Nature or G-d?

First in a speech.  Now in an article.  Am I being overly sensitive or is it shocking that rabbis use phrases like "Even as nature demonstrated its capacity for ruthlessness," and "the cruelty of the storm" when talking about Sandy?

Do they really see nature as being separate from G-d or is it just a figure of speech to them?

Is it that they can speak in terms of ruthlessness and cruelty when the subject is nature or the storm, but not if G-d is the one who inflicted the storm?