Page 8 - Natural Disasters

Taiwan clears up, slowly re-opens after devastation from Typhoon Krathon

Typhoons almost always hit Taiwan's mountainous and sparsely populated east coast which faces the Pacific Ocean

Weakened but still strong Typhoon Krathon hits Taiwan, two people dead

An approaching typhoon bringing strong winds and torrential rainfall to Taiwan killed two people and injured more than 100 people over the past few days while forcing thousands to evacuate from low-lying or mountainous areas. At least 102 people were injured and two people died due to weather conditions attributed to Typhoon Krathon, Taiwan's Central Emergency Operation Center said on Wednesday. One elderly man died after falling off a ladder while pruning tree branches in the eastern city of Hualien. Another man died after crashing into fallen rocks while driving in Taitung county. Two others were missing. The typhoon, packing maximum sustained winds of 173 kilometres per hour and gusts of 209 kilometres per hour, was expected to make landfall early on Thursday on Taiwan's densely populated west coast, according to the Central Weather Administration. The strongest winds are expected on the island's southwest portion. Typhoons rarely hit Taiwan's west coast, affecting instead the .

Days after Hurricane Helene, powerless mess remains in US Southeast

Sherry Brown has gotten nearly the entire miserable Hurricane Helene experience at her home. She's out of power and water. There is a tree on her roof and her SUV. She is converting power from the alternator in her car to keep just enough juice for her refrigerator so she can keep some food. Brown is far from alone. Helene was a tree and power pole wrecking ball as it blew inland across Georgia, South Carolina and into North Carolina on Friday. Five days later, more than 1.4 million homes and businesses in the three states don't have power, according to poweroutage.us. It's muggy, pitch black at night and sometimes dangerous with chainsaws buzzing, tensioned power lines ready to snap and carbon monoxide silently suffocating people who don't use generators properly. While there are fewer water outages than electric issues, plenty of towns and cities have lost their water systems too, at least temporarily. Brown said she is surviving in Augusta, Georgia, by taking "bird baths" with ..

Intensifying Typhoon Krathon forecast to hit Taiwan's populated west coast

The typhoon is expected to further intensify into the equivalent of a Category 4 hurricane, packing powerful winds

Flood and landslides claim around 200 lives, 30 still missing in Nepal

The death toll from rain-triggered floods and landslides across Nepal climbed to 170 with 42 people missing on Sunday, officials said. Large swathes of eastern and central Nepal have been inundated since Friday, with flash floods reported in parts of the country. According to police, 170 people have been killed so far due to floods and landslides across Nepal. According to Home Ministry officials, 42 people are missing in floods, landslides and inundation. As many as 111 people have sustained injuries in flood-related incidents, Ministry of Home Affairs spokesperson Rishiram Pokharel said. Search and rescue operations are underway with the mobilisation of all the security agencies, he said, adding that the Nepal Army has airlifted 162 people from across the country. As many as 4,000 people affected by flood and inundation have been rescued by the Nepal Army, Nepal Police and Armed Police Force personnel, Pokharel said. All necessary relief materials, including food grains, have

Hurricane Helene: Toll hits 100, aid rushed to North Carolina, Florida

President Joe Biden described the impact of the storm as stunning and said he would visit the area this week

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