The fury of two oceans struck in a single weekend: Hurricane Isaias hit Florida’s Panhandle, and Tropical Storm Rachel struck the coasts of California and Mexico.
These calamities bear witness to the warnings of the Most Honorable Elijah Muhammad. In Chapter 35 of His book, “The Fall of America,” the Most Honorable Elijah Muhammad writes, “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.”
His National Representative, the Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan, has carried that warning across the country and the world for decades in three words: “Watch the weather.”
On Oct. 9, Hurricane Isaias made landfall near Destin, Florida, as a Category 2 hurricane with sustained winds of 105 mph, The Weather Channel reported. Isaias became a tropical storm in the Gulf on Oct. 7, according to the National Hurricane Center. Nearly 900,000 customers lost power in the first hours, mostly in Florida and Alabama, the AP reported.
That same weekend, Tropical Storm Rachel sent waves crashing into homes on California’s Long Beach Peninsula, city officials said. Its remnants flooded Ensenada, Mexico and Baja, California authorities said.
Rain from Rachel also hit Nevada. In Las Vegas, 1.08 inches of rain tied the city’s record for a single October day, set in 1947, according to the National Weather Service (NWS).
At Final Call press time, at least 16 people were dead across Florida, Alabama and Mexico, according to figures from those state officials and Mexican authorities. Over the same weekend as Rachel, Hurricane Simon’s rains killed a 71-year-old in Chilpancingo, Guerrero, when a wall collapsed, Guerrero Gov.
Evelyn Salgado said, the AP reported. In Hawaii, Hurricane Nolo veered away from the Big Island in late September, but rain gauges still recorded 17.65 inches at Laupahoehoe, the Hawaii Tribune-Herald reported.
In Long Beach, Calif., the city red-tagged eight structures covering 13 addresses, yellow-tagged one more and ordered residents of the 6400 and 6500 blocks of Seaside Walk to evacuate, Mayor Rex Richardson said at an Oct. 10 city community update.
The Peninsula’s bulkhead and boardwalk, city infrastructure that has served the community for more than 100 years, sustained significant damage, said Todd Leland, the city’s marine bureau manager.
Crews braced the wall with lumber and thousands of sandbags, using a crane to place heavy-duty sandbags with a 3,000-pound capacity and tripled pumping capacity, he said. “Our infrastructure was not built for this,” said Mayor Richardson.
In Newport Beach, City Manager Seimone Jurjis, acting as director of emergency services, declared a local emergency Oct. 9 after higher-than-normal surf and elevated tides flooded streets on the Balboa Peninsula. The declaration “will help the city secure additional resources as crews continue working to protect homes, property and public safety,” the city said.
The NWS issued a coastal flood warning for San Diego and Orange County coastal areas, cautioning that “low-lying property including homes, businesses, and some critical infrastructure may flood.”
Both the Most Honorable Elijah Muhammad and the Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan warned that these weather calamities would continue to strike America and they are also being seen in other parts of the world.
In a message delivered on Aug. 16 from Mosque Maryam in Chicago, Student Minister Ishmael Muhammad, National Assistant to the Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan, reminded the audience of what Black people must do to prepare for when these calamities strike.
“We have to get our survival gear in place. The Honorable Elijah Muhammad taught us what foods to store, and he taught us to prepare for this that we are witnessing,” stated Student Minister Ishmael.
In a June 4, 2025, interview on the Underground Dialogue Podcast, Nation of Islam Student Southwest Regional Minister Dr. Abdul Haleem Muhammad, an urban planner and environmental analyst, said families can’t wait on outside help. “Brother and sister, nobody’s coming to save us. We’re going to have to organize ourselves,” he said. “You can’t thrive until you survive.”
He urged people to make small sacrifices now and put money toward emergency supplies. He also cited recommendations from Sister Landra Muhammad, a member of the Nation of Islam and a disaster preparedness researcher. Some of the tips recommended:
- Spend for survival. Skip the new outfit and buy extra water and nonperishable food such as rice and (navy) beans, plus an alternative way to cook.
- Light the dark. Keep a flashlight and batteries.
- Get organized. Write down family contacts, doctors, pharmacies, medications and insurance information.
- Learn the basics. Know how to turn off household gas and water, learn basic first aid and keep a fire extinguisher.
- Pack two bags. Keep a shelter-in-place bag at home and a go bag holding medications, snacks, water and important papers such as deeds, insurance documents and passports.
- Plan an exit. Map out your home’s layout and know where you will go.
Sister Landra urged families not to wait to prepare. “The best time to have started preparing was yesterday. The next best time is to start today. Start wherever you are,” she told The Final Call.
“If you have $5 per week, dedicate $5 to something, whether it be food or some type of supply that is dedicated for preparedness. You may not use that until an emergency, and you have to have some type of discipline with this,” she recommended.
“Minister Farrakhan taught us we have to depend on Allah (God) … and each other to do something for ourselves,” Student Min. Haleem said.
