Leonard Pitt's 'Sometimes The Earth Is Cruel'

A natural disaster has the capability to cause large scale damage and destruction to an area. Seismic events have been known to alter landscapes and affect the livelihoods, health and development of communities. No two earthquake events are the same and the level of threat posed by an earthquake can vary due to both the human and physical factors of an area. The 2010 magnitude - 7.0 earthquake that occurred in Haiti is an example of where a natural disaster caused a previously vulnerable area to suffer tremendous loss and debilitating socio-economic impacts, to an already poverty-stricken nation.

Sometimes the Earth is more cool than you can imagine. After the high 80 earthquake on January 12th, 2010, Leonard Pitts, and award-winning journalist, wrote a powerful article to show the Earth's “cruelty” and the tragedy that struck Haiti. The article “ Sometimes the Earth is Cruel” portrays the Haitian people's response to an earthquake by using figurative language, a strong theme, and a powerful message. Throughout the article a strong theme of persistence is displayed and a compelling message is portrayed by showing the Haitians perseverance and the Earth's cruelty. The theme of “Sometimes the Earth is Cruel,” is perseverance through tragedy.

(text, 59) I think that a devastating environment can create devastating people. For example, in 2005 Hurricane Katrina devastated thousands it not millions of people. The negative change in the environment caused a negative change in how many people conducted themselves. People were stealing and looting for things that they needed or wanted. These actions were like those of savages. I view this to be similar to the revisit of flood destruction found in Mesopotamia.

All disasters are either natural or man-made. Majority of the United States’ most costly disasters have been natural disasters (Steinberg, 2006). Ted Steinberg, an environmental historian, uses Acts of God to analyze how American interference with nature intensifies the harmfulness of natural disasters. Steinberg (2006), states “those in power have tended to view these events as purely natural in an effort to justify a set of responses that has proved both environmentally unsound, and socially, if not morally, bankrupt”(p.19). This book selectively exhibits solid facts pertaining to specific natural disasters; namely hurricanes, floods, and earthquakes. In this manner, Steinberg attempts to persuade readers of the idea that natural disasters are not outside of human control or consequence. The idea of an “act of God” was initially from the idea that natural disasters were a result of punishment for sin (Steinberg, 2006). When Americans started to venture from the idea of natural disasters being a result of human actions, the assumption arose that natural disasters were without human culpability.

I argue that while the author does well to argue his thesis in a logical sequence, in the narrative the author fails to include a direct Haitian perspective, which is integral to the readers’ understanding of life in port au prince as they lost far more in the catastrophe. Furthermore he fails in his attempt to provide a solution that is economically suitable and thus dismissed short-term models that could benefit the population. Finally blinded by journalistic ambitions I believe that his excessive coverage of his breakthrough story on the cholera out break overshadows the earthquake story, as it becomes the main focus toward the end.

On January twelfth 2010, a deadly earthquake with a magnitude of 7.0 hit the coast of Port au prince, Haiti for 35 seconds, killing around 200,000 and leaving approximately to 1.5 million of the population homeless including kids who became orphans and vice versa in a matter of less than a minute. Before the earthquake, the way of life was not as bad as portrayed back at home, most of the news broadcasted in the mainstream media were exaggerated news, negative light and unfair tales to make Haiti look inferior.

The reported death sentence as high as 100,000 just with the most recent earthquake that Haiti has experienced. This was Haiti's worst quake they have ever experienced at an appalling 7.0 magnitude. Hurricane Georges swept away 500 lives and Fay and Gustav killed more than 300 people and destroyed over 3,100 homes. Pitts uses personification very nicely to put the disasters on a level we can understand. With the disasters that have occurred over the past years in Haiti Pitt's writing it evokes a feeling of happiness in readers by knowing it hasn't happened to them. It causes the reader to feel distraught and useless to those affected the disasters.

The natural environment is, of course, not “getting its revenge”. Geophysical, meteorological, and hydrologic processes are unfolding as they have for millennia, beginning long before humans occupied the earth and continuing to the present. Given the eons-long perspective of the natural environment, it would be very difficult to identify meaningful changes in event frequency for the short time period in which scientific records are available on geological, meteorological, and hydrological phenomena. Event frequency, from an emergency management perspective, is not really the issue. It is certainly true that, over the years, more people have been affected by natural disasters and losses are becoming progressively greater. The significant feature driving these observations, however, is the extent of human encroachment into hazard prone areas. With increasing population density and changing land use patterns, more people are exposed to natural hazards and consequently our accumulated human and economic losses are increasing. Much of this exposure is a matter of choice. Sometimes people choose hazardous places, building houses on picturesque cliffs, on mountain slopes, in floodplains, near beautiful volcanoes, or along seismic faults. Sometimes people choose hazardous building materials that fail under extreme environmental stresses—for example, unreinforced masonry construction in seismically active areas. Some exposure results from constrained choices; the cheap land or

Seventeen years ago, I entered the world and believed it was the best place you could be. Later on, I finally started to realized that the Earth isn't all that phenomenal. Earthquakes, fires, and hurricanes, are some of the many tragedies that humans face as a result of living on this Earth. Each year, thousands of people are affected by the actions of this planet. The article titled, "Sometimes the Earth is cruel," that was written by Leonard Pitts, is a perfect example pain.

Conversely, in the eyewitness account “Comprehending the Calamity”, the point of view is that the earthquake brings out the best in people. “I saw a mother and daughter sitting in the next nook, into which four doors from flats opened. They were weary, and the girl almost fainting. Everything they had was burned, and they had had nothing to eat all day, I told them they could go up in our flat and sleep. I went upstairs and found two old comforters, and made them a bed.

Natural disasters are the catastrophes cause by “Mother Nature”, which is often difficult to forecast or manage (Morrison, et al 2014). Examples of

There are disasters occurring all around the world that most individuals will not hear of due to a lack of media coverage. Many of these disasters can have incredibly detrimental effects on entire populations, and those at risk deserve a chance to educate themselves. Two of the disasters found were the West Fertilizer plant explosion and the increasing rate of acidification of ocean water. Despite the fact that these disasters pose such incredible dangers, they were found to be among the least reported on stories amongst media outlets. Although these disasters have not been covered nearly as much as other major catastrophes, such as hurricane Katrina, they still have far reaching physical and emotional consequences and have their own unique story.

Haitian government death toll suggests that more than 220,000 victims succumbed during this natural disaster; 3.5 million people were affected and more than 300,000 individuals were injured. Although natural disasters occur on a daily basis, there are other man made catastrophes that may be preventable. One of them is the cholera widespread that will hunt Haiti for the next 40 years.

“Natural disasters have killed more than 600,000 people and left behind trillions of dollars in damages in the last two decades, the United Nations said Monday.” (Chan) Extreme weather has caused millions of casualties and extreme damages over the years, but lately there has been an increase in severe weather events. This is causing problems in the US, with the amount of tornadoes rising in tornado alley “Tennessee experienced a 67 percent increase in tornado activity in 1983-2013 compared to the 1954-1983 time period. Oklahoma experienced a nearly 35 percent decrease in tornadoes in 1983-2013 compared to 1954-1983.”

Natural disasters may be defined as natural catastrophes which cause great damage by disrupting the functioning of a society thus rendering the country incapable of coping through using its own resources as there is a need for outsider assistance in order to effectively preserve lives and the environment. Conversely, Natural hazards are natural phenomena that are potential threats to people within a society, structures or economic assets and may cause disaster. Natural disasters are inevitable and ubiquitous worldwide. Within the Caribbean, they are chiefly present in the forms of hurricanes, earthquakes, floods, droughts, and volcanoes. The great damages caused by natural disasters may be divided into three categories: social, economic