As much as I like thunderstorms they can be dangerous. Storms and tornadoes have ravaged parts of the country leaving many people injured, without homes, or even killed. The destruction reminded me of Kabul in A Thousand Splendid Suns during the war.
During the war in A Thousand Splendid Suns, Kabul was in chaos. People were getting blown up, shot, or murdered by the airstrikes or invading army. Laila's parents were killed in by a bomb and she was almost shot one day in her yard. The uncertainty of whether a person was going to live or be a casualty in the war was very high. This level of uncertainty is about the same as if there is a tornado barreling towards a house. The people inside could be well protected in a basement or they could be vulnerable. The chance of being killed by the tornado or a bomb in these situations is about the same. Many things were destroyed by the war in Kabul. The same goes for the tornado. The level of destruction in some of the towns were the tornado hit look as though there could have been a war there because the town is so torn apart.
Unfortunately for the people who were affected by the tornado it is not a situation they can easily escape. In the novel people could leave Kabul and try to get to a safer place, possibly in the country of Pakistan. The only thing the people affected by the tornado could do would be to move to a town that does not have history of many tornadoes. Even that does not insure that they will be safe from this type of natural disaster. Another unfortunate occurance for the people of the tornado towns is that the tornado was unexpected. Tornadoes can not be accurately predicted where and when they will touch down. At least with a war even if the war or first strike is unexpected, a person could always attempt to move away.
Now through this whole post I am not saying that being in a war torn country is better than being in a town that had a tornado roll through. Tornadoes never last long and always have a definative end. Wars on the other hand can last a very long time and can still show repercussions even after a treaty is signed. This was to showcase how destructive both natural and man-made disasters can be. Both are terrible and can take awhile to recover from, but can be overcome.
