Water is life, but many times, it also takes life. You must be familiar with all the recent grim weather reports, from mudslides in Sierra Leone and Uganda that have claimed hundreds, to torrential rains and floods in Niger, India and the US that have also killed many and left thousands homeless.

At this rate, owning a boat seems like a necessity and in fact that’s how many people were rescued from their flooded homes.

It’s just sad to watch people trapped in their homes, several of which are now uninhabitable while others have been completely washed away by severe storms. I can’t imagine losing everything in a matter of hours. Personal items, clothes, furniture, electronics and such.

Things you save for years to buy and just like that, all gone with the rain! I’ve always held a simplistic view that these are mostly third world country problems so to see arguably well-off people undergoing the same, with several victims clinging to their rooftops or wading through waist-deep flood water is shocking.

A couple of friends and I were contemplating what we would do in similar circumstances. I can’t imagine being forced to live in a shelter and having to rebuild from scratch. It’s great to see people coming together, donations pouring in and strangers opening doors for the flood victims but still, these people’s lives have been deeply affected and it will take them years to rebuild.

I remember reading some of the stories of those who escaped the mudslides in Sierra Leone. Some were at work or had gone to visit someone and that is how they escaped but their families weren’t as lucky. There are people who still haven’t recovered their siblings’, wives’, husbands’ or children’s bodies and I can only imagine how heartbreaking that must be.

It’s easy to say that these victims should have known better than to settle in low-lying areas which by default are prone to floods but sometimes you don’t have a choice.

That’s the only place you can afford. However in the Houston Texas case, some homeowners swear they were caught off guard, having lived there for over twenty years and never being subjected to the kind of devastation they’re witnessing. So who’s to blame for extreme weather? Global warming? Mother Nature? Fate?

Whatever the cause, we need to do something and by we, I mean Meteorologists, Scientists and anyone who has an idea about how we can curtail these catastrophes. Issuing weather forecasts and predicting climate patterns is a good start but they also need to come up with ways to combat extreme weather.

The smart people who build submarines and launch rockets into outer space can also chip in with concepts and lasting solutions to counter these challenges. I sincerely hope a day will come and soon, when humans don’t have to suffer the wrath of earthquakes, Tsunamis, severe droughts and floods.