Blog note. Jesus indicated that ‘fearful sights’ (various natural disasters) would occur leading up to the time known as the Tribulation and Great Tribulation (a combined seven year period of great destruction on earth). Although these types of things have occurred in the past for centuries and thousands of years, they could be identified as the ‘season of the times’ due to the ferociousness of these events. They would be occurring in greater intensity, severity, frequency, size, duration, scope … just like the pains that a woman experiences in labor the farther along she is in the labor process. We are in the ‘season of the times’ that comes just before the seven (7) year Tribulation/Great Tribulation period

… And great earthquakes shall be in diverse places, and famines, and pestilences; and fearful sights and great signs shall there be from heaven. (Luke 21:11).

… And there shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars; and upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity; the sea and the waves roaring; (Luke 21:25)

… Men’s hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth: for the powers of heaven shall be shaken; (Luke 21:26)

… This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come. (2 Timothy 3:1)

Jesus is giving a series of prophecies about what to look for as the age of grace comes to a close. These verses are several of many such prophecies from throughout the Bible. 2017 was the worst year in recorded history for the intensity, frequency, severity, duration and occurrence of a large number of severe natural disasters worldwide. Earthquakes, volcanoes, hurricanes, typhoons, cyclones, torrential flooding, unprecedented wildfires in unusual places, devastating droughts, excessive/scorching heat setting records everywhere, record snowfalls in Europe and Russia. Snow in the Arabia. This list can go on. Most studied Eschatologists believe these ‘fearful sights’ and massive natural disasters are all part of the ‘CONVERGENCE’ of signs that this Biblical and prophetic age is closing. Most people who study prophecy are familiar with the routine reference(s) made that these things will be like a woman having labor pains, growing in intensity, frequency, size and duration.

Four killed, more than 100 injured after thunderstorm hits Tatra mountains, Poland. Lightning strikes were the worst tragedy in the Tatras since August 1937

Posted by Teo Blašković on August 23, 2019. Watchers.news

Four people have been killed and more than 100 were injured after a severe thunderstorm hit Poland’s Tatra mountains on April 22, 2019, Reuters reports.

The deaths took place on a 1 984-m (6 509 feet) high Giewont mountain after a group of tourists was hit by lightning. The peak where they were hit is a popular trekking destination with a 15-m (49 feet) high iron cross installed in 1901. The cross is said to attract lightning.

In total, more than 100 people were injured in different parts of the mountains.

Another person was killed by the storm in West Tatras in neighboring Slovakia.

WARSAW, Poland (AP) — A Polish emergency official on Friday likened the deadly lightning storm over the Tatra Mountains that killed at least five people and injured more than 150 to a terror attack in terms of the number of casualties and some of the wounds.

Survivors described horrific scenes in which climbers were blown off slopes, suffered severe trauma injuries after being hit by rocks or couldn’t move in the initial aftermath of multiple lightning strikes that hit the Giewont peak and other locations in the Tatras on Thursday.

Polish authorities say that all people who were reported missing have been found safe over the course of Friday.

The thunderstorm, which witnesses said came suddenly on a day that began with clear weather, produced an unimaginable emergency in the popular trekking region, said Jan Krzysztof, head of the TOPR Tatra emergency service.

“This is a situation that can be compared to a terrorist attack,” Krzysztof said. “A large group of random people has been hit. Many people, including children. Burnt, with broken legs, wounds all over their bodies.”

Local prosecutors have opened an investigation to determine if anyone was responsible for allowing a situation in which lives were lost. Authorities in the Tatra resort town of Zakopane announced three days of mourning and all entertainment events were canceled.

Survivors described scenes of people falling off the slopes or being hit by rocks split by lightning strikes.

Mariusz Brodzinski, who was on his first trip to the Tatras with his wife, said he saw a young woman who was walking in front of his wife on the Giewont mountain suddenly fall off the slope after lightning struck the metal chains they were holding on to.

“This woman is dead,” Brodzinski told Polish broadcaster TVN24. “My wife slid and suffered a fractured pelvis and injured head. I have a burnt foot. It felt like it was scorching.”

He said that for 15 minutes after the strike his hands felt numb and he had no strength to get to his wife. It was over an hour before the first helicopter came, he said.

“We were some six, seven meters (yards) from a crevasse,” he said.

“We are grateful to God that we survived,” Brodzinski said. “It was our first trip into the mountains and was supposed to be unforgettable. And it sure will be.”

Another survivor, Robert Wojcik, told TVN24 he could see rocks flying after lighting struck near him.

“I was hit be one of the rocks and I could feel electric current run through my arm” as he was touching the rocky slope.

“I have three stitches on my head but that is peanuts compared to the others,” Wojcik said.

Rescuers early Friday were checking the slopes of the popular Giewont limestone peak, which rises 1,894 meters (6,214 feet) high, for the people who didn’t return to their accommodations following the storm and couldn’t be reached by their families, but all of them have been located, Krzysztof said.

Officials said the lightning storm killed four people in Poland, including two children, aged 10 and 14, and two women, and a Czech tourist in neighboring Slovakia. Polish tabloid Fakt reported that the children were brother and sister.

In addition, more than 150 people caught in the storm were treated for burns, fractures and heart problems at the hospital in Zakopane. Officials said 34 people remained hospitalized Friday in Zakopane, Krakow and other locations.

Among them were three teenagers aged between 11 and 16 who suffered serious burns. Nobody was in life-threatening condition, according to hospital officials.

Krzysztof said it was a “disaster on the Giewont” and that the major mountain rescue operation that involved five helicopters and about 180 rescuers and firefighters “went beyond” any scenario that his team had ever faced.

But rescuers also said that many people ignored the signs of the approaching storm and continued up the peak, instead of hurrying down to safety. They appealed to tourists to pay more attention to weather forecasts and conditions. The trails to Giewont have been closed indefinitely.

The Tatras, part of the Carpathian mountain range, are the highest mountains in Poland and in Slovakia and attract tourists from near and far with scenic lakes and peaks that soar to 2,655 meters (8,710 feet). Giewont is a highly frequented destination, often with long lines waiting to get to the top, but the metal chains that were installed there to aid the climbers and a huge metal cross atop attract lighting, making it very dangerous during thunderstorms.

The deadly storm raised a debate on social media on whether the 15-meter (50 feet) cross installed in 1901 by residents of the deeply Catholic region should be removed. Krzysztof argued that lightning struck other places and that many people climb up especially to reach the cross.

Thursday’s lightning strikes were the worst tragedy in the Tatras since August 1937, when lighting killed four people on Giewont.