Felicity Morrison

Click Here to listen to Felicity read her essay on WRAQ radio.

Felicity Morrison

Grade 7 Wellsville central school 

“This just in, sources have confirmed that the world’s water supply is completely gone. Chaos is raging through the streets. Wildfires have started with nothing to put them out. People can survive a day without water, but who knows how long this will last. Could this be a potential blessing to show that we shouldn’t take water for granted? Or could this be a catastrophe for all living things? Stay tuned to find out.’

“Welcome back to channel 4 news, we’re filming live in California where the environment is suffering just as much as the people and wildlife. Most areas in California are hot year round. The heat is dehydrating but with no water it’s extravagantly worse. Places closer to the equator are just as bad. But the dehydrating heat isn’t our worst problem, it’s the wildfires that we can’t put out. The most common places for wildfires to occur are areas in Canada and The United States that are forested but they are also susceptible in other places around the world. In 2017 the top two states that had the highest amount of forest fires was Texas and California.

They each had over 9,000 wildfires. But the most destructive states were Montana and Nevada, together approximately 2,696,000 acres were burned. Homes were destroyed. But now with wildfires spreading rapidly at an average of 70 acres a minute and nothing to stop them, who knows what will be left. National parks and forests have caught fire not just in California but in areas prone to fires all around the world. People are aimlessly evacuating to find safe places.

Wounded people are filling up hospitals rapidly. People are left with no homes or belonging. People that are sick and need water are even more ill. So many animals and people have lost their lives, especially water creatures. With no water sea life is completely destroyed. But

without water climate is still the same. Up north it’s still cold, there’s just no snow or ice. So there still are areas that are safe from fires. It’s only 11:30 and this day has already been the most destructive day in history.”

“Right now we’re interviewing a small town nurse named Linda. Linda can you tell me how different this day has been for the hospital?” “ Well usually our hospital isn’t overly busy, but with the fires there’s been so many people. Were used to some people coming to the emergency room. Were used to scheduled surgery’s, but nothing this destructive has ever happened to us. We’ve had fires before but our firefighters have been able to handle them. With no water Fire is everywhere.” “It’s been very different for the hospital but how has it been different for you specifically.” “I’m so used to waking up and taking a shower, brushing my teeth, washing my hands. But now everything is different. Before I treat patients I always wash my hands, but I can’t even do that. When I was driving to work I can see the beach and usually I see surfers but I saw this huge dry pit, where the ocean used to be. I saw all these dead fish. I just got so scared. I knew there wasn’t water but I didn’t think it all just was gone. It has been a real eye opener.” “ Can you explain what you mean by and real eye opener Linda?” “Yeah sure, humans take water for granted and I always knew that water was important but I could never imagine what a day would be like without it. It really is our most important resource. After this no one will ever take water for granted again.” “Couldn’t have said it better myself Linda. Here you have it folks a real person suffering too. Thank you Linda.”

“Even through the this chaos could this be a good thing? Once the water comes back no

 

one will ever take water for granted again. People will treat with value. Every drop of water would be a blessing for us. This day will go down in history and new generations will learn

 

about how significant water is in our lives. Maybe now more people will come together and help filter water in areas that don’t have clean water. People will work together to rebuild everything that the destruction caused. More people will inform others on how important water is for our environment. People who have worked hard to spread awareness for how important water is will finally have their vision put into motion. Water will finally be recognized for how important it really is. Even through the destruction maybe this is what we needed to open our eyes.

Yesterday was a day that no one will ever forget. It has been raining uncontrollably since 12:01 this morning. We had no water for exactly 24 hours. But now people have come together and water is being treated with value. This experience has changed everything.