm in Andes Mountians killing 46 people.
• June Flooding in China kills 536 people
• June 12 Flash flood triggered by torrential rains, swept through an elementary school killing 117, mostly children. Indonesia
• June 13 Earthquake with mag. of 7.9 hits Chile, killing 11.
• June 18-19 North Dakota has strong storms and 100 mph winds that batter the state.
• July 10 Hurricane Dennis kills 40 people in Haiti, 16 in Cuba, and one in Jamacia. (5th hurricane to hit Fl. in less than a year)
• July18 Hurricane Emily made landfall in Cozumel with 135 mph winds. Death toll was low due to good emergency planning.
• July 26 A week of monsoon rains left 1,000 dead in western India.
• July Arizona had and unusual heat wave that was blamed for the deaths of 21 people.
• Aug. 16 7.2 mag. earthquake shakes northern Japan, causing a small tsunami.
• Aug. 25 Hurricane Katrina hits Fl. killing 14.
• Aug. 25 Days of rain in Austria, Bulgaria, Germany, Romania and Switzerland flood cities and kill at least 42 people.
• Aug. 29-30 Hurricane Katrina (a cat. 4 storm with 140 mph winds and a storm surge up to 25ft. devestates Alambama and Louisiana coasts. Killing at least 1290 people and leaving billions of dollars in destruction.
• Sept. 1-3 Typhoon Talim kills @ least 129 people in China.
• Sept. 6-7 Japan's typhoon, Nabi, kills 18 people.
• Sept. 14 Hurricane Ophelia dumps 18 in. of rain on N.C. and S.C., killing one person.
• Sept. 24-25 Rita hits, killing 23 people. It's heavy rains also breach the levee in New Orleans again flooding some of the city.
• Sept. 20-25 Phillippines, China, Thailand and Nepal are hit by typhoon Damrey, killing 122 people - mostly from flooding.
• Oct. In El Salvador, Llamatepec volcano erupts killing 2.
• Oct. 2 China is hit by typhoon Longwang. Longwang killed 65 people in China and Taiwan.
• Oct. 2 a 7.6 mag. earthquake hits Kashmir (Pakistan) killing more than 80,000 people and leaving over 4 million homeless (and winter is approaching).
• Oct. 7-14 Northeast U.S. has torrential rains causing fooding in N.E. states, killing 10.
• Oct. 18-24 Caribbean, Mexico, and Fl. are all affected by Hurricane Wilma. It is a cat. 5 storm and the most intense hurricane in the Atlantic ever recorded with a pressure reaching 882mb. Third storm this season to reach a Cat. 5. Hurricane Wilma killed at least 38 people.
• Oct. 22 Haiti is hit by Hurricane Alpha, which dumps heavy rain and kills 12 people.
• Oct. Nicaragua and Hondorus are battered by heavy rains causing flooding.

Beta is the 23rd named storm in the Atlantic this year, breaking all hurricane record from 1851.I did not include November because it is only half way over. I also did not include natural disasters that did not do much damage or cause loss of life. After doing this research, I do feel that disasters are more intense and frequent than ever. I also think when you include man made disasters, it would be a lot worse. (sorry if I forgot anything).

The Lord warns of these things. Keep you heart true to the Lord and watch for His return.