SALT LAKE CITY — The conversations this week in the newsroom were about disasters. As a reporting staff, we did very little about landslides in Colombia in April, monsoons in Sri Lanka in May, and horrible floods during the summer in India and Bangladesh. All are far from home, but significant.
We twice sent reporting teams to Texas to report on Hurricane Harvey and its aftermath, sent reporters to Puerto Rico and Florida for Hurricane Irma coverage (before Hurricane Maria darkened the island) and have yet to go to Mexico to report on conditions following the 7.1 magnitude earthquake earlier this month.
The conversation we had centered on what's our role? We are a Salt Lake-based news organization, but we have state, national and international reach. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, which owns this paper, has a worldwide membership. Its church leaders, both from Salt Lake City and from each of these countries, support and minister to those in need of help — both church members and those not of the faith.
We want to tell those stories of recovery, of ministry, of help, of trials. We want to tell the stories of Utahns rushing to the aid of others, including search and rescue teams, military teams, medical volunteers, LDS Helping Hands and the many efforts of all who rally to help. In short, we use every resource we can to bring you information and provide credible information about where and how you can help.
Here's what's happened around the world:
Colombia, April: A huge landslide of mud and rocks in the southern city of Mocoa destroyed dozens of homes and left more than 250 people dead and another 200-plus injured. Among the victims were 62 children. The slide was attributed to heavy rains.
Sri Lanka, May. At least 91 people died and more than 100 went missing after heavy rains from monsoon season hit the region. According to NPR swollen rivers impacted more than 61,000 people.
Bangladesh, India and Nepal, summer. Remarkable human suffering continues in Asia, where the New York Times reports that more than 1,000 people have died in floods, and at least 41 million people in Bangladesh, India and Nepal have been directly affected by weekslong flooding and landslides.
Sierra Leone, mid-August. About 500 people died, including 150 children from mudslides in this African nation. CNN reported that 20,000 people were displaced.
Hurricane Harvey, August. Hurricane Harvey and the subsequent tropical storm that dumped more than 50 inches of rain in a week on the greater Houston area claimed 82 people. LDS Church members and officials responded by the thousands to assist those whose homes were destroyed.
Democratic Republic of Congo, August. A landslide buried 50 homes in the fishing village of Tora and may have killed up to 200 people, according to the New York Times. Cause was heavy rains.
Hurricane Irma, September. The Hurricane was sandwiched between Harvey and Maria and was notable for among other things, becoming one of the strongest ever recorded in the Atlantic Ocean. It maintained 180 mph wind speeds for 37 hours, according to The Washington Post. LDS volunteers assisted in Florida and in Puerto Rico.
Hurricane Maria, September. The entire island of Puerto Rico was left devastated and left without power after the hurricane hit. As Edwin Serrano, a construction worker in Old San Juan told the New York Times, “Irma gave us a break, but Maria destroyed us.”
Mexico earthquakes, September. An 8.1 magnitude quake hit off the southern Pacific coast near Chiapas state on Sept. 8. But it was the subsequent 7.1 magnitude quake that hit Tuesday that had the worst impact, striking near the capital. When a school collapsed, the attention of the world became focused on the plight of the children. As of Saturday, CNN was reporting that more than 300 people were killed in Tuesday's quake, with nearly 100 dead from the Sept. 8 quake.
Early Saturday morning a 6.1 quake hit Mexico again. Damage and injury information was still being tabulated but was not expected to rival Tuesday's quake. This latest temblor was centered in Oaxaca state about 275 miles southeast of Mexico City.
We hope the heavy rains and the shaking stops. We hope the generosity and willingness of all of us to provide a helping hand does not. The impacts from each of these disasters will last for years. We will tell some of those stories of survival and recovery hoping to prevent apathy — numbness — from setting in.