Tipping Point Quick Hits (8.31.23)

Hurricane Idalia, Republican support for Israel, and rockets in Lebanon

Hurricane Idalia Makes Landfall

A major hurricane developed this week in the Gulf of Mexico and struck Florida’s Big Bend area yesterday. Thankfully, the region it struck was mostly rural and lightly populated.

But it was the first major storm to hit the Big Bend area since 1950, and the largest in more than 100 years. It’s not a part of the state that normally sees direct hits from these storms, the Associated Press says:

The National Weather Service in Tallahassee called Idalia “an unprecedented event” since no major hurricanes on record have ever passed through the bay abutting the Big Bend region.

When Idalia made landfall Wednesday morning it had maximum sustained winds near 125 mph (205 kph). The low-lying marsh area faced a predicted storm surge of up to 15 feet (4.5 meters). There are populated areas in the region, including Gainesville, where the University of Florida canceled classes through Wednesday.

The shape of the coastline in the region had experts predicting a massive storm surge of up to 12 or more feet. Idalia hit yesterday morning and peaked as a Category 4 hurricane before weakening to a tropical storm across Georgia and South Carolina:

In the vulnerable island city of Cedar Key, a water level record was shattered amid 8 to 9 feet of storm surge. And the water was still rising fast—predicted to hurl seawater as high as halfway up the second floor of an average building.

Even before landfall, the city looked “almost apocalyptic,” resident Michael Bobbitt said early Wednesday. Hours later, the disastrous storm surge had overwhelmed it.

“We’re effectively cut off from the world now,” Bobbit said. “It’s going to get a lot worse, and I’m really fearful for what we’re going to find in some of the low-lying areas and some of our older, more infirm citizens today.”

In last week’s Quick Hits, I wrote about the multiple natural disasters impacting the United States just last week—and at that point, Hurricane Idalia had not even begun to form. I talked about the birth pangs Jesus promised when the end was near, including “famines, plagues and earthquakes” mentioned in Matthew 24.

Here’s how I closed that post:

I believe all of these scenarios apply to the situation right now in North America. We should pray for the vulnerable and help where we can. We see these natural disasters and understand that Jesus will return soon. And we should heed the warning from God: He always punishes attempts to divide His land.

I hope you’ll join me in continuing to pray for the people of Florida and others in the path of the hurricane.

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GOP Primary Candidate Vows to End Aid to Israel

It’s still very early in the Republican presidential primary and this is not a political site. I fully understand that politics can be a divisive topic. However, one important geopolitical platform from a rising Republican contender has caught my attention.