’If a tree falls in a forest and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound?’ is a philosophical question that can be debated ad infinity. However, if one were to revise the question and instead ask, ’If a tree falls in a forest and there is no interested media around, does anyone hear about it?’, then one gets a very simple answer: No! Not even if thousands of trees fall.
One would expect that if a tornado completely destroyed 600 hectares of forests in any part of North America, even isolated northern reaches of Canada or Alaska, sooner, rather than later, the public would hear about it. Satellite photos would likely record the damage and news agencies would pick up the story and report on it. Similarly, if a comparable event were to occur in China or India, and possibly any other country where the international media has reporters or its affiliates, it would be reported upon, most often within moments of its occurrence. How many times have we seen ’breaking news’ on news networks, often while the event was in progress?
Yet when a tornado extensively damaged 26,000 to 28,000 hectares of farmland, completely destroyed 600 hectares of forests, while heavily damaging another 8,700 hectares, tore roofs off homes, and damaged apartment buildings, elementary schools and other property on Sunday July 13th in Slovenia, followed by another crippling storm on July 14th, the natural disaster did not merit even a few lines in any of our daily papers. The koala bear caught in the car fender in Australia got more coverage! Slovenia is not in some far-flung, isolated part of the planet. It is located in Central Europe, part of the European Union and is a transit route for tens of thousands of tourists heading to the beaches of the Adriatic coast.
Only through personal contact with people living in Slovenia and a look at the Slovenian daily papers, provided information as to the extent of the damage which the country suffered. To date, the total accumulated damage has been estimated at 50 million Euros. With a population of two million, this means that the loss per person is 25 euros. It does not sound like much, but if one extrapolates this in Canadian or American terms, it is equal to a natural disaster in Canada of nearly $1.2 billion, or about $12 billion for the U.S. Clearly an enormous burden for any country to bear.
The tornado, with winds which reached 150 to 200 kilometers per hour, took about an hour to rage from the western part of the country, through the central region to the eastern-most part on the Hungarian border. The same day storms apparently also raged in parts of northern Italy and southern Austria, though apparently not to the same extent. In the eastern region, Prekmurje, 80% to 100% of crops were totally destroyed, some just before harvest. The destroyed forests, in the central and eastern part of the country, would have provided 440,000 cubic meters of lumber, estimated at 17.4 million euros. Forty farms, have lost their primary source of income, their trees, a loss of between 11 and 15 million Euros. It will take at least a generation for these trees to be replaced.
Another victim of the storm is the culturally important Arboretum in Volcji Potok. The botanical gardens lost 222 trees, with another 600 trees damaged, some of them fifty to seventy years old.
As soon as the storm passed through, local residents and relatives came to the assistance of those directly affected. Within a day, several accounts were opened to raise relief funds for the victims of the storm. Rather than going cap in hand, looking for help, people rolled up their sleeves and set to work, repairing the damage.
By any stretch of the imagination, this event rated at least a few lines in our local newspapers. While small in number, there are still tens of thousands of Slovenians, or people of Slovenian descent, living in the U.S., Canada and Australia, who would have been interested in reading about this natural disaster. It makes one wonder what the media considers suitable to report upon. A few less paragraphs about Hollywood couples and their various offspring and more real news would be a welcome relief. However, it is very unlikely that this will occur any time soon. Until such time, it is fortunate that the internet makes it possible to access foreign language media sources, and thus provide the news the English-language media seems to deem of little interest.
For those people interested in assisting the victims of the Slovenian tornado, two accounts have been set up at Toronto-area Slovenian Credit unions, under the name: Slovenian Tornado Relief.
Slovenia Parishes (Toronto) Credit Union - 725 Brown’s Line, Toronto Ont. M8W 3V7 Canada Account No. 7575
Krek Slovenian Credit Union - 747 Browns Line, Etobicoke, Ont. M8W 3V7 Canada Account No. 82081
For those not close to a branch of these two credit unions, and to save on bank transfer costs, checks can be sent to: Slovenian Tornado Relief, c/o 108 Hollywood Ave., Willowdale Ont. M2N 3K3, Canada
All funds raised will be given to the Slovenian Catholic charity - Karitas, which is the most reliable in terms of getting assistance to those most in need.
Historian, genealogist, political observer / commentator and researcher, as well as photographer, Branka Lapaine received her BA from the University of Toronto; PH.D. from University of London, England. Publisher of The Phoenix, a political publication which ran from 1986 to 1991, she is the author of several booklets (CUSO and Radicalism, etc.) and numerous articles. Branka is also the author of a genealogical guidebook.
