Last weekend we all saw how Hurricane Irene made its way and hit the U.S., mainly the states of New York, Massachusetts and Maryland.

I am concerned that the damage caused by the hurricane will hurt states’ and the country’s economy even more but what I most regret are the lives lost because of the hurricane. I have always said that countries, towns, neighbors, and families get together whenever there are disasters, that they love each other more, because they feel the need of helping those affected. This is one of those moments.

I know that there are people who help, who try and resolve problems and that is very important. United countries always overcome those problems faster, because they are stronger. This is one of those countries.

It also came to my attention that Irene hit some parts where hurricanes rarely come, the north part of the country, like New York, Maryland and New England. It is more common to see hurricanes in the area of and near Florida, but not in these places.

I think that the government did a great job informing the public and took appropriate measures to minimize the damages at every city and states hit by Irene. That is why there were less casualties and less problems than there could have been.

The preparation plan must have been so strong that even the President Barack Obama used the television to talk to people asking them to cooperate and followed measures that were taken. That does not happen very often.

Here in Chicago we are fortunate because natural disasters do not happen often, although this year we had a snow storm, but it is easier to control snow than water. Thank God we are located in a good zone, ...