-
-
Storm-Hit Haitians Starve on Rooftops
Haiti was reeling last night from a series of tropical storms which devastated crops and infrastructure and left bodies floating in flooded towns. Three storms in three weeks unleashed "catastrophe" and submerged much of the impoverished Caribbean nation, said President Rene Preval. A fourth storm, Ike, was gathering force in the Atlantic and could strike next week.
More than 120 people have died, thousands are homeless and agriculture and transport networks have been washed away, prompting calls for emergency international aid.
"There are a lot of people who have been on top of the roofs of their homes over 24 hours now," the interior minister, Paul Antoine Bien-Aime, told Reuters. "They have no water, no food and we can't even help them."
Haiti, vulnerable because of its flimsy dwellings and soil erosion, has been the worst affected by the tempests that have battered the Caribbean and US Gulf coast. Parts of Cuba have also been devastated, prompting Fidel Castro to compare the impact to a nuclear attack.
Tropical storm Fay started the crisis three weeks ago. Hurricane Gustav wreaked havoc last week by uprooting trees and triggering floods and mudslides that killed dozens.
Tropical storm Hanna struck on Tuesday with 65mph winds, killing at least 61 people and flooding the northern Haitian city of Gonaives with two metres of water. Corpses and the carcasses of donkeys and cows - flies swarming over them - bobbed down streets turned into rivers.
"I saw 10 bodies float in the flooded streets of the city," the police commissioner, Ernst Dorfeuille, told the local Radio Metropole.
Gonaives lies in a flat river plain between the ocean and deforested mountains that run with mud even in light rains.
With roads impassable and winds too strong for helicopters, UN peacekeepers reached the city on inflatable boats. They found hundreds of survivors clinging to rooftops, begging for water and food - women on balconies waved empty pots and spoons.
"I lost everything, even the baby's clothes," Jezula Preval, one of 1,500 people huddled in the a desolate shelter nicknamed the "Haiti Hilton", told the Associated Press. She gave birth to a healthy boy on Tuesday, after floodwaters swallowed her house.
Patients in a flooded hospital had crowded into an upper floor room. At the church about 100 people huddled on a balcony, waiting for the water to recede.
"There is no food, no water, no clothes," said the pastor, Arnaud Dumas. "I want to know what I'm supposed to do ... we haven't found anything to eat in two, three days. Nothing at all.
*CONTINUES* Haiti was reeling last night from a series of tropical storms which devastated crops and infrastructure and left bodies floating in fl... more -
Hurricane Gustav: Fuzzy science confounds predictions
Meteorologists are predicting a more active hurricane season than usual this year, but there is no way to know whether global warming has caused an individual event such as a hurricane, or whether it has made such storms worse.
On the other hand, some scientists argue that severe storms such as Gustav are more likely in a warming world, because warmer seas make more powerful storms. The issue was hotly debated after Hurricane Katrina struck in 2005 and was subsequently featured in former US vice-president Al Gore's film documentary, An Inconvenient Truth. Publicity material for the film showed a tornado emerging from the chimney of a power station.
If anything, the science has become fuzzier in the years after Katrina, with studies suggesting that future storm strength could increase in places but decrease in others - studies seized on by both sides of the debate.
Last year's report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) said it was "likely" that global warming would make future cyclones more intense. Studies of hurricane records suggest that this trend can already be seen. A high-profile paper in 2005 from Kerry Emanuel, professor of meteorology at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, showed that tropical cyclones in the west Pacific and Atlantic have become more powerful in the past 50 years. Another study concluded that the frequency of the strongest tropical cyclones has almost doubled globally since the early 1970s.
Continues.. Meteorologists are predicting a more active hurricane season than usual this year, but there is no way to know whether global warming ... more -
2,000 feared dead as floods swamp hundreds of Indian villages
Up to 2,000 people are feared dead after a river changed course, flooding hundreds of villages in the Indian state of Bihar. Stranded villagers were surviving on uncooked rice mixed with dirty water, as authorities struggled to deliver aid to the displaced millions after the worst floods to hit the eastern state in 50 years. Up to 2,000 people are feared dead after a river changed course, flooding hundreds of villages in the Indian state of Bihar. Stranded ... more
-
The Gulf Coast waits: Will it be another Katrina?
With a historic evacuation complete, and gun-toting police and National Guardsmen standing watch over this city's empty streets, even presidential politics stood still Sunday while the nation waited to see if Hurricane Gustav would be another Katrina.
The storm was set to crash ashore midday Monday with frightful force, testing the three years of planning and rebuilding that followed Katrina's devastating blow to the Gulf Coast.
Painfully aware of the failings that led to that horrific suffering and more than 1,600 deaths, this time, officials moved beyond merely insisting tourists and residents leave south Louisiana. They threatened arrest, loaded thousands onto buses and warned that anyone who remained behind would not be rescued.
"Looters will go directly to jail. You will not get a pass this time," Mayor Ray Nagin said. "You will not have a temporary stay in the city. You will go directly to the Big House."
Col. Mike Edmondson, state police commander, said he believed that 90 percent of the population had fled the Louisiana coast. The exodus of 1.9 million people is the largest evacuation in state history, and thousands more had left from Mississippi, Alabama and flood-prone southeast Texas.
Late Sunday, Gov. Bobby Jindal issued one last plea to the roughly 100,000 people still left on the coast: "If you've not evacuated, please do so. There are still a few hours left."
Louisiana and Mississippi temporarily changed traffic flow so all highway lanes led away from the coast, and cars were packed bumper-to-bumper. Stores and restaurants shut down, hotels closed and windows were boarded up. Some who planned to stay changed their mind at the last second, not willing to risk the worst.
"I was trying to get situated at home. I was trying to get things so it would be halfway safe," said 46-year-old painter Jerry Williams, who showed up at the city's Union Station to catch one of the last buses out of town. "You're torn. Do you leave it and worry about it, or do you stay and worry about living?" With a historic evacuation complete, and gun-toting police and National Guardsmen standing watch over this city's empty streets, ... more -
1m displaced by floods in northern India
· 'National calamity' after Kosi bursts banks, says PM · Experts say corruption is largely responsible
-
Flooded villages in rural balochistan
A year back Pakistan was hit with a massive cyclone destroying homes of millions of people along the coast lines...
one of the villages was Bagh Head in Balochistan... where 8000 Men, women & children were left homeless, without food, water and shelter...
The report has more... A year back Pakistan was hit with a massive cyclone destroying homes of millions of people along the coast lines... ... more -
MYANMAR: Pregnant women a priority for health services
Khim Mar Tun almost died when Cyclone Nargis devastated her village in May. "Our whole village was swept away," the 28-year-old told IRIN. "Of the eight people in my family, four died. All of them were washed away."
Six months pregnant and barely able to stay afloat, she spent nearly four hours in the water that swept away her home before being rescued.
Three months after the cyclone struck, leaving nearly 140,000 people either dead or missing and 2.4 million badly affected, she is about to give birth. "I'm lucky, I guess," she said. "I've already been to the camp clinic and will give birth either here or at the hospital in Labutta," she said, referring to the largest town in the area, 3km away, at the southern tip of the Ayeyarwady Delta.
In the aftermath of Nargis, now described as the country's worst natural disaster, the risk factors for pregnant women have increased. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), the country has a maternal mortality rate (MMR) of 383 deaths per 100,000 live births.
"It's entirely possible that those rates [MMR] would go up. One would expect them to," Dan Baker, country representative for the UN Population Fund (UNFPA), told IRIN in Yangon, the former capital.
Pregnant women are among those in the greatest danger during humanitarian emergencies, with poor nutrition and a lack of access to safe delivery options often having fatal consequences, he explained.
In the Ayeyarwady Delta, where women typically give birth at home with the help of midwives or in rural health centres, the widespread destruction of homes and disruption of transport and medical services would exacerbate matters.
Tens of thousands of pregnant women have been put at risk by the storm's disruption of health services, Baker noted.
****Continues, click link to read***** Khim Mar Tun almost died when Cyclone Nargis devastated her village in May. "Our whole village was swept away," the 28-year-... more -
Monsoon rains kill 40 in southern India
Heavy monsoon rains brought down homes and swamped parts of southern India, killing at least 40 people over the weekend, officials said on Sunday.
The rains triggered flooding in Andhra Pradesh and swamped its capital Hyderabad where 14 people were killed, mostly crushed under the roofs of their homes. Two people were electrocuted by uprooted power lines.
More than 150,000 people have been shifted to makeshift camps in the state's coastal belt where flood waters damaged homes and crops and washed away roads. The remaining deaths were reported from these areas. Heavy monsoon rains brought down homes and swamped parts of southern India, killing at least 40 people over the weekend, officials sai... more -
Hurricanes in Paradise
In the last 5 years there have been more damaging hurricanes in the Cayman Islands than in the last 50 combined. With insurance companies going bankrupt after big storms and the looming threat of total destruction, how and why do people continue to live there? In the last 5 years there have been more damaging hurricanes in the Cayman Islands than in the last 50 combined. With insurance compa... more
-
Earthquake jolts Los Angeles
A moderate earthquake struck east of Los Angeles on Tuesday, shaking tall buildings in the city but there were no immediate reports of injuries, major damage or power outages.
The earthquake, which struck at 11:42 a.m. local time (1842 GMT), was measured at magnitude 5.8. It was centered about 30 miles (48 km) east of Los Angeles near the community of Chino Hills, where it was felt strongly.
But witnesses reported feeling the shaking strongly in neighboring Orange County, as far south as San Diego and as far east as Las Vegas. There were no reports of power outages.
Several small aftershocks were reported in the minutes after the quake.
A spokesman for the San Bernardino County Sheriff's Office said there were no reports of injuries in the Chino Hills area.
The Los Angeles Fire Department said there were also no injuries reported in the city, although tall buildings swayed from side to side for a few seconds and workers poured into the streets. A moderate earthquake struck east of Los Angeles on Tuesday, shaking tall buildings in the city but there were no immediate reports of... more -
China is paying off grieving parents
This seems to be a particularly cold-hearted form of cover-up by the Chinese government.
-
Canada: This is the dirtiest oil in the world
The Guardian: What happens when the world's biggest oil companies target a northern wilderness?
-
Record Flooding in Iowa // Comment Picked for TV
Thanks to uroborus8 for his response to the pod, "Record Flooding in Iowa."
Take a look at the pod here: http://current.com/items/89022951_record_flooding_in_io... Thanks to uroborus8 for his response to the pod, "Record Flooding in Iowa." ... more -
First Hurricane of 2008 Forms in Atlantic
MIAMI (Reuters) - The first hurricane of the 2008 Atlantic storm season formed on Monday, hundreds of miles (kilometers) away from the United States and the Caribbean islands, the U.S. National Hurricane Center said.
The Miami-based center said it was still too early to determine whether Hurricane Bertha would hit any land, as computer models showed it would eventually start curving to the northwest and then to the north, possibly taking it near Bermuda.
Long-range storm track predictions are unreliable, however, and the hurricane center noted, "It is still not guaranteed that Bertha will recurve."
At about 11 a.m. EDT, Bertha was about 775 miles
east of the northern Leeward Islands of the Caribbean and was moving toward the west-northwest at 15 miles per hour (24 kph).
The storm's top winds had reached near 90 mph (150 kph), after passing the threshold at which tropical storms become hurricanes earlier in the day.
The hurricane center said some additional strengthening was expected during the next 24 hours and forecast that Bertha could become a Category 2 hurricane on the five-step Saffir-Simpson scale of hurricane intensity later on Monday. MIAMI (Reuters) - The first hurricane of the 2008 Atlantic storm season formed on Monday, hundreds of miles (kilometers) away from the... more -
Flood of 2008 in Cedar Rapids, IA
Commentary about and video of the flood damage in Cedar Rapids, Iowa in June 2008. This is actually a compilation of several videos.
-
820 missing people from ferry capsized in a typhoon
Article historyAnxious relatives crowded the offices of a shipping line today as fears grew for the fate of up to 820 passengers and crew aboard a ferry that capsized in a typhoon that lashed the central Philippines.
As darkness fell, hope was fading that any of the missing would be found alive after a coastguard ship, battling huge seas and fierce winds, finally reached the MV Princess of Stars to find only its bow jutting from the water several miles off shore.
Villagers on Sibuyan island discovered three survivors, but another six bodies, including a man and woman who had lashed themselves together, were found washed up on the shore.
Radio contact with the 23,824-tonne ferry was lost on Saturday after its engines failed and it ran aground on sandbank as Typhoon Fengshen, packing winds gusting up to 121mph, battered the Philippines and whipped up enormous seas.
President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo berated the civil defence and coastguard authorities, demanding to know why the Cebu-bound ferry was allowed to leave port in Manila on Friday when it was clear that the typhoon, the sixth this year, would hit the country.
Last night the Philippines Red Cross said at least 155 people across the sprawling archipelago had been killed by the high winds and torrential rains that ripped off roofs and triggered deadly mudslides and flash flooding. Thousands more were made homeless by the storm.
Officials from Sulpicio Lines, the ferry's owners, said the ship's manifest showed there were 626 passengers and 121 crew aboard when it set sail, but local reports said the number could have been as high as 820.
Coastguards lost contact with the ship about 12.30pm (0530BST) yesterday after the captain reported engine failure and said his vessel was drifting helplessly in the stormy seas. Fuel and other cargo was dumped overboard in an effort to lighten the load.
A rescue effort by a coastguard ship was beaten back by the ferocious weather and it was not until today that the first of four coastguard ships reached the area. Sibuyan islanders could see the stricken ferry's remains, but could not put to sea in the storm.
Several dozen relatives of the passengers waited for word at the Manila offices of Sulpicio Lines, some weeping quietly as time passed and they began to fear the worst.
"I'm very worried. I need to know what happened to my family," said Felino Farionin, his voice cracking. His wife, son and four in-laws were on the ferry.
Another relative, Lina Salinas, said she had seen off her sister on the 22-hour voyage, aware there was a typhoon alert, but discounted it as it was only the lowest level: number one.
"We knew it was signal 'number one' at the time, but we were not really worried because it was not raining here at all," she said.
"But the ship should not have been allowed to leave."
In a conference call with officials played live on national radio, President Arroyo was angry and equally puzzled that the ship had been given the go-ahead to venture out in such at such a perilous time.
"Why did you allow it to sail and why was there no ample warning?" she asked civil defence and coastguard chiefs during the briefing on the disaster. "I want answers."
The mounting death toll across the country included 59 in the province of Iloilo, where another 40 people were also missing, with most towns in the area covered in flood waters left by the relentless downpour.
"Iloilo is like an ocean," said the province's governor, Neil Tupaz. "This is the worst disaster we have had in our history." Article historyAnxious relatives crowded the offices of a shipping line today as fears grew for the fate of up to 820 passengers and c... more -
Record Flooding in Iowa
Record floods in Iowa have humbled the city of Cedar Rapids and the surrounding areas. Hospitals have been evacuated and thousands of people have been forced to evacuate their homes. The Des Moines River, which is set 100 miles away is also a point of concern as water levels are now dangerously close to spilling over levees and into the heart of downtown Des Moines. Record floods in Iowa have humbled the city of Cedar Rapids and the surrounding areas. Hospitals have been evacuated and thousands of ... more
-
Major Quake Hits Northern Japan
A powerful earthquake rocked a rural area of northern Japan on Saturday, killing at least two people, triggering landslides and reportedly knocking down a bridge, fire and disaster management officials said. At least 64 were injured.
Two nuclear power plants in the area were undergoing inspections but there were no immediate reports of damage, said Chief Cabinet Secretary Nobutaka Machimura. Electricity had been cut to about 29,000 households in the quake zone, he said. There was no danger of tsunami.
The 8:43 a.m. quake was centered in the northern prefecture (state) of Iwate about 280 miles north of Tokyo. It was felt as far away as the capital. A powerful earthquake rocked a rural area of northern Japan on Saturday, killing at least two people, triggering landslides and report... more -
Upper Midwest flooding forces evacuations
Rising water from the Cedar River forced the evacuation of a downtown hospital Friday after residents of more than 3,000 homes fled for higher ground. A railroad bridge collapsed, and 400 city blocks were under water.
In Des Moines, 100 miles to the southeast, officials issued a voluntary evacuation order for much of downtown and other areas bordering the Des Moines River. Mayor Frank Cownie said the evacuations were an attempt "to err on the side of citizens and residents."
Des Moines is Iowa's capital and largest city, with about 190,000 residents. But the hardest-hit was Cedar Rapids, a city of 124,000 people.
Gov. Chet Culver declared 83 of the state's 99 counties to be state disaster areas, and nine rivers were at or above historic flood levels. Elsewhere in the upper Midwest, rivers and streams tipping their banks forced evacuations, closed roads, and even threatened drinking water.
The hospital's 176 patients, including about 30 patients in a nursing home facility at the hospital, were being evacuated to other hospitals in the region. The evacuation started late Thursday night and continued Friday morning in the city of 124,000 residents. Rising water from the Cedar River forced the evacuation of a downtown hospital Friday after residents of more than 3,000 homes fled fo... more -
Floodwaters claim bridge, force evacuations in Iowa
CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa — Nearly 4,000 homes were evacuated here Thursday and parts of the city's downtown were under 5 to 6 feet of water as flooding continued to ravage the state.
Heavy rain pounded Cedar Rapids again Thursday, and a downtown railroad bridge over the Cedar River collapsed. It had been loaded with 18 gravel-filled rail cars in an attempt to weigh it down against the rising river.
"There's nothing left to see" of the bridge, said Jeff Woods, a spokesman for the Cedar Rapids and Iowa Railway Co. No injuries were reported.
All interstate highway exits to downtown Cedar Rapids were closed, and major power outages were reported through the community. The Linn County Jail in Cedar Rapids evacuated more than 400 inmates to state prisons, and the situation worsened Thursday with more rain predicted into the night.
Officials estimated that 100 blocks in Cedar Rapids were under water.
"We're seeing very substantial flooding," said Craig Hanson, the city's public works maintenance manager.
PHOTO GALLERY: Flooding rains devastate Midwest
Cedar Rapids' problems came a day after frantic sandbagging enabled the upstream cities of Cedar Falls and Waterloo to narrowly avoid widespread flooding.
As Cedar Rapids dealt with rising floodwaters, other Iowa cities warily watched rivers further swollen by storms overnight into Thursday that brought up to 5 inches of rain across west central Iowa.
The heavy rain moved east during the day, soaking people as they hurried to remove items from businesses as police told them to move to higher ground.
In Des Moines, officials urged residents to evacuate more than 200 homes north of downtown because of concerns that the Des Moines River would top a nearby levee.
Public Works Director Bill Stowe said officials were watching the Des Moines and Raccoon rivers through downtown Des Moines.
"We're certainly concerned, and last night's rain elevated those concerns," Stowe said. "We'll be carefully watching the situation over the next couple of days."
Despite rising water, the city's water treatment plant operated normally. The plant was knocked out of service in the 1993 floods, cutting off water to Des Moines for 12 days.
Meteorologist Rod Donavon of the National Weather Service said there was a strip of 3 to 5 inches of rain across west central Iowa and another strip of 2 to 3 inches in central Iowa.
"A lot of water fell in the Raccoon River basin, which is of concern as it moves toward the Des Moines metro area," he said
Donavon said he had not seen any new river forecast projections but it will "be a concern."
Gov. Chet Culver has declared 55 of the state's 99 counties as state disaster areas. Nine rivers are at or above historic flood levels.
Iowa City officials have approved a mandatory evacuation ordinance at a special council meeting Wednesday. The city put the order into effect around 2 a.m. on Thursday for residents in the Normandy Drive area on the city's north side near the Iowa River.
In Coralville, residents along two streets have until 5 p.m. Thursday to evacuate. The city also asks that residents try to avoid using running water and toilets while it is raining, because the volume of water is overwhelming the water plant. CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa — Nearly 4,000 homes were evacuated here Thursday and parts of the city's downtown were under 5 to 6 feet of w... more
-
related topics
Natural Disaster
Contributors (195)
Natural Disaster
