Sunday, August 9, 2020

Inferno


Beirut is in the news with the terrible disaster that has occured in the city's port. It seems the explosion was caused by poor storage of over two thousand tons of ammonium nitrate. Things are still under investigation .

It isn't the first time , and it probably won't be the last time that man-made disaster happens. 'To err is human'; humans make mistakes (i.e. the errors at the nuclear reactor in Chernobil). Negligence is also human ( the faulty storage of the ammonia gas in Beirut port). The consequences of these human actions are devastating!

Unlike natural disasters (earthquakes, floodings, volcano eruptions, hurricanes etc..) man-made disasters could be prevented, but not always, as they usually revolve around chemicals. This stuff requires extreme care and caution .
Sometimes disasters are a combination of both the natural with the
man-made, like forest fires, for example.

We humans feel helpless. We have no control on  Nature's sent disasters, and little, if any, on the man-made ones.

We can be careful, of course, as to where we choose to live or work: not too close to an industrial zone (chemical and biological hazzards, explosions), not near  a big body of water (flooding) or a forest (fire danger).   But not much beyond that.

In any case, I put my trust in God and pray to Him :to guide , protect , help us when in danger.




50 comments:

  1. What a shocking disaster! This would be sad any time, but especially now during this pandemic.

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    1. Words fail us to describe the horror. So much death and destruction!

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    1. Disasters of all kinds are part of our life, and yet we can't cope with them. It's all too horrible for us.

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  3. Dreadful explosion we have seen it on our news, just dreadful.
    The 2020 is not a good year for so many people.

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    1. I agree with you - 2020 is not a good year so far. It's not over yet, so God only knows what awaits us at the corner.

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    1. Humans make mistakes which sometimes turn into big tragedies. There should be more supervision on our actions at any time.

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  5. I totally agree with your last line. I put my trust in God. He knows the length of my days. I have no fear. I have commonsense and I take precautions but if it is the day God is calling me home nothing I do will stop it. I feel for those in Lebanon and pray for them.

    Betty

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    1. Yes, Betty - God is the answer, and we should pray to Him for the Lebanese now.
      We could always do more to prevent disasters, yet they do happen and leave us in a big dark hole of helplessness, fear, and uncertainty.

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  6. It fills our heart with a multitude of feelings: sadness, horror, compassion, anger. And fear - as it could happen anywhere, also near our home.

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  7. I feel for the people of Beirut and all that they are going through. That poor city, which used to be known as the Paris of the Middle East, has been ravaged so often in recent years. You wonder how many Beiruts around the world are waiting to happen.

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    1. It's heart breaking!
      The city and the port will be rebuilt (many countries are offering help in money and work), but the people!!
      The dead and their broken families, the many wounded and missing - here's where the big tragedy lies.

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  8. Praying for them. The good is that it was not terrorism.

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    1. As far as I know, it was not a terror act. However, they say there was probably some ammunition in a depot in the port, belonging to the terror organizatin Hezbolla, and the explosion included that stuff too.

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  9. Such a tragedy. I also pray for protection everyday and every night. Have a lovely week ahead abd stay safe and healthy everyone!

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    1. We see it on TV and can hardly believe our eyes. Such destruction and loss of lives in seconds! Bsides there are many people still missing under the ruins.

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  10. That is such a sad situation, my heart goes out to all the people that lost family or their homes, jobs...it's just too overwhelming to even imagine all the people that were affected. And it all could have been avoided if not for human greed.

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    1. Overwhelming, indeed!
      There are big waves of protests in Beirut now against corruption, and demanding the authorities to resign.
      Corruption leads to negligence and dterioration everywhere, and should be fercely fought.

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  11. There is so much suffering. So much corruption everywhere. I look for the rays of sunshine in this life, because there is such gloom and doom.

    Also, I love Cola and choclate milk, but don;t like seltzer water, which tastes like Alka seltzer for upset stomach.

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    1. Corruption is the source of suffering, of the gloom and doom we see around us.
      For the last weeks there are big protests taking place against it, even in my country. The explosion in Beirut can happen anywhere if people practice passivity.

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    1. According to the press, the strong man in the port is the brother-in-law of Nassralla, the leader of the terror organization in Lebanon, Hezbolla.

      What could one expect of these people?What good for the port, the city, and the country could come from them?

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  13. Replies
    1. Oh, Mary - the word 'bad'is a big understatement.Even words like 'terrible', 'horrific' are too weak to describe the explosion.
      Anyway the government in Beirut has had to resign, and the protests against corruption and negligence, are still going on.

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  14. Hi Duta, I hope you don‘t mind my sharing these are prayers we can pray , taken from the Vision for Israel Newsletter. They always give the news reports along with Prayer requests and how we can pray, so I hope anyone who sees this will join in these prayers, there are also relevent scriptures, all the following is copied from the Vision for Israel, Jerusalem news network. Blessings and Love, ♡


    “God, we ask that you heal those who have been wounded, rescue those who have yet to be found, and bring peace to those who have lost so much.”

    But let justice roll down like waters, and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream. —Amos 5:24

    “God, we ask that you use this tragedy as a wake-up call to the people of Lebanon—that they would demand better leadership for themselves, and find it peacefully.”

    The soul who sins shall die. The son shall not suffer for the iniquity of the father, nor the father suffer for the iniquity of the son. The righteousness of the righteous shall be upon himself, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon himself. —Ezekiel 18:20

    “God, we ask that the mistakes made by the leadership in Lebanon not be continued by those seeking positive change.”

    He rebukes the sea and makes it dry; he dries up all the rivers; Bashan and Carmel wither; the bloom of Lebanon withers. —Nahum 1:4

    “God, we ask that you help the people of Lebanon to see how organizations like Hezbollah have been working against their interests, both home and abroad.”

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    1. Of course, I don't mind. These are beautiful, relevant prayers for the people of Lebanon. A wake-up call to them and a request ftom God to help them in their suffering.
      I very much appreciate your comment, Shayndel, and thank you for sharing it.

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  15. It's a terrible tragedy and also unbelievable that this could have been stored there for so long.

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    1. Lebanon used to be called 'Pearl of the Orient', and Beirut 'Paris of the Orient'. During the last decade, things have deteriorated, and now nothing happening there seems to be unbelievable. Sad.

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  16. The fact that this terrible tragedy could have been avoided makes it all the sadder. Now, it will be interesting to see what set off those materials, humans or not?

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    1. Investigation is still going on. It is believed, however, that the disasterous explosion was sparked by hot work done to repair a door at the warehouse where ammonium and fireworks were stored.

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  17. It was all of those things described above. I shudder to think of all those storage sites throughout the world and innocent people going about their day to day lives within their vicinity. I can only hope that better controls are in place.
    Good wishes to you Duta, really nice to be back and I look forward to each of your posts xx

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    1. Storage sites - could be quite a frightening thing. We can only hope there's tight supervision and control over them. And of course, pray to God to protect us.

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  18. This was sucha tragedy -- all these people, so innocent and unaware and then this. My heart hurts.

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    1. And all this happening with the pandemic around!
      Humanitarian aid is flowing to Beirut from many countries, but the loss of life there cannot be replaced.

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  19. As evil as it may sound, we need disasters it gives work to many people to built up the destroyed area. If you look through history after each war there was an economical high ! I wonder what will happen now with the worldwide Corona disaster ! Poor people in Beirut certainly didn't diserve that, but as you say we can't do anything about it.

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    1. The disaster in Beirut is local and visible.
      The corona disaster is mostly unclear yet despite all the many worldwide victims. It could lead to the end of the human race, unless an efficient vaccine is soon found.

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  20. It certainly was devastating...the visions shown on via television were horrendous. Such a tragic event...such sadness...

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    1. These visions shown on Tv are definitely not for the faint of heart...

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  21. In spanish, you have the same words for such happenings : horrible, tragicos.
    Yes, universal events described by universal words.

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  22. Yes, the explosion was such a tragedy. We can only observe, plan, and protest as best we can. I agree that we trust God to protect us. Putting our lives in His hands is our comfort.

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    1. You've summed it up perfectly: big tragedy, but we humans are quite helpless about it.

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  23. The explosion was heartbreaking, so sad. You've provided some great points and insightful observations. Like you, I put my trust in God and pray to Him to guide, protect, and help us when in danger.

    Wishing you all the best! Stay Safe, my friend!

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  24. Thank you for mentioninhg "great points" and "insightful observations".
    God is omnipresent, omnipotent, and always there for those who pray to Him.

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    1. Indeed, Linda - heartbreaking and traumatic!

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  26. What a disaster! Too bad as it could've been avoided. Devastating for those involved. I'm with you, Duta, "I put my trust in God and pray to Him: to guide ,protect , help us when in danger."

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    1. Things are deteriorating everywhere.
      Covid-19 and Climate Change are not going to go away either. So, may God help us! Only He can.

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  27. That was such a huge explosion, my thoughts go to everyone affected.

    All the best Jan

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  28. It's such a crazy time we are living in! I am afraid to turn on the news each day.

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