Page 8 - Natural Disasters

Powerful typhoon lash northernmost islands of Philippines, schools shut

A powerful typhoon was lashing the northernmost islands of the Philippines on Monday, prompting officials to evacuate villagers, shut down schools and inter-island ferries and warn of "potentially very destructive" damage to coastal villages. Typhoon Krathon was last tracked over the coastal waters of Balintang island off the provinces of Cagayan and Batanes with sustained winds of up to 175 kilometres per hour and gusts of up to 215 kilometres per hour, according to government forecasters. The slow-moving Krathon was blowing westward and could strengthen into a super typhoon when it veers northeastward on Tuesday toward Taiwan, they said. There were no immediate reports of casualties or damage. The weather agency warned of "moderate to high risk of life-threatening storm surge" in the next 48 hours in the coastal villages of Batanes, the nearby Babuyan islands and Cagayan province and said fierce winds could rip off roofs, topple trees, damage farmlands and whip up high waves. "T

64 dead, millions without power after Helene's march across Southeast US

Helene blew ashore in Florida's Big Bend region as a Category 4 hurricane late Thursday with winds of 140 mph

Hurricane Helene hits Florida, raising fears of widespread damage, deaths

Officials pleaded with residents in the path of the storm to heed mandatory evacuation orders or face life-threatening conditions

Rare 'doomsday fish' caught by fishermen off Tiwi Islands in Australia

A massive oarfish, which is seldom seen and often linked to natural disasters like earthquakes and tsunamis, was captured during a moonlight fishing session around Tiwi Islands, Australia

Leaders at climate meetings in NY warn of growing mistrust between nations

National leaders addressed the group after adopting a 'Pact for the Future' aimed at ensuring and increasing cooperation between nations

Super typhoon Yagi wreaks havoc in China's Hainan, kills four, 95 injured

Four people were killed and 95 others injured as super Typhoon Yagi pounded south China's island province of Hainan with heavy rain and gusty winds, forcing thousands of people to be relocated for safety, local authorities said on Saturday. Yagi, the 11th typhoon of this year, made two landfalls in China on Friday, first striking Hainan and later the Guangdong province. Super Typhoon Yagi has pounded south China with heavy rain and gusty winds, leaving four people dead and 95 injured, the state-run Xinhua news agency reported, citing authorities. Chinese President Xi Jinping has urged beefed-up disaster relief efforts after the typhoon struck the country's southern region. In Hainan, a popular tourist destination, the storm uprooted trees, caused power outages and flooded roads. Over 2,200 workers have been mobilised to restore power to more than 1.5 million affected households, Xinhua reported. High-speed rail services circling the island are expected to resume on Saturday aftern

Andhra deploys drones for flood relief; 'setting new precedent', says govt

Andhra Pradesh has launched a pioneering effort to use drones for flood relief operations, marking a significant shift in the country's disaster management approach, the government said on Thursday. The Union Civil Aviation Ministry said drones capable of carrying payloads up to 40 kg have been deployed in Vijayawada city to deliver essential supplies in areas currently inaccessible by traditional means. The drone technology has vast potential to ensure "timely and effective responses to emergencies", Civil Aviation Minister Ram Mohan Naidu said in a statement. "In the future, we will expand the use of drones beyond surveillance and agricultural applications to include dedicated models for disaster relief," he added. The ministry stated drones are being sourced from various parts of the country to further strengthen the relief efforts. The minister, who inspected the drones alongside the Drones Corporation of Andhra Pradesh on September 3, is actively engaging with manufacturers t

Pakistan hasn't learned lessons from 2022 deadly floods, say experts

Millions of people in Pakistan continue to live along the path of floodwaters, showing neither people nor the government have learned any lessons from the 2022 devastating floods that killed 1,737 people, experts said Thursday, as an aid group said half of the victims among 300 people killed by rains since July this year are children. Heavy rainfall is currently drenching those areas that had been badly hit by the deluges two years ago. The charity Save the Children said in a statement that floods and heavy rains have killed more than 150 children in Pakistan since the start of the monsoon season, making up more than half of all deaths in rain-affected areas. The group said that 200 children have also been injured in Pakistan because of rains, which have also displaced thousands of people. Save the Children also said that people affected by floods were living in a relief camp in Sanghar, a district in the southern Sindh province, which was massively hit by floods two years ago. The

Alaska Triangle: Over 20,000 people vanished from this mysterious place

The Alaska Triangle came into the limelight when two US politicians suddenly disappeared while travelling to Juneau from Anchorage in 1972. Here's all you need to know

T'gana CM urges Centre to declare floods as national calamity as 16 die

At least 16 people lost their lives in various rain-related incidents, while some persons were still missing as heavy rains lashed several parts of Telangana since August 31 even as Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy urged the Centre to declare the floods in the state as a national calamity. Revanth Reddy, who visited flood victims and later held a review with ministers and officials at Khammam, said 16 people died, while crops in lakhs of acres suffered damage, as per preliminary information, despite the government's efforts to prevent loss of life and damage to property. He said he has written to PM Narendra Modi to declare the heavy rains and flood as a national calamity and to visit the flood-hit areas. He said as per preliminary estimates, the state suffered damage to the tune of Rs 5,438 crore due to the rains and floods. "I appeal to the Prime Minister. The Centre should play the role of an elder brother and help Telangana in this hour of calamity," he said. He said the state

B'desh floods: 59 Killed, thousands rendered homeless in 11 districts

Floodwaters have receded in most areas of the 11 affected districts, but the struggles of those impacted continue, as the disaster has left many homeless, The Daily Star reported.At least 59 people died, and over 53 lakh people in 11 districts were affected by the flood.Many people have been left without homes, and low-income families, especially farmers, have lost not only their houses but also their livelihoods due to the destruction of crops and ponds, as per The Daily Star."Floodwaters swept away my mud house. It's all I had in this world. Now, I have no place to live," said a devastated Nurun Begum, 65, of Mierpara village in Moulvibazar's Kulaura upazila."I've had to taken shelter on the front porch of one of my neighbour's house," she explained in a helpless voice."My house quickly went underwater after the embankment along the Manu river got breached on August 22. Even though the floodwater has receded, I cannot return home as my house has been damaged," Sujan Mia, an ...

Wayanad tragedy: Who is responsible for the heart-breaking landslides?

In this age of climate change, the lessons from Wayanad are clear: Learn and change, or perish

Flood death toll reaches 59 in Bangladesh, affecting over 5.4 mn people

At least 59 people, including six women and 12 children, have died in the devastating floods which affected more than five million people in 11 districts of Bangladesh, officials announced on Saturday. The Disaster Management and Relief Ministry, while giving out updates on the flood situation, said the highest deaths were reported from Cumilla and Feni districts, both adjoining the border with Tripura in India on the northeast side, with 14 and 23 deaths respectively. Monsoon rainfall-triggered floods in deltaic Bangladesh and upstream Indian regions have wreaked havoc in the country for about two weeks resulting in deaths and displacement of humans and cattle, and loss of property posing a huge administrative challenge to the newly installed interim government amid a political transition. Bangladesh is crisscrossed by more than 200 rivers, 54 of them being trans-boundary rivers with upper riparian India, in four major basins. A depression (a system that brings in copious rainfall)

PM announces Rs 2L for kin of deceased, Rs 50K for injured in Tripura flood

CM took to social media X to express his gratitude to the Prime Minister for the assistance extended to the flood-affected people

Slow tropical storm dumps rain around Tokyo after flooding southern Japan

A slow-moving tropical storm had a far-reaching impact in much of Japan on Friday, dumping heavy rain around Tokyo and flooding roads and riverside areas in the south. Flooding was reported in a number of areas in Kanagawa prefecture, west of Tokyo, where floodwater blocked roads, stalling vehicles and traffic. Warnings for heavy rain and potential landslides included the densely populated capital, Kanagawa and nearby Shizuoka prefecture. Muddy water flowed down the Meguro River in one of Tokyo's popular cherry blossom viewing spots, the water significantly swollen from its usual levels, NHK television footage showed. In Hiratsuka town, dozens of cars in a parking lot sat in water just below their windows. A pedestrian waded through floodwater as high as his thighs. In another Kanagawa town, Ninomiya, floodwater from a river stalled vehicles on a street and broken tree branches were stuck on a bridge over the swollen water. Tropical Storm Shanshan made landfall Thursday morning on

Floods in Northern Yemen kill at least 33 people, damage over 200 homes

Floods that swept through a district in northern Yemen this week have killed at least 33 people and damaged more than 200 houses, a local official said. Heavy rains that began Tuesday as part of Yemen's monsoon season have caused major flooding and unleashed rockslides in the Melhan district of Al-Mahwit province. The floods have killed 33 people, destroyed 28 houses and caused cracks in 200 others, Ali al-Zikam, secretary-general of the local council of Al-Mahwit province, said late Wednesday on Facebook. The flooding also swept away five cars and left several people missing, he said. Yemen's Red Crescent said Thursday that 38 people are still missing, and that the agency is actively looking for them. The magnitude of the disaster in al-Mahwit is substantial, " the agency said. Yemenis have already been suffering from a ruinous civil war that tore through their country starting in 2014, when the Iran-backed Houthis took control of the capital Sanaa and much of the north and force

Typhoon lashes Japan with heavy rain, strong winds on slow crawl north

A typhoon lashed southern Japan with torrential rain and strong winds Thursday, causing at least three deaths as it started a crawl up the length of the archipelago and raised concerns of flooding, landslides and extensive damage. Typhoon Shanshan made landfall in the morning near Satsumasendai in southern Kyushu, where up to 60 cm (23.6 inches) of rain could fall in 24 hours, the Japan Meteorological Agency said. It also said the typhoon would bring strong winds, high waves and significant rainfall to most of the country, particularly the southern prefectures of Kyushu, and issued its highest-level warnings. People living in the warned areas were urged to take shelter at community centers and other public facilities. Shanshan was still around the southern island of Kyushu by midmorning, moving north at 15 kph (9 mph) with sustained winds of 144 kph (89 mph) and higher gusts, JMA said. Ahead of the typhoon's arrival, heavy rain caused a landslide that buried a house in the central

Typhoon Shanshan begins dumping rain on parts of Japan, leaves 1 dead

A typhoon moving at a bicycle speed began dumping rain on parts of Japan Wednesday, leaving one person dead and several injured as weather officials issued the highest-level warnings in the country's south, expected to be the most hard-hit. The Japan Meteorological Agency says Typhoon Shanshan is set to reach southern Kyushu and possibly make landfall Thursday where it forecasts up to 60 centimetres (23.6 inches) of rainfall in 24 hours. It also said the typhoon will bring strong winds, high waves and significant rainfall to most of the country, particularly the Kagoshima prefecture. The warm, humid air around the typhoon and a separate high-pressure system caused heavy rain in the central Japanese city of Gamagori, where a landslide buried a house with five people inside. Four of them were rescued but one later died and a fourth was found unconscious. Workers were searching for the fifth person, according to the city's disaster management department. On the southern island of Amami

Japan prepares for Typhoon Shanshan affecting transportation, services

Japan was preparing for powerful typhoon as it slowly approached the country's southwest at a bicycle speed, threatening to bring heavy rains and strong winds and causing airlines to cancel flights and train operators to delay or suspend services through the weekend. Typhoon Shanshan was at about 120 kilometers (75 miles) south of the southern island of Yakushima on Wednesday morning as it headed north toward Kyushu, packing winds of up to 180 kilometers (112 miles) per hour, according to the Japan Meteorological Agency. The agency said the typhoon is expected to reach southern Kyushu and possibly make landfall Thursday, and issued a high-level warning against violent winds, high waves and heavy rain for the Kagoshima prefecture. Disaster Management Minister Yoshifumi Matsumura, at a taskforce meeting Wednesday, urged residents in Shanshan's predicted path to take precautionary measures early, such as by checking their nearest shelters, to save their own lives. Matsumura urged ...

Tripura flood: Death toll rises to 31, central team to arrive on Wednesday

Five more people died in the flood in Tripura taking the total death toll to 31, said an official on Tuesday. An inter-ministerial team led by Joint Secretary of the Ministry of Home Affairs B C Joshi will be reaching the state on Wednesday to assess the loss caused by the deluge, Chief Minister Manik Saha said. As many as 72,000 people are still in 492 relief camps as their houses were washed away in the floods, Secretary of Revenue Department Birjesh Pandey told a press conference. He said five NDRF and six SDRF teams are engaged in relief works mostly in Gomati and South Tripura districts, two worst flood-affected districts of the northeastern state. "Altogether 31 people died in the floods while two others are missing during the devastating floods from August 19 to 23," he said. Chief Minister Manik Saha later held a meeting with senior officials to review the flood situation. Saha said, "There must be an effort to present the true picture of devastation due to the floods bef