The Killing Rains of May and June - Humankind's Vulnerability to Nature's Wrath

Heavy rains spawning flash floods and havoc wrenching floods from Sir Lanka to Europe to the United States(US), have killed many, inundated roads, farms and other infrastructure, as humankind is deathly reminded of our vulnerable to the power of nature in the months of May and June.

Late last night a US army vehicle fell victim to flood waters sending three soldiers to their deaths, while six other soldiers remain missing this morning after three were rescued and hospitalized at Fort Hood, Texas. Texas, especially the Houston area, has witnessed major flooding from copious amounts of rain in the past two weeks. The Brazos River remains swollen around Houston. Rains also closed sections of the busy east coast thoroughfare, Interstate 95, in the southern US, in the past week.

In France, Parisian authorities have closed at least one museum today Friday for fear of flooding from a week or torrential rains, while the famed Louvre moves priceless works of art from its basement to higher ground out of fear of flooding. The Seine River has breached parts of its banks around Paris causing some street flooding and about 20,000 power outages. Two people have been confirmed killed in France, 10 in Germany, two in Romania and in other places across Europe, including Belgium, where the body of a missing beekeeper, washed away yesterday in a torrent of water, was discovered earlier this morning.

In Sri Lanka, more than 100 people have died from flooding as some 22 of 25 precincts remain under water from rains and flooding in May.

While it is too early to put a dollar amount on the material costs of the worldwide floods, the human tolls from the US, to Europe and to Asia, are enough to spark the grim reminder that humankind remains vulnerable to acts of nature.