Looks like some folks on cougarboard have the hurricane

[SoCalCoug]

I think people misconstrue "signs of the times" - I think people interpret things that are prophesied to happen as being intentionally caused for some purpose.

For a natural disaster (or a series of natural disasters) to be a sign of the times, it merely means that these are things that are going to happen at some point - when they do, you know the time of the second coming is drawing near.

It's like if you tell someone how to get to your house, and you tell them that there's a big tree on the side of the road, and that when you get to that, you're only a block away. You didn't put that tree there - it's merely a reference point.

Just because an occurrence is a "sign of the times" doesn't mean God caused it as some sort of punishment.