Category Archives: Natural Disasters

Australia news live update: Lismore flood level breaks 1954 record as Perrottet warns worse to come in NSW; Queensland death toll rises to eight

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NSW premier says ‘unprecedented’ floods expected to get worse; Lismore residents call for help on social media as flood level hits record high; Australia lists Russia as ‘do not travel’ zone; Frydenberg discusses financial support for Ukraine ahead of Scott Morrison’s call with president; at least 12 Covid-related deaths recorded. Follow the latest updates live

Josh Frydenberg was asked if he believed the Russian president Vladimir Putin could turn the invasion into Ukraine nuclear.

He says it’s no secret that Putin may have ambitions beyond simply controlling Ukraine.

No one wants to see an escalation ... but these are the dangers of the times and the insanity of what Putin has done ... I’m worried there could be an escalation beyond the borders ...

I’m worried that there could be an escalation beyond the borders and no doubt. That’s what other European nations or neighbouring countries are concerned about ...

Just to get a sense of when will we find out the amount of money we’re committing to this issue ... we’re working the details through you will find out probably today.

I mean, we’re going to start with an initial payment. It will be in the millions, and it’s not going to be the same sort of quantum that United States or the United Kingdom would provide but you know, where we can ...

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Devastation in Brazil with scores dead after heavy rains and mudslides – video

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At least 94 people have died after heavy rains sent mudslides and floods through a mountainous region of Brazil’s Rio de Janeiro state. Petrópolis, the ‘imperial city’ that was the summer getaway of Brazil’s monarchs in the 19th century, was directly in the path of the deluge when it hit on Tuesday. The city’s mayor, Rubens Bomtempo, said the number of dead could keep rising as searchers picked through the wreckage. Twenty-one people have been recovered alive and civilians have joined the official recovery efforts 

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Madagascar’s death toll from Cyclone Batsirai rises to 92

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Around 91,000 homes damaged or destroyed after the Indian Ocean island’s second destructive storm in two weeks

The death toll from Cyclone Batsirai in Madagascar has risen to 92, as information continues to filter in from areas of the country that were badly affected.

The cyclone slammed into the large Indian Ocean island late on Saturday, knocking down houses and electricity lines as it battered the south-eastern coast until it moved away late on Sunday, leaving 91,000 people with destroyed or damaged homes.

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Aid agencies scale up Storm Ana response amid floods and rising death toll

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Madagascar, Malawi and Mozambique worst affected with 77 people reported dead and 80,000 more forced from their homes

Humanitarian agencies have mounted an emergency response across southern Africa this week as the death toll from tropical Storm Ana reached 77.

Officials reported that at least 41 people had been killed in Madagascar, 18 in Mozambique and 11 in Malawi. The EU’s aid agency Echo said on Thursday that at least 350,000 people have been affected across the three countries, including more than 80,000 displaced from their homes. Flooding has cut off roads and damaged power and water supplies.

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Big Sur wildfire burns near California highway – video

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Hundreds of people in California were told to evacuate because of a new blaze as authorities were forced to shut one of the state's main highways. Firefighters were battling the blaze that broke out in rugged mountains in Big Sur on Friday night and quickly spread toward the sea, fanned by strong winds of up to 50mph. The blaze burned at least 2.3 square miles of brush and redwood trees

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Chinese officials arrested for concealing true scale of flood death toll

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Beijing government says officials in Henan province were found to have deliberately underreported the disaster

Officials in a Chinese province deliberately underreported or concealed 139 deaths from last year’s devastating flood disaster, the country’s central government has said, amid arrests of some of those involved.

Record-breaking rainstorms hit Henan province in central China between 17 and 23 July, overflowing reservoirs, breaching riverbanks, and overwhelming public transport systems and roads in major cities. In the city of Zhengzhou, more than 600mm of rain, equivalent almost to an average year, fell in just three days, flooding metro stations and a cross-city tunnel.

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Big Sur wildfire causes evacuations as Harris visits state to tout federal plan

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The Colorado fire grew to more than 2.3 sq miles while, earlier in the day, the vice-president outlined a response to reduce risk

On the day Vice-President Kamala Harris visited California to highlight new funding for fighting wildfires, hundreds of residents in the Big Sur area in the north of the state were told to evacuate due to a new blaze.

The fire broke out on Friday night in a steep canyon, in the rugged mountains above Big Sur. Fanned by wind gusts of up to 50mph, it quickly burned at least 2.3 square miles of brush and redwood trees, said Cecile Juliette, a spokeswoman for the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.

“The fire lined up with the wind and the terrain and that gave the fire a lot of energy to make a big run,” Juliette said.

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Tonga’s volcano eruption: in pictures

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The Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha’apai undersea volcano eruption is thought to be the largest volcanic event in 30 years. Here are a selection of images of what we have seen so far


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Tsunami from Tonga volcano eruption leaves trail of flood damage

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Waves rush over island country while tidal surges are felt by small Pacific neighbours, New Zealand, Australia and US

Tsunami waves caused by an undersea volcano have flooded the Pacific Island country of Tonga, where entire towns have been inundated with water and scientists warn the main island could be blanketed in volcanic ash.

Videos shared on social media after the eruption showed people running for higher ground as the one metre high floods hit coastal areas and made their way farther inland while the sky darkened with ash.

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Filipinos count cost of climate crisis as typhoons get ever more destructive

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The Philippines adds little to global emissions but faces some of its worst effects in extreme weather. Climate justice is needed

A few days before Christmas, Super-typhoon Rai – known locally as Odette – ravaged the Philippines. The morning after the onslaught, on my way back to Iloilo City from San Jose, Antique, I could see the ocean still boiling; houses blown away and great trees knocked down, making roads impassable. The sights were terrifying.

Lost lives continue to climb two weeks on. Vast numbers of buildings were destroyed – from houses to schools; food crops lost to flooding. At first, I did not know what to feel – anger, helplessness? Later, I knew what I wanted: climate justice.

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‘Our house was gone, it was sea and sand’: life on the vanishing coasts – in pictures

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Coastal communities in Mexico, Bangladesh and Somalia are struggling to adapt to the climate crisis. Many people have already lost livelihoods and homes to rising waters

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‘I heard a meow’: Kentucky man finds his cat unscathed in rubble nine days after tornado

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Sonny ‘Hoot’ Gibson thought his mind was playing tricks when the sound emerged from his demolished office building

Nine days after a tornado demolished his three-story office building in downtown Mayfield, Kentucky, Sonny “Hoot” Gibson was standing in the rubble when he thought he heard a faint meow.

It instantly gave him hope that his office cat, Madix, who hadn’t been seen since before the storms hit, was alive. Gibson said he had tried to find the black cat with yellow eyes who liked to greet customers of his rental business, but he had given up after a few days.

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Seconds before a 6.2 earthquake rattled California, phones got a vital warning

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Half a million phones received emergency alerts thanks to system offering a few seconds to take cover

In the moments before a 6.2-magnitude earthquake struck the northern California coast on Monday, roughly half a million phones began to buzz. An early-alert system managed by the US Geological Survey sent warnings out before the ground started to shake, giving residents in the sparsely populated area vital time to take cover.

The earthquake brought significant shaking but minimal damage in Humboldt county, about 210 miles north-west of San Francisco, and officials said it was an excellent test of the alert-system. It was the largest magnitude quake that’s occurred since the system, known as ShakeAlert, was officially rolled out across the west coast.

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Philippines Typhoon Rai death toll reaches 375 as desperate survivors plead for supplies

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Calls for urgent aid as some residents remain without drinking water and food in the aftermath of Typhoon Rai

The death toll from the strongest typhoon to hit the Philippines this year has surged to 375 , as desperate survivors pleaded for urgent supplies of drinking water and food.

The Philippine Red Cross reported “complete carnage” in coastal areas after Super Typhoon Rai left homes, hospitals and schools “ripped to shreds”.

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Drone footage reveals damage from Indonesia’s Mount Semeru volcano eruption – video

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Drone footage has captured some of the devastation following the eruption of Mount Semeru on the Indonesian island of Java. Dozens of people have been killed and thousands remain displaced. The volcano continues to spew hot gas and ash, hampering rescue efforts

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US wildfires have killed nearly 20% of world’s giant sequoias in two years

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Blazes in western US have hit thousands of Earth’s largest trees, once considered almost fire-proof

Lightning-sparked wildfires killed thousands of giant sequoias this year, adding to a staggering two-year death toll that accounts for up to nearly a fifth of Earth’s largest trees, officials said on Friday.

Fires in Sequoia national park and the surrounding national forest that also bears the trees’ name tore through more than a third of groves in California and torched an estimated 2,261 to 3,637 sequoias. Fires in the same area last year killed an unprecedented 7,500 to 10,400 of the 75,000 trees.

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18,000 people stranded after floods and landslides in British Columbia – video

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Authorities and emergency crews in Canada are trying to reach 18,000 people stranded by major floods and landslides. The province of British Columbia declared a state of emergency with concerns over further falls in coming days. Some grocery store shelves in affected areas have also been stripped bare while floods and mudslides destroyed roads, houses and bridges, hampering rescue efforts

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Canada floods: 18,000 people still stranded in ‘terrible, terrible disaster’

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Alarm grows about climate change in British Columbia after summer wildfires wiped out vegetation that could have slowed flooding

Emergency crews in western Canada were still trying to reach some 18,000 people stranded by landslides and struggling to find food among bare grocery store shelves after devastating flooding.

With communities in the region braced for more torrential rain in already inundated areas next week , the premier of British Columbia province declared an emergency and gave an emotional address in a press conference on Thursday.

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Pacific north-west storm wreaks havoc, with one dead and Vancouver cut off

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Fears death toll will rise after record rainfall destroys highways and leaves tens of thousands in the US and Canada without power

At least one person has been killed and several more are feared dead after a huge storm hit the Pacific north-west, destroying highways and leaving tens of thousands of people in Canada and the US without power.

Canada’s largest port was cut off by flood waters, as emergency crews in British Columbia announced on Tuesday that at least 10 vehicles had been swept off a highway during a landslide.

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At least four buildings on La Palma destroyed by volcano

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Buildings near the crater on the Spanish island were engulfed by lava on Saturday morning

Buildings near the volcano on the Spanish island of La Palma were engulfed by rivers of lava early on Saturday, with the drama of the red-hot eruption intensified by the spectacle of flashes of lightning.

The magma destroyed at least four buildings in the village of Callejon de la Gata, witnesses said.

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