Woe to us! Disasters on our doorstep become a reality

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For those who never saw it, here is a quick synopsis: During the approach of the most powerful storm in decades, university professor Dr Jo Harding (Helen Hunt) and an underfunded team of students prepare the prototype for Dorothy, a ground-breaking tornado data-gathering device conceived by her estranged husband, Bill (Bill Paxton).

The team then basically ‘chases’ the F5 tornado, risking life and limb, in order to launch Dorothy.

At the time I sat glued to the big screen, watching as this daunting monstrosity of a natural disaster ripped through homes, uprooting trees and causing widespread havoc to the landscape.

I watched this thriller several times. I mean, who can forget the scene where the team is boxed in by numerous smaller tornadoes, when all the while the cows are spiralling upwards into the mouth of the ‘monster’.

The reason I could enjoy it at the time was that in South Africa we lived a life detached from such weird and powerful forces of nature, and therefore when I watched the tornado rip through a school it didn’t bring back any painful memories or leave me cringing in my popcorn-riddled seat.

I believe those in America, especially those living in Tornado Alley, find it much harder to watch movies of such a nature because to them it is a reality and not mere escapism.

Fast-forward to 2016, and now it seems even for us here in the south, watching a movie like Twister will strike much closer to home. After all, tornadoes have hit Tembisa, Ennerdale and Grootvlei.

And, yes, I am getting a bit nervous at the thought of facing a twister, because surely this stuff belongs in the movies, it belongs in America, and it sure does not belong in the land of political corruption and incompetence.

Not anymore it seems.

Frankly, I enjoy watching disaster movies (and I am not talking about our Springboks) where man battles the odds to outrun volcanic lava or tries to avoid being swallowed by the earth tearing in two or endeavours to survive the next ice age.

It is all good and well to enjoy such movies because for a long time it didn’t affect us. Now, apart from twisters, we suddenly also experience life-or-death flash floods, right here in Gauteng!

And this is definitely no longer escapism. Or fun, Or a laughing matter. This is serious stuff because people have been killed.

We are now left with terrible stories of a mother being ripped from the grasp of her son, and of a toddler being ripped from the grasp of a father to be engulfed by the floods.

It seems blocked drainage systems are partly to be blamed for the waters damming up, resulting in the floods. So apart from maladministration, we can add flash floods to the list of government’s woes.

Remember the terrible tsunami of 2004 that was caused by a 9.0 magnitude earthquake?

The 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake occurred at just before 1am on December 26 with the epicentre off the west coast of Sumatra, Indonesia. About 230 000 people in 14 countries were killed, and it inundated coastal communities with waves up to 30m.

Several years ago I was in Thailand, standing on the shore, thinking what it would have been like to know you are about to be hit by a tsunami. It is a frightening thought.

Back in Gauteng, we don’t have such fears of tsunamis, or should we? After all, twisters and flash floods were also not a reality in our gangster’s paradise.

I am just thankful for the Drakensberg that should offer some protection from any incoming massive waves that even Julius Malema cannot stop.

And earthquakes? Who knows if we are in danger. All we know is that throughout the world earthquakes are becoming more frequent, more intense or more deadly.

Yes, watching natural disaster movies is no longer much fun. It is becoming too real for my liking, and no one can control or halt it.