Tragedy in Guatemala & How it May be a Repeat of Katrina
Hurricane Katrina was a disaster that could have been prevented, and so is the eruption of Fuego.
In today’s world, we are in constant fear of many things which, it seems like, we were not in constant fear of 10 years ago. Whether it be murderous clowns, terrible typhoons, drastic earthquakes, random school shootings, imminent nuclear war, or being randomly brutalized by the police, it’s scary that we must now add erupting volcanoes to our already too long of a list. In the past month, two volcanoes have devastated two different parts of our Earth. Hawaii and Guatemala. While Hawaii’s eruption of Kilauea is destructive in its own sense, that of Guatemala’s has had far worse of an impact.
While Hawaii’s Kilauea has not claimed any lives, (fortunately), Guatemala’s Fuego has already taken 110 from us. Officials presume around 200 more to be buried under the rubble. According to Guatemalan officials, approximately two million people have been affected, twelve thousand evacuated, and only about one fourth of those evacuated have been sheltered. In one of Guatemala’s most destructive natural disasters in recent history, of course its government officials failed to react and warn the citizens of Guatemala of its incoming eruption. It seems the government of every country is always in the position to prepare and do more, yet they fail to.
(Source: https://conred.gob.gt/site/ultimas-24-horas)
What made this eruption especially deadlier than that of Kilauea’s were the “pyroclastic flows” the volcano emitted. This demonic type of lava flows faster than normal lava and has the ability to pick up and drag whatever along with it, while still maintaining its extreme heat, setting anything and everything ablaze in its path. As if lava speeding down your street at potentially HUNDREDS of kilometers per hour wasn’t enough to horrify you, tons and tons and TONS of toxic ash and gases rained down from the heavens upon the citizens of Escuinta, Guatemala. People these attempted to escape by whatever means they could, by car, some even by foot. Running through yards, hopping barbed fences, anything to escape the fiery path of Fuego’s rage.
(Source: https://www.cnn.com/2018/06/04/world/guatemala-volcano-vs-hawaii-volcano-wxc/index.html)
In the wake of this disaster, there are those with more heart than the government, and are willing to help. With many shelters only sheltering so many of those evacuated and with many of those not having any means to feed people, Jose Andres, founder of the non-profit organization World Central Market, and his crew of volunteers have taken it upon themselves to feed those in need. Making up to 6,000 meals and counting, his team has done a lot for those affected in Guatemala. He has dipped his hands in Puerto Rico, Washington DC, even the earthquake in Haiti back in 2010.
(Source: https://www.cnn.com/2018/06/12/americas/jose-andres-feeding-guatemala-volcano-trnd/index.html)
There are a number of ways you can help, too. Guatemalans across America are gathering food drives, clothing drives, anything to help drives that can be found at a Google search or simply by asking around. To aid monetarily, there have been numerous GoFundMe’s set up by Guatemalans to provide aid to those in need. The Miguel Vargas Association is collecting money to help pay for medical assistance and various supplies. Rotary Club of Guatemala is accepting donations through wire transfers. The God’s Child Project, the Catholic Relief Services, and World Vision are all also accepting donations to help provide food, water, anything to those in shelters in Guatemala. Even Uber is doing its part. If you are in Guatemala and have anything you’d be willing to donate, call an Uber and it will pick it up and drop it off for you for free! If these photographs, words, statistics still are unable to tug enough at your heartstrings, the least you can do is bring this horrifying disaster to the eyes of someone else. Using the hashtags #PrayForGuatemala and #GuatemalaEstoyContigo (Guatemala I am with you) across all social media platforms may help inform someone who was previously unaware of the situation and is willing to donate and help. Anything helps, guys.
In the case described by Naomi Klein in “Shock Doctrine”, Hurricane Katrina was an event can could have not been prevented, but rather much better prepared for. For those who are not familiar, Hurricane Katrina was a disastrous Hurricane that essentially wiped out most of the poorer community’s general home and living space. What has replaced it are forms of gentrification in expensive housing that the pre-hurricane residents can’t nearly afford, and expensive gentrified restaurants. With every disaster, whether it be natural or man-made, there is disaster capitalism. Essentially, disaster capitalism is the opportunities that arise during the initial shock of a disaster that those with money and in power take advantage of.
In Katrina’s situation, the levy’s that would have prevented the water from flooding into New Orleans’ bowl-shaped city broke easily. Suspiciously too easily. It is obvious the measures the government and local government could have taken, especially with Katrina being in a high-risk of hurricane area. In the case of Guatemala, the ones affected are all for the most part, those who are underprivileged as well. News reports claim that the Guatemalan government did little to nothing to warn its citizens of the impending eruption. Sources say that the government of Guatemala warned its citizens too late, or too soon to the eruption. The Guatemalan public are feel frustrated and betrayed by its government in their lack of effort to warn and evacuate their people.
I mean, in the year 2018, with all of the technology available in the world, how do you not know that a volcano in your country is going to erupt? Or at least notify your citizens? It all seems very shady.
Guatemala’s emergency response agency, “Conred”, is even under fire because of this terrible disaster. Some politicians in Guatemala are angry and want the head of Conred to be dismissed. They are claiming that Conrad did not heed advance warnings for the eruption, even though the Guatemalan national institute for seismology and volcanology issued the warning with much time to spare. The institute also places the blame on Conred for not warning Guatemala. Conred is now under question for claims as dire as criminal negligence.
(Source: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-44393085)
This situation sounds eerily similar to the situation in New Orleans, and people all over the world should be aware of the situation and the events that may follow. It is too soon to tell, as how bodies are still being recovered and the volcano remains active, to see if the government or those in power will attempt to use the eruption as means to gain capital. Only time will tell what happens of the situation in Guatemala. Let us pray that those in power in Guatemala have more of a heart than those of the U.S. government when Katrina hit.
