Myanmar, USA, & Severe Weather

Hurricane-Gordon-2006
Hurricane Gordon Hit the Azores and Western Europe in 2006

The following item was in the news this morning:

Deadly Cyclone Pummels Myanmar

By Aung Hla Tun, Reuters

Posted: 2008-05-04 09:00:05

YANGON (May 4) More than 200 people have been killed in military-ruled Myanmar by a Category 3 cyclone that ripped through Yangon and the Irrawaddy delta, where it flattened two towns, officials and state media said on Sunday.

Packing winds of 190 km (120 miles) per hour when it hit on Saturday morning, Cyclone Nargis devastated the former Burma’s leafy main city, littering the streets with overturned cars, fallen trees and debris from battered buildings.

“Utter war zone,” one Yangon-based diplomat said in an email to Reuters in Bangkok. “Trees across all streets. Utility poles down. Hospitals devastated. Clean water scarce.”

“We believe hundreds of people are dead,” said Khin Maung Win with the Democratic Voice of Burma — a broadcast media group run by opposition expatriates.

A government official in Naypyidaw, the ruling general’s new capital 240 miles to the north, said the latest death toll was more than 200…

“I have never seen anything like it,” one retired government worker told Reuters. “It reminded me of when Hurricane Katrina hit the United States.”

Although the sun was shining by Sunday morning, the former capital was without power and water, and food prices had doubled, with many storeholders unsure of when they would be able to replenish stocks. Most shops had sold out of candles.

An Electricity Board official said it was impossible to know when the power supply — hit-and-miss at the best of times in one of Asia’s poorest countries — would be restored.

http://news.aol.com/story/_a/deadly-cyclone-pummels-myanmar/20080504064309990001?icid=1616058736x1201521535x1200303519

The Living Church of God has at least two congregations in Myanmar (formerly known as Burma). Even without weather problems, those in Myanmar always need our prayers.

Also notice this news item:

Severe weather continues

05/04/2008

It continues to be a terrible spring for tornadoes, as severe weather outbreaks last week grabbed headlines.

We started the week with tornadoes cutting a 25-mile path of destruction through southern Virginia. Luckily, nobody was killed, but more than 200 people were injured.

We unfortunately ended the week on the opposite end, as seven people died as storms associated with the same cold front that passed through our area ripped through Oklahoma, Missouri and Arkansas.

A month ago, I discussed this topic, talking about how we’d already had 70 deaths and more than 500 tornadoes this year. As of today, we are at 731 preliminary tornado reports. They are responsible for 76 deaths, just five short of the total deaths for all of 2007.

The 10-year average for tornado reports is 1270 per year. We aren’t halfway through this year and we are already on pace to beat that by September. We now are over 6800 reports of severe weather for 2008, including tornadoes, hail and winds gusts over 58 mph.

http://www.thetimes-tribune.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=19659533&BRD=2185&PAG=461&dept_id=416046&rfi=6

Severe weather problems not only can be personally devastating, they can cause food supply disruptions and even famines. Even CENTRAL Europe had deaths this year related to a hurricane (for details, please see the news item Hurricane Causes Deaths in Central Europe).

LCG has long had a booklet of possibly related interest titled “Who Controls the Weather? ” that is available for those interested in more on the weather and Bible prophecy.

On a possibly related note, there have been increases in earthquakes with the infamous New Madrid fault in the Mid-West of the USA showing signs of activity–as well as the many earthquakes we are having in California (there was notable one centered about 40 miles from where I am writing this from a couple of days ago).

Of course we are not to be alarmed by these occurrences, as even more intense problems are foretold. Notice what Jesus taught:

11 And there will be great earthquakes in various places, and famines and pestilences; and there will be fearful sights and great signs from heaven… 18 But not a hair of your head shall be lost. 19 By your patience possess your souls. 20 “But when you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, then know that its desolation is near (Luke 21:11,18-20).

But since we do not yet see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, there still is time before the start of the tribulation–I do not believe that the great tribulation can begin before 2012, with a year or so later more likely.

But it seems that weather problems are increasing and that the end is getting closer.

Several articles of possibly related interest may include:

Who is the King of the North? Is there one? Do biblical and Roman Catholic prophecies point to the same leader? Should he be followed? Who will be the King of the North discussed in Daniel 11? Is a nuclear attack prophesied to happen to the English-speaking peoples of the United States, Great Britain, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand? When do the 1335 days, 1290 days, and 1260 days (the time, times, and half a time) of Daniel 12 begin?
Does God Have a 6,000 Year Plan? What Year Does the 6,000 Years End? Was a 6000 year time allowed for humans to rule followed by a literal thousand year reign of Christ on Earth taught by the early Christians? When does the six thousand years of human rule end?
There is a Place of Safety for the Philadelphians. Why it May Be Petra This article discusses a biblical ‘place of safety’ and includes quotes from the Bible and Herbert W. Armstrong on this subject–thus, there is a biblically supported alternative to the rapture theory.
End of Mayan Calendar 2012–Might 2012 Mean Something? There is a Mayan calendar prediction for change in 2012. 2012 changes were also centuries ago predicted by the Hopi Native Americans and the Hindu Indians (who were not even on the same continent). Do these Mayan/Hindu/Hopi prophecies have any value? Why might Satan have inspired this date? Can the great tribulation start before 2012?