Tag: disaster

Earlier this month, a bus caught fire inside Africa's longest road tunnel, the Huguenot Tunnel. The flames were sorted out “chop chop”. The traffic, not so much. Like a braai without firelighters, everything smoked for about two weeks. For most drivers, it meant longer trips and irritation. Still, we are South Africans. We do not sit still. We find another road, dodge a few potholes and carry on.

Extreme weather events - floods, droughts, typhoons and wildfires - and their frequency - are getting worse. In the past, these disasters were considered unpredictable, inalterable natural events. Today, extreme weather events are largely accepted as inevitable, and their severity and frequency influenced, if not caused, by human activity.