Category Archives: Natural disasters and extreme weather

Inside China’s leading ‘sponge city’: Wuhan’s war with water

Posted on by

The next 15 megacities #9: Known as ‘the city of a hundred lakes’ until most got paved over, Wuhan has a flooding problem. Can permeable pavements and artificial wetlands soak it up?

Take a stroll down the central Chinese city’s Fan Lake Road or Fruit Lake Street and despite their names you won’t see any large bodies of water – unless it has been raining very hard, that is.

Wuhan was once known as “the city of a hundred lakes”. It had 127 lakes in its central area alone in the 1980s, but decades of rapid urbanisation mean only around 30 survive.

Continue reading...

‘When to Ambae?’ Volcano-hit islanders long for home – in pictures

Posted on by

The violent Manaro Voui volcano forced the people of Vanuatu’s Ambae island to flee their home numerous times over the last year. After living in makeshift camps on surrounding islands, the displaced residents are now anxious to return to their ash-covered homes, even if the danger has not yet passed

Continue reading...

California town sets up ‘goat fund me’ page to finance four-legged firefighters

Posted on by

Nevada City is seeking to raise $30,000 to acquire goats to munch through acres of vegetation that could fuel wildfires

A California town threatened by the sort of wildfires that recently wiped out a neighbouring community is appealing for an unusual type of help: a crack team of goats.

Related: The US won't be prepared for the next natural disaster

Continue reading...

Australia extreme heatwave: ‘code red’ issued as Port Augusta hits 48.9C

Posted on by

Severe weather conditions forecast to bring maximum temperatures 8C to 16C above average, as three towns record overnight minimums of 33C

Coping with extreme heat: share your photos

Port Augusta in South Australia has reached 48.9C on Tuesday, as a heatwave sets in across much of Australia threatening more record hot days.

All-time highest minimum temperatures have also been broken in three places. Meekatharra in Western Australia and Fowlers Gap and White Cliffs in New South Wales all registered an overnight minimum of 33C on Monday.

Continue reading...

Teenage Australian boy killed in Austrian avalanche while skiing with family

Posted on by

Sixteen-year-old dies after he and his mother were swept away while skiiing at St Anton am Arlberg

A 16-year-old Australian boy has been killed in an avalanche in Austria, local police said.

The boy was skiing with his parents and 14-year-old brother at St Anton am Arlberg, western Austria, on Wednesday, when he and his mother were swept away by the avalanche, local news reports said. His mother was able to escape unhurt, but the boy was buried in 2m of snow.

Continue reading...

Trump’s threat to cut California wildfire relief leaves state officials baffled

Posted on by

He criticized the state for ‘forest management’, a claim that was debunked and admonished the last time he made it

Donald Trump’s latest threat to cut relief funds for California areas impacted by deadly wildfires has left state lawmakers and residents baffled.

“Billions of dollars are sent to the State of California for Forest fires that, with proper Forest Management, would never happen [sic]” he tweeted, correcting the spelling of “forest” from a previous and identically worded tweet that has since been deleted. “Unless they get their act together, which is unlikely, I have ordered FEMA to send no more money. It is a disgraceful situation in lives & money!”

Continue reading...

The death of Venice? City’s battles with tourism and flooding reach crisis level

Posted on by

A tax on daytrippers has hit the headlines, but La Serenissima’s mounting problems also include rising waters, angry locals and a potential black mark from Unesco

Why Italy regrets its Faustian pact with tourist cash

Venice’s Santa Lucia railway station is packed as visitors scuttle across the concourse towards the water-bus stops. Taking a selfie against the backdrop of the Grand Canal, Ciro Esposito and his girlfriend have just arrived and are unimpressed with what may greet them in future if the Venetian authorities get their way: a minimum city entry fee of €2.50 throughout the year, rising to between €5 and €10 during peak periods.

It is the price of a cappuccino, but for them “it’s going too far”. “They are using people like a bank machine,” says Esposito. “We are in Europe and can travel freely across borders, yet we have to pay to enter one of our own cities.”

Continue reading...

Tropical Storm Pabuk batters Thailand coast but tourists are spared the worst

Posted on by

Nearly 30,000 people are forced into emergency shelters as the waning weather system skirts Koh Samui

Floods and blackouts caused by Tropical Storm Pabuk have left nearly 30,000 people in evacuation shelters across southern Thailand, but tourists stranded on holiday islands were spared the worst and began to plot routes home.

Pabuk, a once in three-decades weather system, packed winds of up to 75km (45 miles) an hour and brought heavy rains and storm surges as it lashed the entire south of the kingdom on Friday, downing power cables and causing widespread flooding.

Continue reading...

Tropical Storm Pabuk buffets Thailand’s east coast

Posted on by

Trees felled and roads flooded but storm appears to have done less damage than feared

Rain, wind and surging seawater from a tropical storm has buffeted coastal villages and tourist resorts on southern Thailand’s east coast, knocking down trees and utility poles and flooding roads.

One person was reported dead and another missing after a fishing boat with a crew of six capsized in high waves, but by nightfall it appeared that Tropical Storm Pabuk had caused less damage than feared.

Continue reading...

Terrawatch: landslide tsunami lessons from Anak Krakatau

Posted on by

Tsunami warning systems are in place around Indonesia, but they are tailored to earthquake tsunamis

Just over a week ago, the Indonesian volcano Anak Krakatau blew its top, losing about two-thirds of its height.

Most of this 150m cubic metres of rock is thought to have slid into the sea in one go, generating a tsunami that killed more than 400 people. Tsunami warning systems are in place around Indonesia, but they are tailored to earthquake tsunamis, triggering only if an earthquake and large wave are detected.

Continue reading...