Category: Natural Disasters

Sewage plague threatens Jones Town

If an epidemic broke out it in a poor section of Kingston, it would quickly affect the better-off areas as the poor people go to work in those communities and work as cleaners and domestics. There is real danger that the untreated sewage flowing on to Benbow Street in Jones Town could lead to an outbreak in cholera that might trigger the deaths of Jamaicans.

UN says world faces largest humanitarian crisis since 1945

Famine was recently declared in parts of South Sudan, World Food Programme has air-dropped aid to catchment areas in the country. The world faces the largest humanitarian crisis since the United Nations was founded in 1945 with more than 20 million people in four countries facing starvation and famine, the U.N. humanitarian chief said Friday.

.com | Niger drought leaves schools closed

More than half of schoolchildren have quit class in some parts of Niger due to drought which is forcing entire families of farmers to move to seek better pastures, the UN said Friday. At least 33 000 farmers’ children have abandoned class to follow their parents, with the worst hit areas including the central regions of Maradi and Zinder, Agadez in the north and Tahoua in the west.

United Nations warns world faces largest humanitarian crisis since 1945

The world faces the largest humanitarian crisis since the United Nations was founded in 1945 with more than 20 million people in four countries facing starvation and famine, the UN humanitarian chief has said. The world faces the largest humanitarian crisis since the United Nations was founded in 1945 with more than 20 million people in four countries facing starvation and famine, the UN humanitarian chief has said.

Agusan River breaks banks; floods 7 villages in Butuan

Authorities issued code red or flood alert level 3 along riverside communities in Cagayan de Oro after water level at the Agusan River reached 3.07 meters Friday morning, March 10, and flooded seven villages, prompting several families to flee their homes. “Even without rain, as of 2 p.m., flood alert warning level 3 has been issued prompting several residents to evacuate after waters from the Agusan River overflowed to several parts of barangay Buhangin, Baan Riverside, Bading, Golden Ribbon, Mahogany, Maug and Obrero.

Doctors tie Zika virus to heart problems in some adults

In this Monday, Feb. 1, 2016 file photo, a Sucre municipality worker fumigates for Aedes aegypti mosquitoes that transmit the Zika virus in the Petare neighborhood of Caracas, Venezuela. Ahead of the annual American College of Cardiology conference in Washington in March 2017, doctors say they have tied infection with the Zika virus to possible new heart problems in adults.

Millions of people displaced by environmental change: Jane McAdam

EMILY BOURKE: One of Australia’s sharpest legal minds on refugee law is calling on the international community to turn its attention to the growing threat posed by environmental change and the flight of people from places affected by natural disasters. Each year 26 million people are displaced by an environmental calamity…but their plight is frequently made worse by poor warning systems and building codes, corruption, and inadequate governance.

a A nightmare:a UN chief urges help for Somalia hunger crisis

Visibly shocked by the suffering of malnourished Somalis and cholera victims during an emergency visit, U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Tuesday urged international support to alleviate Somalia’s worsening hunger crisis. “Every single person we have seen is a personal story of tremendous suffering.

Haze problem worsens in North as many provinces hit by wildfires

MANY PROVINCES were affected by wildfires yesterday, causing the acute haze problem to intensify, while the Disease Control Department warned vulnerable groups such as the elderly and the infirm to stay indoors and wear face masks. The Disaster Prevention and Mitigation Department said that due to worsening smog caused by wildfires, Lampang province had suffered from harmful air pollution levels for three days in a row.

Politics a Risk to South African Recovery

Continued political instability that hurt investor confidence and saw South Africa’s economy expand at the slowest rate since 2009 last year could threaten a recovery in 2017, economists said. Gross domestic product expanded 0.3 percent last year, the statistics office said in a report released on Tuesday in the capital, Pretoria.

The solidarity regardless of differences

The 6th founding anniversary of GERD will be colorfully celebrated accompanied with various activities such as fund raising and other mobilization forums throughout the country. The Great Run is one of these activities that took place on the 5th of March 2017 in Addis Ababa and other major cities of the country.

UN official urges South Sudan to allow food aid distribution

The U.N. humanitarian chief is demanding immediate access for aid distribution in famine-hit South Sudan amid continued fighting and the recent looting of a humanitarian organization. Stephen O’Brien said after a two-day visit to South Sudan that obstacles to humanitarian assistance continue, including active hostility, access denials, and bureaucratic impediments.

UN appeals for funds, relief access to S. Sudanese in need of aid

UN top relief official on Sunday called for immediate and unhindered access to South Sudanese in need of aid and urgent funding for the humanitarian appeal. Stephen O’Brien, Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator said the UN urgently need additional funding to scale up, sustain and expand life-saving assistance and protection across all of South Sudan.

Deadly floods hit southern Zimbabwe, destroying many homes

From kitchen items to livestock and even her house, Assa Mkwananzi says she has “lost it all” to floods that have hit southern Zimbabwe. “We lost all our blankets, pots and cooking utensils, our goats and chickens as well because of the heavy rains,” Mkwananzi told The Associated Press in the southern district of Tsholotsho, about 200 kilometers north of Bulawayo.

Bundaberg receives official drought declaration

The Bundaberg region has been officially drought-declared.The declaration, effective from March 1, brings the area of Queensland that is drought-declared to 84.29 per cent. SHARE Share on Facebook SHARE Share on Twitter TWEET Link Farmer Kelvin Griffins on his sugarcane farm in Bundaberg, which has received drought status.

Bundaberg receives official drought declaration

The Bundaberg region has been officially drought-declared.The declaration, effective from March 1, brings the area of Queensland that is drought-declared to 84.29 per cent. SHARE Share on Facebook SHARE Share on Twitter TWEET Link Farmer Kelvin Griffins on his sugarcane farm in Bundaberg, which has received drought status.

Rene Preval, President Of Haiti For Two Terms, Has Died At 74

Haiti’s two-term President Rene Preval, who presided over the aftermath of the catastrophic 2010 earthquake, has died at the age of 74. Preval was the country’s president from 1996 to 2001 and then for a second term from 2006 to 2011. “He is the only president in Haitian history to have served two full presidential terms and not be jailed, exiled or killed,” the Miami Herald reports .

Some 100 million at risk of hunger and the number is rising

The number of people facing severe hunger worldwide has surpassed 100 million and will grow if humanitarian aid is not paired with more support for farmers, a senior United Nations official said. Dominique Burgeon, director of the emergency division at the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation said latest studies showed 102 million people faced acute malnutrition – meaning they were on the brink of starvation – in 2016, up almost 30 per cent from 80 million in 2015.

Nepal seeks foreign investment to help recovery from quake

Nepal made a pitch to foreign investors Thursday for help in developing its struggling economy as the Himalayan nation recovers from a devastating 2015 earthquake. The government hopes to attract at least $1 billion in new foreign investment during the two-day conference in the capital, Kathmandu.

Ex-CIA agent freed in Portugal, avoids extradition to Italy

President Donald Trump’s new immigration order will remove Iraq from the list of countries whose citizens face a temporary U.S. travel ban, U.S. officials say, citing the latest draft in circulation. President Donald Trump’s new immigration order will remove Iraq from the list of countries whose citizens face a temporary U.S. travel ban, U.S. officials say, citing the latest draft in circulation.

Palestinians face intense online hate from Israelis, say campaigners

Israel’s 1.7 million Palestinian citizens are facing a tidal wave of incitement and hate speech on social media, including from government ministers, community leaders have warned. They say the increasingly hostile political climate in Israel is stoking violence from the police and street gangs, and has laid the ground for a recent raft of racist legislative proposals.

Does an oarfish predict an earthquake is about to hit CDO?

ABOUT two weeks before the 6.7 magnitude earthquake hit Surigao City, two oarfish have been found in the beaches of Butuan City and another oarfish was washed ashore in Misamis Occidental and in Agusan del Norte days later. Residents near the shores took selfies and posted the sightings on social media networks without looking into the cause of this sighting.

South Sudan and Somalia to receive 100 million UK aid packages

International Development Secretary Priti Patel announced the new packages of UK aid for 2017/18 and called on the global community to step up their support in helping those in need. The Department for International Development said parts of South Sudan were now in famine, adding that in 2017 there was a credible risk of another three famines in Yemen, North East Nigeria and Somalia.

The unhealthy season

People pushed the panic button when they heard Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha warned two weeks ago that the spread of the influenza virus this year would be greater than the last. The virus forced two Bangkok schools, Chulalongkorn University Demonstration Elementary School and St Joseph Convent School, to close some parts of the premises for inspection and cleaning after students were found to have been infected.

In the know: Can oarfish predict earthquakes?

AGUSAN. An oarfish was found ashore in Barangay Rojales, Carmen, Agusan del Norte, on February 15. DAYS before and after the 6.7-magnitude earthquake that devastated Surigao City and its nearby provinces, multiple sightings of giant oarfish in Mindanao were reported.

CPP: NPA did not attack relief convoy

The Communist Party of the Philippines has denied the New People’s Army was responsible for the attack on a relief convoy in Surigao del Norte on Wednesday. In a statement Friday, the CPP labeled as dubious the reports coming from the Armed Forces of the Philippines that the NPA ambushed the ABS-CBN relief mission in Barangay Linanggonan, San Francisco, Surigao del Norte.

Floods, landslides threaten Caraga due to continuous rain

Floods and landslides triggered by heavy rains since Wednesday are threatening parts of the Caraga region which is still reeling from a magnitude 6.7 earthquake that jolted Surigao City last week. The Davao City Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office reported around 100 families evacuated along the city’s rivers when heavy rains threatened to flood homes.

Drought drives food price spike in East Africa, UN warns

East Africa’s ongoing drought has sharply curbed harvests and drive up the prices of cereals and other staple foods to unusually high levels, posing a heavy burden to households and special risks for pastoralists in the region, the United Nations Agricultural Agency said today. “Sharply increasing prices are severely constraining food access for large numbers of households with alarming consequences in terms of food insecurity,” said Mario Zappacosta, a senior economist for the UN Food and Agriculture Organization , in a news release.