In the wake of Haiyan

Moods have been subdued in the wake of Haiyan. And as the country this typhoon hit is mine, our fourth in 2013 alone, the horror and sorrow I felt have been rather raw. In my late teens I spent an entire summer in Tacloban, the place where devastation was center; the visuals torture. I work up my list around storms on things less graphic and comfortably manageable:

A couple of facts about Haiyan from USA Today
1. Super Typhoon Haiyan had winds of 195 mph and gusts of 235 mph. This is one of the highest wind speeds ever recorded in a storm in world history. The Philippines typically gets hit by more typhoons than any country on Earth, usually about six or seven each year.

2. The storm is known as Super Typhoon Yolanda in the Philippines. The World Meteorological Organization officially assigns typhoon names, to have a consistent name for a storm, but other countries are free to create their own names too.

Books
3. Sandstorm by James Rollin
Keywords would appeal to someone who likes: antimatter, scientific expeditions, antiquities, secret societies, suspense fiction

4. Storm Chaser: a photographer's journey by Jim Reed
If you are interested in issues of global warming, stories about, and new research on the weather, 'Storm Chaser is a mesmerizing look at some of the catastrophic consequences of our planet's increasing temperature.' This book contains 'breathtaking photos, quotes, letters, and journal entries from climatologists, researchers, political leaders, spiritual advisors, and storm survivors.' "Storm Chaser chronicles photographer Jim Reed's most thrilling, beautiful, memorable, and dramatic adventures to date."

Passages from classic poetry 
5. Proud music of the storm by Walt Whitman

Blending, with Nature's rhythmus, all the tongues of nations;

You chords left us by vast composer! you choruses!

You formless, free, religious dances! you from the Orient!

You undertone of rivers, roar of pouring cataracts;

You sounds of distant guns, with galloping cavalry!

Echoes of camps, with all the different bugle-calls!

Trooping tumultuous, filling the midnite late, bending me powerless,

Entering my lonesome slumber- Why have you seiz'd me?

6. The Hurricane, William Cullen Bryant

What roar is that?-'tis the rain that breaks
In torrents away from the airy lakes,
Heavily poured on the shuddering ground,
And shedding a nameless horror round.
Ah! well known woods, and mountains, and skies,
With the very clouds!-ye are lost to my eyes.
I seek ye vainly, and see in your place
The shadowy tempest and sweeps through space,
A whirling ocean that fills the wall
Of the crystal heaven, and buries all.

   

Photos 
7. Before the storm

 Peter Kratochvil

8. Tropical Storm

 Lee Wag

Quotes
9. “There's always another storm. It's the way the world works. Snowstorms, rainstorms, windstorms, sandstorms, and firestorms. Some are fierce and others are small. You have to deal with each one separately, but you need to keep an eye on whats brewing for tomorrow.” Maria V. Snyder, Fire Study

10. “When you come out of the storm, you won’t be the same person who walked in. That’s what this storm’s all about.” ― Haruki Murakami, Kafka on the Shore

 11. “It’s not a bad lesson to learn in the bleaker months: how you view a storm is a question of perspective; provided you find the right rock to watch it from, it could be the most incredible thing you’ll ever witness.”
―Dan Stevens 

12. “I will destroy you in the most beautiful way possible and when I leave you will finally understand why storms are named after people.” ― Unknown 

13. “It takes a real storm in the average person's life to make him realize how much worrying he has done over the squalls.” ― Bruce Barton 

~ Thursday 13 & Favorite Things ~