Storm Babet took seven lives, and impacted thousands more. We're now facing Storm Ciaran, which led to 'danger to life' warnings across Britain and Northern Ireland.
And, because the ground is already saturated, it's going to land like a sucker punch on a boxer already reeling from the first two blows. For some people in our communities, there's a real danger they won't get back up.
It's long been known that the effects of climate change hit the most vulnerable first and hardest, because they can't physically or financially prepare or are unable to respond rapidly.
As Christians, there's a clear mandate to care about this. The God we follow cares for the poor and marginalised.
And he instructs his people to share their food with the hungry, to provide the poor wanderer with shelter, to clothe the naked (Isaiah 58:7) – in other words, to meet the practical needs of the people around us where we see them, as well as targeting the systems that make them vulnerable in the first place.
So, as storms continue to hit the UK, who might that be on your street, in your neighbourhood, in your family?
How can you support and care for them, so the vulnerable are protected, danger to life is averted, and we get through this, together?
