Hurricane Irene may not have wreaked quite as much destruction as initially feared — my family and friends are all OK, if a bit waterlogged and powerless, but that’s typical after any big storm in the New York suburbs — but let’s remember that we all briefly breathed a sigh of relief when Hurricane Katrina appeared to have spared New Orleans, too. And Tropical Storm Katia is now on the horizon. (For what it’s worth, Irene means “peace” in Greek; Katrina and Katia are derived from a word that means “pure.”)

In any case, there’s been some damage, including at least three dozen deaths, so far. And given that we’re in a faith-filled Republican primary season, and the East Coast also had that unusual earthquake last week, the faith news stories pretty much write themselves:

• Finding religion during acts of God (GetReligion)
• Glenn Beck: Hurricane Irene is a ‘blessing’ (CNN)
• Michele Bachmann says Hurricane Irene and earthquake are divine warnings to Washington (Huffington Post)
• My Take: God no longer in the whirlwind (Stephen Prothero for CNN Belief Blog)
• Hurricane Irene takes a toll on Jewish community with two deaths, but institutions spared (JTA)
• Salvation Army responding to US hurricane (Christian Today)

Share any other links and your thoughts in the Comments section below.

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