‘God is the only one in control of this’

By Rhodesia Muhammad -Contributing Writer- | Last updated: Sep 18, 2018 - 6:12:16 PM

With less than two months left in hurricane season, June 1 - Nov. 30, Hurricane Florence, the first major storm of 2018, made landfall in North Carolina on a Sept. 14 morning at 7:15 am CDT.

According to the National Hurricane Center, Florence downgraded from a Category 4 storm to a Category 1 storm, but was still generating sustained winds of 90 mph and causing “life threatening” storm surge and rainfall Sept. 14. Storm surge is the massive amount of water that builds up and comes ashore during a hurricane. The National Hurricane Center reports storm surges account for half the deaths in hurricanes.

Robert Simmons Jr. and his kitten “Survivor” are rescued from floodwaters after Hurricane Florence dumped several inches of rain in the area overnight, Sept. 14 in New Bern, N.C. Photo: Andrew Carter/The News & Observer via AP

Officials ordered more than 1.7 million people in the Carolinas and Virginia to evacuate. They were told that whoever chose to remain in their homes would be on their own, emergency crews would not respond during the height of the storm.

Governor of North Carolina Roy Cooper warned folks that Hurricane Florence would bring destruction to their state.

“We cannot underestimate this storm,” he pleaded. “Storm surge and massive flooding, both are going to be felt outside the center of the storm. “We’re on the wrong side of this thing,” Governor Cooper reiterated.

Over 10 million people lived in areas under hurricane and tropical storm warnings and watches. As of 9:30 am CDT, Sept. 14, nearly 500,000 people were already without power, including most counties around the coast.

More than 1,300 flights were cancelled in advance of Hurricane Florence.

Meteorologists say natural disasters will become the new normal. There are disasters—earthquakes, forest fires, tornadoes, hurricanes, that strike in every corner of the world during every season. Some may attribute it to global warming, climate change, or environmental factors. However, some say “Mother Nature” is responsible.

“There was a time when tornadoes only landed in rural areas, out in the fields like Tornado Valley and Kansas. And now tornadoes are touching down in major cities all year round,” said Yolanda Pierce, who was affected by Hurricane Harvey and Hurricane Katrina. “It also seems as though hurricanes are happening more often in recent years. These natural disasters can’t be contained. With all the modern technology, they still can’t predict some of these natural disasters in enough time to save lives. God is the only one in control of this,” she asserted. “I bear witness you can’t run from it.”

Student Regional Minister Dr. Abdul Haleem Muhammad of the Nation of Islam said, “The Honorable Elijah Muhammad, the fulfiller of scripture and the prophecies of the prophet, along with his representative, the Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan, has warned us repeatedly that the worst is yet to come. These natural calamities are spoken of in the scripture. War, famine, pestilence, and earthquakes in diverse places, but the Jesus says this is the beginning of sorrow and the Holy Qur’an calls it the shock of the hour.”

“What makes Hurricane Florence so bad is that America has ignored building its infrastructure,” Dr. Haleem Muhammad added. He is based in Houston, which is still recovering from major storms a year ago. He is trained in city planning.

“It is the fulfillment of scripture, where it says Allah will curtail the nation on its sides, so East Coast, West Coast, Gulf Coast—people are being pushed to the center of the country. And all their beachfront property is being taken back by the sea. It’s a combination of public officials ignoring building and maintaining infrastructure, and that’s why a Category 1 storm or tropical storm has such a devastating impact.”

Meteorologist for the weather channel, Dr. Erika Navarro, warned Hurricane Florence was an extremely dangerous storm because of its lingering for days—with wind, rain and storm surge.

She stated, if an emergency evacuation is issued for your area, secure your home and belongings and vacate the area until the evacuation is lifted. Listen for the emergency management for storm shelter locations. If you are in the path of a storm, but not under evacuation, she said, make sure you have at least two week’s supply of food and water, including pets. Batteries and flashlights are needed in case you lose power. Prepare ahead of time. Have prescriptions filled and gas up your car, if possible, and have cash available in case you can’t get to an ATM. Always heed advice from the local officials, especially if you live in a flood prone area, she warned.

The Honorable Elijah Muhammad, patriarch of the Nation of Islam, taught for many years that God uses the forces of nature to humble America. Minister Farrakhan has continued to warn America and her injustice toward Black people and the Indigenous people—and divine chastisement as a punishment for their continued evil and genocide.

“America, you are reaping now what you have sown. You can’t fight the natural disasters that are coming.” Way back in the ‘60s, Elijah Muhammad said, ‘America would suffer from unusual rain, unusual snow, earthquakes unusual.’ Then the forces of nature, hail, sleet, snow, cold, fire. Now, look at America, said the Minister last year in a special interview as Hurricanes Harvey and Irma devastated Houston and parts of Texas and Florida.

“Famine is coming to us who have eaten well; but God is going to humble America and the so-called Globalists, I laugh at you because you have laid the trap but your foot is in your own trap. The whole world will go free. Free of all tyrants and I am with God to sit down every tyrant on this earth. The people must be free to grow, to develop, to be cultivated that the glory of God may be seen in the human being that he created,” said Min. Farrakhan.

And, he has consistently warned, the more police brutality, injustice and killings of unarmed Black men and women, and Native Americans, the more frequent, and severe God’s chastisement will be.

Abdul Khadir Muhammad, student regional minister for the Mid-Atlantic region of the Nation of Islam, said the wicked must be warned. “If we warn the wicked from their wicked ways then their blood will not be on our hands,” said the Washington, D.C.-based Muslim minister. “Our job is to continuously reach out to the brothers and sisters and warn them about what has beset on the face of this earth, with these natural disasters.”

“We have to understand that God is watching us. Those who have heard the words of the Honorable Elijah Muhammad and the Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan have to take heed to this message and the warnings and turn from our wicked ways,” he said.

“These hurricanes are traveling through the Atlantic Ocean,” Student Minister Khadir Muhammad pointed out. “They come through the same path that slave ships have come from—West Coast of Africa to the East Coast of the American shore. These hurricanes take the same routes, but they start under water and then move to land at great miles per hour.”

It’s time that we stand with the Honorable Elijah Muhammad and Minister Farrakhan, continued Minister Khadir Muhammad.

Again, he warned, the worst is yet to come.

The Final Call