In spite of organized prayers offered by the clergy and their flocks, neither of the two gods* representing Cyprus has done anything about the biblical drought plaguing this divided Mediterranean island. Now in its fourth year, the water emergency has lowered reserves to seven percent of capacity, the lowest level since 1908. The Kouris Dam, which was to solve water use problems for the foreseeable future, sports a shallow pool of tepid water which doesn’t even cover the bottom of the reservoir. Instead, neighboring Greece is providing tankers full of water shipped from the mainland.

Rationing has been imposed on the citizenry, although the hotels and resorts that drive the tourist economy have suffered no inconvenience. Likewise, farmers will have access neither to the water shipped from Greece, nor to the water from the desalination plants that will be coming on line. And according to liberal climate scientists, this is just the beginning in terms of future climate expectations.

The organized praying began in early 2008, with no results reported thus far except an increase in church attendance. Greek Orthodox Archbishop, Chrysostomos II, in a circular distributed to churches, said: “We will all be given the chance to send prayers to our Heavenly Father to end the drought on our island. We have no doubt God will hear our prayers and send us the rain we so badly need.”

We can’t say for sure whether or not God has heard the prayers**, but we do know that he in his infinite and unknowable wisdom has not seen fit to provide the requested rainfall. As is their normal practice, the faithful have now determined that the water tankers represent the prayed for response from God. The Catastrophe Map Editorial Board believes it is more likely the water tankers are a response from the friendly Greek government, but we don’t rule out the possibility that God told them to send the tankers.

As is the case with most “natural” disasters, the activities of human Cypriots have exacerbated the normal cycles of [nature]. Unchecked development has destroyed 50% of Cypriot forests and vegetation, replacing it with tourist hotels and retirement resorts. The destruction of the forests and the short-sighted depletion of the aquifers has permanently changed the ability of the island paradise to survive future droughts. The swimming pools are still filled, much like unnaturally green golf courses in the parched Southwestern U.S. The reasoning is as follows: the island’s economy needs to generate the enough money to pay for the desalination plants which are necessitated by the water emergency which is aggravated by overdevelopment.

On component of the Biblical retribution concept is “God’s wrath”. But the other part is man’s stupidity and greed, which appears to be what sets God off in the first place.

*Cyprus is divided between the Northern Turkish (Islamic) and Southern Greek (Orthodox) sections, with Greek Orthodox Archbishop Chrysostomos II and his congregations doing the heavy lifting in the prayer effort. The Islamic clergy may also be organizing prayers, but have kept a lower profile, or perhaps simply assume that God will mention the problem to Allah at the deity Starbucks hangout or something.

** God actually forgot that the nation of Israel was down in Egypt…for 400 years.