In a chilling display of Allah’s (God’s) fury, the United States finds itself at the epicenter of a catastrophic weather phenomenon as fires, flooding, tornadoes, and earthquakes unleash havoc simultaneously.
An “extremely dangerous” heat wave is ramping up from Florida to California and is poised to topple records and threaten public health. This has prompted the National Weather Service to issue heat alerts for more than 86 million people, with the hottest temperatures destined for the Southwest.
Since July 10, “extreme” heat in 110-degree temperatures enveloped Phoenix, Arizona, putting 42 million people under warnings, according to the National Weather Service. The intense heat was forecasted to last several more days. “The heat will be extremely dangerous and potentially deadly,” National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Weather Prediction Center warned, “due to the intensity, longevity and a relatively cool start to summer which may have limited the ability for people to acclimate to more typical hot summer weather in this region.”
As if fires, floods and heat domes weren’t enough, a swarm of more than 11 tornadoes descended on Chicago, Illinois, according to AccuWeather. One, identified as “large and extremely dangerous,” by the National Weather Service, touched down near Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport, around 7:00 p.m. on July 12, causing hundreds of flight delays and cancellations. About 20-30 homes reportedly sustained significant damage, along with businesses. Just before 6:30 p.m., a tornado touched down in Summit, Illinois, 10 miles southwest of downtown Chicago, and was moving toward the “Windy City,” according to the National Weather Service. In about 30 minutes later, the tornado struck O’Hare Airport, intermittently touching the ground with possible additional circulations, it warned.
“This is such a serious time for us as Believers, but it is a serious time for every human being that walks upon the earth that belongs to Allah (God),” said the Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan, when he opened the Islamic Holy Month of Ramadan on the Ramadan Prayer Line on April 2, 2022.
“Allah is warning us and telling us that we must do that which is necessary to cast off the burden of sin. Our iniquitous behavior all over the Earth has caused the anger of God but also we are living in the time of the ending of a world of wickedness. This is the time of the Judgment of God. This is the time that the Honorable Elijah Muhammad has pointed out to us as the Days of Allah,” added Minister Farrakhan, referencing his Teacher and Eternal Leader of the Nation of Islam.
Adding to the unrelenting chaos, there have been 35 earthquakes across the country in July so far, including a 4.6-magnitude, that shook Alaska on July 3, according to the United States Geological Survey. More than 1,000 people said they felt shaking from the earthquake, emanating from an area near Anchorage, the agency noted.
While parts of the country battle infernos, others face an entirely different catastrophe.
A federal state of emergency was declared on July 11 in Vermont, which has been flooding due to what scientists say is a “1-in-100” year storm. It began on July 9. According to WCAX-TV in Vermont: on July 13, officials urged extreme caution as another round of dangerous weather arrived that afternoon, bringing more rain and high winds to already flood-ravaged areas of the state. Additional threats of flash flooding to areas where rivers were high and the ground was already saturated were in the forecast at presstime. The governor, at a news briefing, urged Vermonters to remain vigilant and not become complacent.
Further, WCAX-TV reported: Vermont Public Safety Commissioner Jennifer Morrison said the new storms could bring rain, hail, high winds, or even tornadoes. She said the state was pre-positioning swift water rescue teams ahead of the dangerous weather although they anticipated not seeing the kind of flooding as earlier in July.
Streets in Montpelier, Vermont, and surrounding communities morphed into rushing rivers; and while flooding at the scale seen in the state remains rare in individual communities, experts said extreme rainfall events are happening more often in the Northeast and much of the eastern United States and are expected to occur even more frequently in the future, according to a USA Today report, published online on July 12. Heavy rainfall events could increase in the Northeast by an additional 52 percent by the end of the century, the publication cited from a study in Dartmouth, which was published in May 30.
Meanwhile, there were 170 flames engulfing vast stretches of America as of July 14, according to the Fire, Weather & Avalanche Center. In 13 states (Florida, Oregon, Arizona, Washington, New Mexico, Colorado, Idaho, Texas, Mississippi, California, Utah, Montana, and Alaska) fires ranged from one (Utah/Alaska) to 55 (Washington). In Phoenix, 19 fires were blazing over 2,553 acres, 32 across six acres in California, and four scorching 5,424 acres in Florida.
America is left reeling from the unprecedented onslaught, grappling with the alarming question of how to respond to the ever-increasing disastrous events striking with unparalleled intensity and scale.
That would require the four stages of disaster management: mitigation, preparedness, response and recovery, explained Student Minister Dr. Abdul Haleem Muhammad. Student Minister Muhammad is a Ph.D. in urban planning and serves as the Southwest Regional Representative of the Nation of Islam and Mosque No. 45 in Houston.
The recovery is based upon what is done in terms of mitigation, which is long-term planning, such as infrastructure, coordination of emergency management services, and preparation of the population for disasters, he explained.
“Then, when these disasters are imminent, preparedness, such as moving the populous out of harm’s way or having them shelter in place; having assets predisposed and in place to provide a quick response during the response phase; and then recovery, which is more short-term than mitigation,” he said. Proper investment in mitigation and planning means a smooth transition from preparedness to response, thus a shorter recovery time, he explained.
“But because there are inequities in the appropriate distribution of benefits and burdens as it relates to mitigation, preparedness, and even response, in terms of the most vulnerable populations, whether it be the poor, the disabled, the elderly, or even our children, we find that the recovery time is lengthened. And oft-times, we don’t fully recover, and then the next disaster comes and it only adds to the misery and the destruction that has already been wrought,” continued Student Minister Muhammad.
Meteorologists in Las Vegas warned people not to underestimate the danger, AP reported. “This heatwave is NOT typical desert heat due to its long duration, extreme daytime temperatures, and warm nights. Everyone needs to take this heat seriously, including those who live in the desert,” the National Weather Service in Las Vegas said in a tweet, reported apnews.com. Reports of heat-related illnesses and dehydration also increased.
The U.S. is not the only part of the planet grappling with severe or unusual weather. “A heat wave named Cerberus has southern Europe in its jaws, and it’s only going to get worse,” read an Associated Press headline, dated July 13. The article indicates temperatures in parts of Mediterranean Europe were set to reach 113 degrees Fahrenheit. “The high-pressure system, which crossed the Mediterranean from north Africa, has been named Cerberus, after the three-headed dog in ancient Greek mythology who guarded the gates to the underworld,” AP wrote. On July 11, South African weather officials warned of continued extremely cold weather, but said no further snow was predicted for the rest of the week after parts of the country experienced unusual flurries. In Johannesburg, residents experienced snowfall on July 10 for the first time since 2012.
The Most Honorable Elijah Muhammad warned that America is surrounded with the judgment of Allah (God). “The four great judgments that Almighty Allah (God) is bringing upon America are rain, hail, snow and earthquakes. We see them now covering all sides of America, as the Holy Qur’an prophesies, curtailing her on all her sides. And these judgments would push the people into the center of the country, and there they would realize that it is Allah (God) Who is bringing them and their country to a naught,” He wrote in “The Fall of America.”
“We, the Indigenous People of this hemisphere, and even the poor are the reason why God has unleashed His fury of Judgment upon this nation (America),” Student Minister Muhammad pointed out.
“We are often the poorest and the most vulnerable and the most unprepared, during these natural and man-made calamities, so we should be concerned, because we have been blessed with the presence of God (Master W. Fard Muhammad), the Mahdi (the Most Honorable Elijah Muhammad) and His Messiah (the Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan), and we have ignored these warnings for 93 years,” Student Minister Muhammad told The Final Call.
“And now, God being no respecter of persons, He now is exacting judgment, and unfortunately, many of the people He came to save will perish, because they ignored the Divine Warners that have been in our midst, for 93 years.” (Final Call staff contributed to this report.)
