The medicane between Malta and Libya
We are
all praying for the people of these two neighboring countries to Malta, both of
which were hit with catastrophic tragedies this past week. First it was Morocco
being hit by a 6.8 magnitude earthquake devastating a large part of the Atlas Mountains, several
miles away from the historic city of Marrakesh. The photos we’ve seen so far paint
a sad picture of destruction everywhere you look, with over 2,500 victims so
far. At the same time, a hurricane was forming around Greece, and since it is
in the Mediterranean Sea, it is called a medicane, named Daniel. The forecast
was telling us that it was heading towards Malta, and I followed its progress
from Monday until this past Sunday. This medicane surprisingly stood still for
6 full days. It kept churning up waves and rain in the sea between Malta and
Libya without moving. I thought my Ventusky app was not working because the
storm did not move at all for 6 days. The festivities of the Nativity of Mary for
September 8th held here in Malta in 4
parishes were cancelled or postponed and I waited to see when this medicane is
going to move, one way or another. It graced our island and only a few drops of
rain fell over the entire week. The first photo shows how near it came to hit
Malta. The second photo was taken on Saturday as it swerved towards Libya,
hitting Benghazi and Derna with horrific force on Sunday night, dumping the total
amount of rain they usually get in one full year. Maybe our prayers to the
Blessed Mother protected us from being the target of Daniel, but unfortunately
it hit the northern Libyan coast with a vengeance, with a projected 10,000 victims
being reported, between drowning, suffocating while sleeping and being swept
into the sea. We pray for all the victims in both Morocco and Libya, as well as
the survivors and those helping courageously in the recovery process.
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