Disaster Fatigue

I used to call my son's bedroom a disaster area, but now that doesn't work so well, since I've seen some actual disaster areas. I'm looking for a new metaphor.

Haiti is having quite the year for disasters. We began January with an earthquake which killed 300,000 people on the spot and left many amputees, and while we went for a few months with just the standard miserable poverty of 1.3 million people living in inadequate tents, we then had a storm in September that destroyed 5000 of those tents. That was followed by flooding and then a cholera outbreak (6700+ sick, 442 dead), and now we are waiting for Tropical Depression/Tropical Storm/Hurricane (not quite sure how to address him) Tomas to smash into us. (Not only that, but while I was in the States we had serious flooding where I was, and many people up and down the river lost their homes. This prompted a friend to comment that perhaps I was causing the natural disasters.)

I just read this article, which seems to me to have a slightly hysterical tone. I mean, since when does a news article use the word "terrifying?" Just tell me the news and I'll decide whether to be terrified or not. And on reflection, I think I'll pass. It seems a big waste of energy - there will be plenty of time for terror once this thing actually hits us.

At this point I wouldn't be surprised to look out the window and see the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse riding by. I think I'd just offer the Pale Horse of Death a carrot and tell him he's looking, well, pale. I'm a tiny bit tired of all of the dramatic events.