“The calamity! What is the calamity? And what will make thee know how terrible is the calamity?”
Holy Qur’an, 101:1-4
The calamity or state of deep distress or misery caused by major misfortune or loss, or a great event marked by great loss and lasting distress and affliction, is now prevailing in America. And it is getting worse daily, warned the Most Honorable Elijah Muhammad, the Eternal Leader of the Nation of Islam, in his 1973 book “The Fall of America,” in the chapter titled, “The Calamity.”
The calamity is part of the judgment of America for its historic and ongoing severe mistreatment and abuse of the Black and Indigenous man and woman, the Honorable Elijah Muhammad warned, adding that Allah (God) would use the forces of nature to humble and punish America.
In recent weeks, those forces of nature visited America in the form of massive wildfires, triple-degree heat and earthquakes in the West, and a hurricane in the South.
In Southern California, Governor Gavin Newsom proclaimed a state of emergency on September 11 in Los Angeles and San Bernardino counties in response to the Bridge Fire and in Orange and Riverside counties in response to the Airport Fire.
California deployed every available resource to combat the devastating fires. This included mobilizing a massive air and ground response to contain the wildfires and protect communities, including nearly 6,000 boots on the ground; hundreds of engines, bulldozers and water tankers; and 51 helicopters and nine fixed-wing aircraft, according to a news release published on Sept. 11.
The Airport Fire, which began on Sep. 9 in Trabuco Canyon, grew to 19,028 acres, led to the evacuation of thousands of people, and threatened more than 10,000 structures, according to Gov. Newsom.
According to the Associated Press, Orange County Fire Captain Steve Concialdi said eight firefighters were injured, mostly heat-related. One resident suffered smoke inhalation and another burns, he said. Several homes burned in El Cariso Village.
The Bridge Fire began on Sept. 8, in Los Angeles and San Bernardino Counties, was sized 54,795 acres and threatened more than 4,400 structures, torched at least 33 homes and six cabins, forcing the evacuation of 10,000 people. The fire grew tenfold in one day.
The Line Fire in San Bernardino County grew to 39,111 acres, threatened 36,400 structures, destroyed one, and damaged four. The blaze injured three firefighters. Authorities said it was caused by arson in Highland. A suspect was arrested on Sept. 10.
With so many fires raging at once, crews were at their limits, Los Angeles County Fire Chief Anthony Marrone said, according to AP.
“As a region, we’re currently at drawdown for fire personnel and resources,” he said, adding that authorities have requested assistance from Northern California and nearby states.
The wildfires have been endangering tens of thousands of homes and other structures across the region after they sprung to life during a triple-digit heat wave over the weekend of Sept. 6-8. Other major fires were burning in Idaho, Oregon and Nevada, where about 20,000 people had to flee a blaze outside Reno.
Close on the heels of a record or near-record hot summer for parts of Southern California and the U.S. Southwest, the first week of September 2024 brought another round of extreme heat to much of the region, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), a federal agency that provides information about the environment and weather.
Starting near the coast around September 4 and then building inland, the heat raised daytime temperatures 10-20 degrees above normal for this time of year, according to NOAA.
New daytime temperature records were set in locations from Palm Springs to Yuma to Phoenix, which hit a high temperature of 116 degrees on September 5, tying the record for the hottest daytime temperature for any day in September.
A station in Long Beach (south of Los Angeles) hit 109 degrees Fahrenheit on September 6—a new daily record that was 25 degrees hotter than normal for that day of the year, it continued.
The scorching, triple-digit temperatures across Southern California led to warnings from public health officials, power outages and some schools closing early Sept. 6 as part of a larger heat wave gripping an area of the southwestern U.S. spanning three states, according to CBS News Los Angeles.
More than 31 million people in California, Nevada and Arizona were under an excessive heat warning issued by forecasters as temperatures soared, according to the National Weather Service (NWS).
Residents of the region faced grueling temperatures—from 119 degrees in Woodland Hills to 115 degrees in Riverside—as air quality regulators warned of unhealthy breathing conditions tied to the heat and some Los Angeles area schools ended classes early due to the weather and power outages.
In Pasadena, more than 16,500 households faced outages in the city of L.A. alone as Mayor Karen Bass told residents that crews were working to restore the power quickly and safely, according to CBS.
Landslides have also struck California, due to some torrential rains that have caused flooding and mudslides in the past year. In early September, in Rancho Palos Verdes, entire homes collapsed or were torn apart. Walls shifted and large fissures have appeared on the ground. Evacuation warnings were in effect and swaths of the community had their power and gas turned off.
Nearly 70 years ago, the Portuguese Bend landslide in Rancho Palos Verdes was triggered with the construction of a road through the area, which sits atop an ancient landslide. It destroyed 140 homes at the time and the land has moved ever since.
But the once slow-moving landslides began to rapidly accelerate after torrential rains drenched Southern California over the past two years. The land that once was sliding at an average of several inches per year is now moving between nine to 12 inches weekly.
The state has also had its fair share of earthquakes and tremors. According to earthquaketrack.com, as of Sept. 19 California has had 162 earthquakes registering a magnitude of 1.5 or higher.
On Sept. 12, a 4.7 magnitude earthquake rattled the Los Angeles area, unleashing boulders onto a Malibu road, shaking Santa Monica’s 1909 wooden pier and waking some people from bed. No injuries or damages were immediately reported.
As fires and heat struck the West, storms hit the Gulf.
On Sept. 11, according to meteorologists, Tropical Storm Francine made landfall as a Category 2 hurricane as it advanced across the Gulf of Mexico.
According to AccuWeather, Hurricane Francine disrupted the oil industry and roared ashore in Louisiana with high winds and flooding. She powered ashore bringing high storm surge, heavy rainfall and powerful winds that knocked out power to half a million customers, AccuWeather reported.
Francine is the third hurricane to strike the United States in 2024, indicated AccuWeather. After strengthening to a Category 2 storm just before landfall, it was the strongest storm to hit the U.S. this hurricane season. Hurricane Beryl slammed Texas on July 8, and Hurricane Debby struck Florida on Aug. 5.
This extreme weather ravaging America is not by happenstance, from “mother nature,” or climate change, but is, as the Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan has been warning, as did his Teacher, the Honorable Elijah Muhammad, part of Allah’s (God’s) Divine Judgment.
“The four great judgments that Almighty [God] Allah 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,” said the Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan.
He was quoting his teacher, the Most Honorable Elijah Muhammad’s book, “The Fall of America” (Chapter 35, “America Surrounded with The Judgment of Allah,” page 154). The Minister shared those divine words during Part 10 of his 2013, 58-week lecture series “The Time and What Must Be Done.” Associated Press contributed to this report.
—Charlene Muhammad, National Correspondent
