GCA newspaper - Issue 1 - Fall 2017

CURRENT
EVENTS
Record Hurricanes Hit Texas, Florida and the Caribbean
Continued
By Kristin Burgess and Evie Pasos
San Jose and other sites near Rockport, Texas, were hit first by the eye of the hurricane. Harvey's
wrath impacted many coastal towns, destroying homes and facilities, and cutting off water and electricity.
Similarly, Hurricane Irma began its long, destructive journey through the Caribbean islands on Sept. 5, and
up the Florida peninsula, ending on Sept. 10.
With maximum wind speeds of up to 175mph, Irma leveled many islands in the Caribbean as it continued
in its deadly course. As a direct result of the hurricane, many cites in Florida lost power, including
Orlando, and for the first time in three hundred years, the Island of Barbuda had no people inhabiting it, as all
living residents were evacuated. The devastation is incomprehensible. With hurricanes that contain so much
power, death is inevitable. As the clean-up process continued and mounds of rubble and debris were moved,
the body count continued to escalate.
In Texas, flooding was a major issue. There were widespread flood warnings throughout the state, and
in Houston there was 44 inches of rain covering most of the city. After the storm, the amount of rain water in
the state broke national records and caused sewage flooding, resulting in sanitary and public health threats
along the Texas Gulf Coast. The main concern was possible chemical leakage in the water that could cause
major illness to ones exposed, as well as a risk of electrocution from damaged sources.
These fears and the uninhabitable conditions of countless houses caused a large number of people to be
displaced from their homes. Florida also suffered from flooding—in some places the water was as high as four
feet. In one neighborhood near Fort Myers, sewage water was released to keep a dam from bursting, destroying
homes and wrecking yards. In the higher parts of Florida, flooding was mostly caused by rivers where the
water had risen well past the height of their banks, swallowing homes nearby. Although devastation permeated
throughout, millions never lost hope and were unified in the time of crisis. The beauty of this catastrophe is
the love and selflessness displayed by others to help those affected.
North Korea – A Student Perspective
By Gift Nnakwu
Bombs, nuclear wars, and preparations to launch attacks on the United States have been headlines in
the news for some time now. Kim Jong Un has threatened to send nuclear missiles towards the United States,
and President Trump responded strongly to both North Korea and its president.
Tests were allegedly conducted in North Korea on Sept. 3 with a hydrogen bomb underground, and
now these bombs might be tested in the Pacific Ocean. This implies that North Korea is more than serious in
their threats, and Trump continues to participate in heated exchanges with Kim Jong Un. What really matters
though, is this: What does this all have to do with the students of GCA? Why do we have to worry about
the nuclear bomb threats?
During the attack on Pearl Harbor, there was a factory in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, which manufactured
parts for bombs used during World War II. This could impact GCA because Oak Ridge is still an active research
facility. If the president of North Korea decides to send nuclear bombs towards this facility, we could
be inadvertently harmed. All we have now is hope that the president has solidified a plan to protect the lives
of those who could be affected, and pray that nothing worse can come out of this situation.
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