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Disaster Hits Home
Topic Started: Oct 10 2005, 07:16 PM (104 Views)
telcoman
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With the earthquake in Pakistan, another disaster has become overshadowed. That is the mudslides in Guatemala around Lake Atitlan where villages have been totally buried with hundreds killed. The lake is about 20 miles in circumference & is very deep as it is in a volcanic Caldera. Unfortunately this also means it has very steep slopes leading down into it.

I first visited Lake Atitlan in the mid 70's & fell in love with what many have described as the world's most beautiful lake. I revisited it in 1998 with my new wife Terry who is an environmental engineeer specialising in water quality. She also fell in love with the lake & its indigenous Mayan population who inhabit the many villages around it. In 2000, my wife approached the Guatemalan government with a proposal to create a baseline study of the lake & its water quality. In 2001, with the co-operation of AMSCLAE who are in charge of environmental monitoring of the lake, the University of Guatemala, & the Guatemalan Government, my wife & I spent several months there testing the water quality of this lake, which the government is interested in preserving from haphazard development. We made many friends there in the various villages around the lake, especially the children, & it really hits home to realize many of them are now probably dead.

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cmoehle
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Chris - San Antonio TX
They seem to be very independent people refusing government military help while the Pakistanis cricize the slowness of theirs.
Politics is the art of achieving the maximum amount of freedom for individuals that is consistent with the maintenance of social order.
--Barry Goldwater
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pentax
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Kamloops - BC Interior
Sorry to hear about that Paul - even more troubling is that it's probably not the easiest thing to inquire about them, even in normal times. But NOW..... :cool:
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"Kirk to Enterprise - Very funny, Scotty.... now beam down my clothes!"
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tomdrobin
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Hi Paul
I hadn't seen a post from you in a long time. Welcome back! It seems the last year or so has been one disaster after another. One of the downside of living in beautiful pleasant places is they sometimes can be dangerous. Particularly in mountain areas (quakes, slides).
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telcoman
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I put together a quick web page of some pictures from the summer we spent there:



Atitlan
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