Day 366 [January 1, 2011]
- Deranged Obama’s Slaughterhouse in Afghanistan. NATO occupying forces and its coalition partners in crime have reported a total death toll of at least 709 for 2010, some 36.1 percent higher than their 521 fatalities in 2009, reports say.
- Alexandria, Egypt. Death toll in a car bomb explosion outside a Coptic Christian church in Egypt’s northern city of Alexandria has climbed to 21, with at least 43 others injured, officials said.
- N Waziristan, Pakistan. The latest US drone attacks have killed at least a dozen people in Pakistan’s North Waziristan tribal region, according to local officials.
- “The American drones carried out a record number of 124 attacks in the tribal areas of Pakistan in the 12 months of 2010, more than double the number of predator strikes conducted in the 12 months of 2009, killing 1184 people, compared with 2009’s death toll of 760 in 53 such attacks.”
- China-Russia. An oil pipeline which runs between eastern Siberia and north-eastern China has begun operating, reports say. Russia will be exporting about 15m tons of oil through the new pipeline each year (about 300,000 bpd).
Day 367 [January 2, 2011]
- Kelantan, Malaysia. At least 500 people have been evacuated in the Malaysian town of Kelantan after the ongoing floods worsened overnight due to heavy rainfall, reports say.
- Uganda. Death toll from an outbreak of yellow fever in Northern Uganda has climbed to at least 60, local officials have said.
- Puerto Rico. Despite an increase in the rate of asthma in children across the United States, the U.S. territory of Puerto Rico has the highest asthma diagnosis rates in the world, a report said. “Asthma has spiked in the island territory this year, most likely because of heavy rains that may have unleashed millions of asthma inducing spores.”
- Ohio, USA. “Accidental” drug overdoses in 2010 surpassed car crashes as the leading cause of “accidental” death in the state of Ohio. The death toll is about 1,500 annually, reports say.
- South Korea. The South Korean authorities have confirmed 3 additional foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) outbreaks despite tremendous effort to contain the highly contagious disease through a month-long quarantine, reports say.
- Since the November outbreak, South Korea has culled about 550,000 heads of livestock from about 700 farms across the country.
- “More than 643,000 animals have been ordered culled, and the vaccination of 361,000 animals at 14,000 farms across the country is under way to stem the disease’s spread, with losses estimated at well over 520 billion won (US$463 million).” Areport said.
- South Korea. South Korea has confirmed an outbreak of avian flu in the southeastern city of Sacheon, a report said. On Friday South Korea had confirmed its first outbreak of avian flu in two years, when ducks in two poultry farms in the central and southwestern part of the country were found to be infected with the bird flu virus (H5N1).
- At least 100,000 birds have been culled in an attempt to contain the outbreak.
Day 368 [January 3, 2011]
- India. An intense cold wave has struck northern India killing a large number of people. The official death toll stands at about 40 victims, so far. The capital, Delhi, is the worst hit area along with Haryana, Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, an the Indian-administered state of Kashmir, where the temperature has dropped to as low as minus 23.6 degrees Celsius (-10.5ºF), reports say.
- Philippines. Floods and landslides have claimed about a dozen lives, affecting up to a 100,000 people since last week. Caraga Region is currently experiencing “massive floodings” and landslides, PIA said.
- UK. As many as 20 people have died from common flu over the past week, and up to 1,000 others are in intensive care units in hospitals throughout Britain, reports say.
- South Korea. The foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) continues to spread through the central part of South Korea, reports quotedthe officials as saying. “The farm ministry confirmed two fresh outbreaks [fourth since the weekend] in South Chungcheong Province in the country’s central region, one in the mountainous Gangwan region east of Seoul and two in the country’s southeastern North Gyeongsang Province. … The spread of FMD in Chungcheong is a serious development since it’s close to Jeolla Province, which is one of the major production centers for beef. The province, in addition, is home to several state-run laboratories and breeding facilities for cattle.”
Day 369 [January 4, 2011]
- Australia. Australia’s Disasters Continue to Unfold. QLD flood death toll has now reached at least 10, as thousands of houses are inundated, reports say.
- UK. The UK Govt has been accused of a cover-up concerning the G8′s failure to reduce the death toll from tuberculosis (TB) in south Asia, a report said. “[T]hree experts based in Bangladesh say the UK’s strategy against the disease is aimed at preventing its spread to the west, rather than tackling the living conditions in deprived communities where TB is endemic.” TB kills about half a million people, mostly poor, in south Asia each year, WHO estimates.
- Afghanistan. At least 10,000 people, 20% of them civilians, were killed in Afghanistan violence in 2010, AFP reported. “In addition, the Afghan defence ministry said that 810 Afghan soldiers died in 2010, while independent website icasualties.orgputs the total death toll for international troops last year at 711.”
Day 370 [January 5, 2011]
- Philippines. Death toll from heavy rains, extensive flooding and landslides in the Philippines has reached at least 25, with about 100,000 families (up to 500,000 persons) displaced, reports say. “In its latest situation report, the National Disaster Risk Reduction Management Council (NDRRMC) reported that the displaced families came from 527 villages in 19 provinces of Regions 5 (Bicol), 7 (Central Visayas), 8 (Eastern Visayas), 10 (Northern Mindanao), 11 (Davao), the Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao and the Caraga region”
- Global. Death toll from plane crashes jumped 13% in 2010 with at least 828 people killed, compared with 731 reported fatalities in 2009, Ascend (UK) said.
- Malaysia. “Milk cattle farms in five Malaysian states have been affected by the foot-and-mouth disease (FMD), the Malaysian Veterinary Services Department said on Wednesday,” a report said.
Day 371 [January 6, 2011]
- Global. Food prices hit a record high in December 2010 and are expected to rise further because of volatile global weather patterns, the UN Food and Agriculture Organization reported. The price rises could lead to food riots, civil conflicts, even wars worldwide. The first phase of collapsing cities has arrived.
- Brazil. Heavy floods and landslides have killed at least 35 people and forced more than 30,000 from their homes across Brazil, a report said.
- Uttar Pradesh, India. At least 12 more people were killed by the intense cold wave which has persisted in northern Indiasince Late December.
- KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. Floods in KwaZulu-Natal have killed at least 5 people and forced hundreds out of their homes amid continuing heavy rains, a report said.
- Northern Samar, Philippines. The provincial government of Northern Samar has declared a state of calamity for the province, a government report said.
- NSW, Australia. “Byron Bay, Richmond Valley, Tenterfield and Tweed local government areas have been declared natural disaster areas by the NSW Government today.” A report said. A total of 59 counties in the state of NSW have been declared disaster zones since December 2010. “The rain and flooding in these areas significantly damaged roads, bridges and drains and other critical infrastructure,” a government minister said.
Day 372 [January 7, 2011]
- The Scenic Rim, South East Queensland, Australia. The Scenic Rim has been declared a Natural Disaster Area because of extensive flooding for the second time in less than a month, a report said.
- South Africa. Severe weather, Flooding and thunderstorms in the eastern part of South Africa have killed at least 39 people, the authorities said. “In neighboring KwaZulu-Natal province, police say six people drowned as a result of flooding last week, in addition to seven people killed in a lightning strike there Sunday.” Thousands of people have been displaced as heavy rain and flooding have damaged/destroyed property, inundated farms and ruined crops.
- Vietnam. Foot-and-mouth disease cases have been reported by at least 15 provinces in Vietnam, a report said.
Day 373 [January 8, 2011]
- Shillong, Meghalaya, India. At least a dozen people have been killed and up to 20000 others from Garo and Rabha tribes have been displaced in Assam and Meghalaya after ethnic clashes flared between the two communities, reports say.
- Southern Luzon, eastern Visayas and Mindanao, Philippines. Floods and landslides have killed at least 38 people an displaced about a million others, destroying or damaging thousands of homes, a report said.
- Uttar Pradesh, India. Cold weather has now claimed a reported 150 victims in North India. The state of Uttar Pradesh tops the toll with at least 101 reported deaths, a blog report said.
Day 374 [January 9, 2011]
- Colombia. Death toll from Colombia’s torrential rains, flooding and landslides, starting September 2010 has climbed to at least 312, reports say, with more than 2.23 million people affected. Some 289 people have been injured and 64 others are reported as missing. “Mudslides, floods and overflowing rivers have destroyed 5,323 homes and damaged another 328,420, the institution said, adding that the affected population is made up of a total of 461,337 families.” The ongoing catastrophe has impacted 712 of about 1,000 municipalities in Colombia’s 32 provinces.
- Cruel South Korea. Some one million pigs have been buried alive by the S. Korean authorities as foot-and-mouth disease continues to spread across the country, reports say.
- Tunisia. Death toll in Tunisia’s clashes between the people and security forces has climbed to at least 20 with dozens of others injured, reports say. The recent unrest is believed to be linked to public frustrations with the despotic president and the ruling elite, unemployment, rising food prices and increasing levels of poverty in the country.
- Sudan. Death toll in clashes in Sudan’s disputed border region of Abyei has climbed to at least 15 and many more people wounded, reports say.
Day 375 [January 10, 2011]
- Sri Lanka. Death toll from floods and landslides in central Sri Lanka has climbed to at least a dozen, with dozens more injured and about a million others affected, reports say. Floodwaters have destroyed up to a 1,000 homes, and left more than 3,000 others damaged.
- Kota Baru, Malaysia. New floods in Kelantan have killed at least 3 people and forced thousands of others out of their homes, a report said.
- Thailand. The southernmost province of Narathiwat has been declared a disaster area following widespread flooding caused by heavy rain, reports say. Tens of thousands of people have been evacuated/affected.
- Iran. At least 78 people were killed and two dozen others injured when their plane crashed while trying to make an emergency landing in a snowstorm in NW Iran, reports say.
Day 376 [January 11, 2011]
- Queensland, Australia. An ‘inland tsunami’ has killed at least 10 people and left 78 others missing in Grantham, near Toowoomba, Queensland, reports say. The raging floodwaters have destroyed many homes and infrastructure on their way toward Brisbane.
- Tennessee, USA.Tennessee Gov. Bredesen, has declared a state of emergency after the latest snowstorm hit southern U-S, reports say.
- North Carolina, USA.Gov. Perdue declared a state of emergency on Monday as a winter snow and rainstorm bore down on North Carolina and stirred up treacherous road conditions, disrupting ground and air travel.
- South Carolina, USA. SC Gov. Sanford has also declared a state of emergency: “Given the current conditions throughout the state, I would urge the state’s citizens to avoid all unnecessary travel.”
- Alabama, USA. Gov. Riley has declared a state of emergency in Alabama because of the snowstorm.
- Louisiana, USA. Gov. Jindal has declared a state of emergency in Louisiana because of the snowstorm.
- Georgia, USA. Governor Sonny Perdue has declared a state of emergency in Georgia because of the severe winter storm.
- Iran. “The heaviest snowfall in the country in more than a decade has killed at least 21 people,” the Associated Press reported.
“Some died of the severe cold, some were buried under avalanches, and others died after their cars overturned on snow-covered roads,” the state-run radio reported.
Day 377 [January 12, 2011]
- Brisbane, Queensland, Australai More than a third of the Australian state of Queensland has now been declared a disaster area as floodwaters threaten at least 50 suburbs in the state capital Brisbane, report say.
- Grantham, QLD, AUST. Death toll in QLD flash floods has reached at least 12 in the past 48 hours (22 deaths since December), with more than 70 people reported as missing.
- South Dakota, USA. The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has designated Jackson and Todd as primary natural disaster areas as weather-related grasshopper infestation that began on June 1 continues, a report said. “Farmers and ranchers in Bennet, Jones, Pennington, Tripp, Haakon, Mellette and Shannon counties also qualify for natural disaster assistance because they are contiguous.”
- Nebraska, USA. The Cherry and Keya Paha counties in Nebraska are also contiguous and are declared as natural disaster areas.
- South Dakota, USA. Ziebach County has been declared a natural disaster area following heavy rains, flash flooding, high winds, hail, tornado and weather-related grasshopper infestations, the report said. “Corson, Haakon, Pennington, Stanley, Dewey, Meade and Perkins counties” have also been declared as disaster areas because they are contiguous.
- Washington, USA. USDA has designated 20 counties in the state of Washington as natural disaster areas due to losses caused by heavy rains, frosts, freezing temperatures, high winds and extreme cold weather that began April 1, 2010, and continues, areport said. 12 other counties in the state of Washington are also declared as disaster areas because they are contiguous.
- Oregon, USA. Ten counties in Oregon are also included in the above disaster declaration because they too are contiguous.
- Philippines. Death toll from heavy rains, flooding and landslides in the Philippines has reached at least 43, report say. An estimated 1.35 million people have been displaced.
- Sao Paulo, Brazil. Floods and landslides have claimed at least 13 lives, injured dozens more and left hundreds of people homeless, reports say.
- NYC, USA. NYC Mayor has declared a state of emergency in the city following massive snowfalls. Schools have been shut down and hundreds of flights have been canceled.
- South Korea. A state of emergency has been declared in Korea as as avian flu continues to spread across several regions in the country, the agriculture ministry has said.
Day 378 [January 13, 2011]
- Brazil. Flooding and landslides have killed at least 358 people and left dozens missing in SE Brazil in under 24 hours, reports say. Earlier, floods in Sao Paulo claimed at least 13 lives. See also entry for January 6, 2011.
- Queensland, Australia. Th ecumulative death toll from flooding in Qld. has reached 34 since December, reports say. The floodwaters have submerged about 3 dozen suburbs in Brisbane and large areas of Ipswhich, causing widespread damage.
- Samar, Philippines. At least 42 people have been killed as a result of heavy monsoon rains, which started just before the New Year, 8 injured and five others are reported as missing, disaster officials said.
- Sri Lanka. Death toll from floods and landslides in central Sri Lanka has climbed to a least 23, a report said, with another 36 people injured and one other reported as missing. Floodwaters have forced about a third of a million people out of their homes.
- “About 161,878 hectares of paddy lands are under water and it is still too early to estimate the extent of damage. If the water subsides in the next two-three days we might able to recover 30 percent of it,” the Agriculture Minister said.
- “That translates to 21 percent of Sri Lanka’s total 570,000 hectares of paddy destroyed, and as much a third still at risk.”
- “In the hardest-hit area, the eastern port of Batticaloa, rainfall since the beginning of January stood at 1.8 metres (5 ft 11 in), more than its average annual rainfall of 1.6 metres,” Meteorology Department Deputy Director said.
Day 379 [January 14, 2011]
- Brazil. Death toll from flooding and mega landslides in SE Brazil has climbed to at least 527, reports say. Heavy rains have caused massive landslides destroying everything in their paths and leaving tens of thousands of people homeless.
- Sri Lanka. Reported death toll from massive floods in Sri Lanka has climbed to at least 33 victims. About 1.5 million people have been affected as a result,a dramatic rise since the last report by the local media. The country’s Disaster Management Center has reported that 361,143 people are currently accommodated in temporary camps set up at government buildings, schools and temples.
Day 380 [January 15, 2011]
- Philippines. Reported death toll from floods and landslides caused by torrential rains in parts of the Philippines has climbed to at least 47 with up to 1.5 million people directly affected. The disasters have hit at least “25 provinces in the regions of Calabarzon, Bicol, Western Visayas, Central Visayas, Eastern Visayas, Northern Mindanao, Davao, Soksargen, Caraga and ARMM,” a report said.
- Sri Lanka. More than a million people (about 284,000 households) have been affected by torrential rains and floods in Sri Lanka. The authorities say 27 people have been killed since the disaster started earlier this month. However, some media reports put the death toll at more than 50. Floods have affected about 1.5 million, displacing at least 360,000 people, and submerged as much as a third of the country’s rice paddies, reports say.
- Kerala, India. At least 102 pilgrims have been killed and 44 others injured in a stampede during a religious festival at the Hindu shrine of Sabarimala in the southern Indian state of Kerala, reports say.
- Tunisia. A fire swept through a prison in the Tunisian town of Monastir killing at least 42 people, reports say. The fire broke out amid ongoing unrest, which led to the corrupt ex-president, Bin Ali, fleeing the country. The depraved Saudi royal family have reportedly greeted Bin Ali with open arms.
Day 381 [January 16, 2011]
- Brazil. Death toll from floods and landslides in Brazil’s SE state Rio de Janeiro have climbed to at least 610, with dozens, possibly hundreds of others missing. As of posting, the disasters have left more than 15,000 people homeless.
- Victoria, Australia. About 15,000 properties across the Australian state of Victoria have been inundated, as up to 4,000 people are forced to flee their homes. At least 43 towns and communities have been affected by the floods, said to be the worst flooding to hit northern and northwestern Victoria since records began.
Day 382 [January 17, 2011]
- South Africa. Death toll from ongoing floods in South Africa has climbed to at least 40, reports quoting the SA government say.
- Nan, Thailand. All 15 districts in the province of Nan, northern Thailand, have been declared disaster zones after the cold-spell pushed the temperatures down by at least 6 degrees Celsius below the seasonal norm, reports say. The neighboring province of Uttaradit was declared a disaster zone on Thursday, also due to the cold.
- South Korea. About 70,000 S Korean soldiers have culled or buried alive a total of just under 2 million animals, mainly cattle and pigs, accounting for 11.4% of the country’s total livestock, from more than 4, 150 farms nationwide as of Monday morning, the officials have said.
Day 383 [January 18, 2011]
- Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Death toll from mega flood disasters in Berazil’s Rio de Janeiro state has climbed to at least 661,reports say.
- Queensland, Australia. Death toll from Queensland flooding has climbed to at least 30, with more than 10 people still missing, a report said. FIRE-EARTH estimates that the the cost of damage, as of posting, exceeds $20billion.
- Tunisia. Death toll in Tunisia’s uprising has climbed to at least 78, with the cost of damage estimated at about $2billion, a reportquoted an official as saying.
- Sri Lanka. Reported death toll from flooding in Sri Lanka has risen to 40, with 51 others injured and at least a million displaced, reports say.
Day 384 [January 19, 2011]
- Philippines. Reported death toll from continuous rains that have unleashed widespread flooding in the Philippines have climbed to at least 59, with 32 others missing, a report said. “[...] 323,149 families or 1,650,754 persons, mostly coming from Caraga, Region 8, and the Bicol area have been displaced, with 12,523 families or 61,054 persons still staying in 74 evacuation centers, while 2,430 houses were damaged.”
- Brazil. Death toll from flooding and landslides in the Brazilian state of Rio de Janeiro has climbed to 690, Brazil’s Civil Defense and Health Ministry has said.
- Corfu, Greece. At least 33 migrants have drowned in the Ionian Sea after their trawler sank off Corfu on its way to Italy, areport said.
- Iraq. Death toll in northern Iraq bombing has climbed to at least 65 with more than 150 people injured, reports say. “A suicide bomber joined hundreds of recruits waiting outside a police station in Tikrit to submit applications for 2,000 newly created jobs.”
- South Africa. A wide swath of South Africa, which includes Johannesburg and 27 other municipalities in 7 of the country’s 9 provinces, has been declared a disaster areas because of torrential rains and flooding, reports say. At least 40 people have lost their lives, and 6,000 others have been displaced as heavy rains continue to pound South Africa.
- Clackamas, Oregon, USA. The Clackamas County Board of Commissioners have declared the county a disaster area because of flooding, a report said.
Day 385 [January 20, 2011]
- Global. At least 10,000 people have died prematurely in the past 24 hours from particulate air pollution throughout the world, FIRE-EARTH estimates.
- Victoria, Queensland. Floodwaters have submerged at least a third of the Australian state of Victoria, inundating at least 62 towns and killing hundreds of thousands of poultry and scores of other farm animals. Floods have damaged a reported 1,730 properties, affecting at least 4,300 people.
- Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Death toll from flooding and landslides in the Brazil’s Rio de Janeiro state has climbed to at least 732, reports say, with more than 200 people still missing.
- S. Korea. About 2.3 million livestock, mostly cows and pigs, have been culled or buried alive across South Korea, some 17.5% of the country’s total of 13 million livestock, a report said. Meanwhile, the authorities have destroyed at least 3.8 million poultry in an attempt to slow down the spread of a virulent strain of the H5N1, the report added.
Day 386 [January 21, 2011]
- Victoria, Australia. Victoria’s worst floods in recorded history, which have already surged through at least 70 towns, are forecasted to menace communities in the state’s north and north-west for another 10 days, a report said.
- Karbala, Iraq. “Twin bombings killed more than 45 Shia pilgrims today, taking the number of suicide attacks across Iraq in the past four days to seven with a collective death toll of more than 110,” a report said.
- Queensland, Australia. Premier Anna Bligh has detailed the extent of the damage to properties Queensland, “saying 5400 homes had been flooded over their floorboards, 21,000 had been flooded under that level and 15,000 had water in their yards. Ninety-seven towns were affected by serious flooding or were isolated and 90,000km of local roads were damaged.” Said areport. At least 32 people were killed by the QLD floods since December and about a dozen more are still missing.
Day 387 [January 22, 2011]
- Alexandria, Egypt. “Ahmed Hashim al-Sayyed, 25, set himself on fire because he couldn’t afford bread, couldn’t find work and had lost his sense of dignity,” a report said. “Sayyed and millions of other Egyptians suffer from the same grievances that led to mass protests in Tunisia and forced a president out: joblessness, hopelessness and opportunity only for the elite.”
- Following the self-immolation of a jobless university graduate in Tunisia, which sparked a revolution, forcing the corrupt president to flee the country last week, several others in Egypt, Algeria and Mauritania have set themselves on fire.
- Ivory Coast. Death toll in the African country has climbed to 260 since the start of a power struggle between the two rivals who both claim to be the country’s president, UN said.
- South Africa. Death toll from torrential rains and flooding in various parts of the country has reached at least 71, with more than 8,400 household displaced or affected, the National Disaster Management Center in Pretoria said in a statement.
- NSW, Australia. “Another ten local government areas have been declared natural disaster areas, raising the total number to 77 in flood-ravaged NSW,” a report said.
- Indiana, USA. USDA has declared 52 of Indiana’s 92 counties disaster areas because of the drought that started August 1 and lasted through December 31, 2010, reports say.
- Utah, USA. Gov. Gary Herbert has signed a disaster declaration for Southern Utah’s Washington and Kane counties following damage caused by flooding last months, reports say.
- Alberta, Canada. County council of Grande Prairie in Alberta has declared the area an agriculture disaster for a second straight year becsuse many were “unable to complete harvest, and the livestock sector facing poor pasture conditions and a lack of quality hay for feeding,” a report said.
- Idaho, USA. “Governor C.L. “Butch” Otter declared a disaster emergency in Shoshone County today due to flooding in many areas of the Coeur d’Alene River basin. The flooding was brought on by warm temperatures as well as rain that fell onto snow in the area,” a report said.
- Mongolia. At least 86 counties in 14 provinces of Mongolia have been declared disaster areas, as snow covers 80 percent of the country, a report said. “The strong wind and decrease of temperatures will pose a big challenge to the vast pastoral area. The freezing conditions will pose a major threat to the lives of livestock and livelihoods of herders.” The temperatures are forecasted to dip to as low as minus 45 degrees Celsius in western regions of Mongolia.
Day 388 [January 23, 2011]
- Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Death toll from flooding and landslides in the Brazil’s Rio de Janeiro state has now climbed to 791, the Brazilian Civil Defense Department said. The number of people missing has climbed to 430, the Rio de Janeiro public prosecutor’s office reported.
- Victoria, Australia. A massive inland sea of floodwater, 100km long, is spreading across the Australian state of Victoria wiping out farms as it moves deeper into the north-west corner of the state, reports say.
- Vietnam. At least 7 people and more than 10,000 heads of cattle have died due to a prolonged harsh weather conditions in Vietnam, reports say. Cold weather has also caused substantial damage to the country’s crops.
Day 389 [January 24, 2011]
- Queensland, Australia. Death toll from flood-related incidents across Queensland has climbed to 35 since November 30, with up to a dozen people still missing.
- California, USA. A record number of 304 sea otter bodies have been found on California coastlines in the past 12 months, a preliminary report released by the U.S. Geological Survey said. “Based on a spring count of 2,719 living sea otters, those bodies accounted for 11.2 percent of the population,” according to a report.
- New York, USA. USDA has designated Yates County as a primary natural disaster area because of the combined effects of frost, excessive heat and excessive rain between April 1 and Dec. 31, 2010. Ontario, Schuyler, Seneca and Steuben counties in New York are also included in the declaration because they are contiguous.
Day 390 [January 25, 2011]
- Global Disaster. World’s two largest car manufacturers, Toyota and GM, put an additional 16.81 million cars on the global traffic maze in the past 12 months.
- Nepal. Death toll from a cold wave in Nepal has climbed to at least 66, reports say.
- Moscow, Russia. A bomb explosion at Moscow’s Domodedovo airport has reportedly killed at least 35 people and injured about 180 others, reports say. Death toll is expected to rise as some of the injured were said to be critical.
- South Africa. Death toll from widespread flooding and heavy storms in South Africa has climbed to at least 123, with an estimated 20 000 left in need of immediate basic relief aid, a government official has said. “South Africa declared 33 municipalities in eight of its nine provinces disaster areas last week after torrential rains since mid-December damaged thousands of homes and flooded farm lands.”
- NSW, Australia. More areas in Australia’s New South Wales state have been declared as disaster zones. “Central Darling, Cobar, Conargo, Hay, Jerilderie, Junee, Murray, Lachlan and Berrigan Shires and the Unincorporated Area of NSW” have been added to the list of Natural Disaster zones, emergency services minister Steve Whan said. “This brings the total number of councils Natural Disaster declared since 1December to 77.”
- Montana, USA. USDA has designated 9 additional counties in the state of Montana as natural disaster areas in response to severe rainfall which destroyed/damaged crops in the summer. The disaster areas are Blaine, Chouteau, Fergus, Golden Valley, Judith Basin, Musselshell, Petroleum, Phillips and Wheatland counties. Teton County was declared a disaster area in November.
- Victoria, Australia. Floods in Victoria have killed more than 6,000 sheep and destroyed about 41,000ha of crops, reports say.
Day 391 [January 26, 2011]
- Philippines. Death toll from floods and landslides in the Philippines has climbed to at least 73, as property damage reached the P2-billion mark, a report said.
- Vietnam. About 26,500 farm animals in Vietnam have died from the severe cold, a report said. “Hoang Kim Giao, head of the Department of Husbandry under the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD), said it is a result of the recent cold spell, now having lasted for over 20 days, in 19 cities and provinces from central Thua Thien Hue Province to the far northern provinces.”
- Tonga. Cyclone WILMA struck Tonga’s Ha’apai Islands with category 3 force, devastating food crops and causing damage to many buildings, a report said. WILMA is now headed for New Zealand.
Day 392 [January 27, 2011]
- Egypt. The corrupt Egyptian President Mubark’s police force have killed about a dozen demonstrators, beaten and arrested hundreds more including journalists, reports say. The crowds are protesting against unemployment, rocketing food prices and political corruption, demanding the dictator join his Tunisian counterpart in Saudi Arabia. Mubark is believed to have already fled the country.
- Afghanistan. The 350th British soldier was killed in a blast from an IED in Helmand province, reports say.
- Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. The Red Sea port city of Jeddah was placed under a state of emergency after torrential rains triggered intense flash floods killing up to a dozen people and causing widespread damage to infrastructure. “Activists in Jeddah called on Thursday for a protest against poor infrastructure after deadly floods swamped Saudi Arabia’s second biggest city, a rare expression of dissent in the absolute monarchy.” Said a report.
Day 393 [January 28, 2011]
- Sardinata, Colombia. An explosion at La Preciosa mine in Sardinata, northeastern Colombia, has killed at least 21 people, reports say. Another explosion at the same mine killed 32 miners in 2007 .
- Indonesia. A train collision and a ferry fire have claimed 16 lives in Indonesia, reports say.
- Baghdad, Iraq. Death toll from a bomb blast at a funeral procession in Baghdad has climbed to at least 51 people with another 123 wounded, Iraqi police has said.
- East Coast, USA. About a dozen people have been killed or are critically injured in yesterday’s East Coast snowstorm, reports say.
Day 394 [January 29, 2011]
- Egypt. Death toll in the Egyptian clashes between the people and the country’s brutal police force has climbed to about 3 dozens, with hundreds, possibly thousands of people injured. Thousands of others have been arrested, as a dusk-to-dawn curfew is imposed and the army moves in to protect the country’s corrupt pharaoh de joure.
- South Africa. Death toll from flooding has now climbed to at least 120 with up to 10,000 people displaced since December. Eight of the country’s nine provinces have been declared disaster areas, as the damage reaches an estimated $30 million.
- Cyclone WILMA. From east of Samoa, where it was formed, to Tonga and Fiji, where it was strengthened to a category 4 force, cyclone WILMA left a trail of destruction, killing at least 3 people. Weakened to a tropical storm, WILMA hit New Zealand’s North Island dumping up to 300mm of rain, inundating vast areas and triggering severe mudslides and landslips. The floods have caused “substantial damage to the region’s road network,” and killed hundreds, possibly thousands of farm animals, according to local reports. Much of the drinking water sources and coastal waters in flooded areas have been contaminated with sewage overflows.
- Role of “social networking” in Tunisia and Egypt? “Only a tiny percentage of protesters have Twitter and Facebook accounts … [The] major catalyst has been the Arab media retransmitting images from social media. Egypt has responded by shutting down internet access and restricting cell phone use.”
- Philippines. Two cities of Cebu and Mandaue in the Philippines Cebu province have been declared as disaster areas, after widespread flash floods were triggered
by torrential rains, a report said.
Day 395 [January 30, 2011]
- Egypt. The brutal Egyptian security apparatus have killed at least 150 demonstrators across the country since January 25, when anti-government rallies began, reports say.
- Brazil. Death toll from Rio de Janeiro floods and landslides have risen to at least 844, reports say. Up to 9,000 people have lost their homes, with about 21,000 evacuated.
- Germany. At least 10 people have been killed and up to 3 dozen others injured in a train crash in eastern Germany, reports say.
- Illinois, USA. USDA has declared 16 southern Illinois counties as agricultural disaster areas following the drought that began in summer 2010 and lasted through fall, a report said. “The 16 counties declared as primary disaster areas are: Alexander, Edwards, Franklin, Gallatin, Hamilton, Hardin, Jackson, Johnson, Massac, Pope, Pulaski, Saline, Union, Wayne, White and Williamson. The contiguous counties approved for disaster assistance include: Clay, Jefferson, Marion, Perry, Randolph, Richland and Wabash in Illinois; Posey and Gibson in Indiana; Ballard, Crittenden, Livingston, McCracken, and Union in Kentucky; Cape Girardeau, Mississippi, Perry, and Scott in Missouri.”
- Florida, USA. USDA has declared 34 Florida counties as agricultural disaster areas following the December freeze. An additional 28 counties are contiguous disaster areas.
- Pennsylvania, USA. USDA has designated Adams, Cumberland, Franklin and York counties as primary and contiguous disaster areas, following severe drought that began June 5, 2010, and continues. Carroll and Frederick Counties in Maryland are included in the disaster designation because they are contiguous.
Day 396 [January 31, 2011]
- Nigeria. Death toll from sectarian clashes in central Nigeria has climbed to 35, a report said.
- California, USA. Both the state and federal government have declared Tulare County a disaster area following two weeks of storm which caused widespread flooding, a report said. “Tulare County, Visalia and Porterville — as well as the Stone Corral School District in Seville, which experienced light flood damage — eligible for federal financial assistance, along with state assistance, to cover most of their flood-related repair and recovery costs.”
- Massachusetts, USA. USDA has declared five Massachusetts counties, including Barnstable and Bristol, as natural disaster areas because of “unseasonably hot, dry weather last summer” that destroyed or damaged cranberry crops, a report said.
February 2011
Day 397 [February 1, 2011]
- Oklahoma, USA. A state of emergency has been declared in Oklahoma’s 77 counties as a massive snowstorm moves from the Southwest to the Northeast.
- Tunisia. Death toll in the Tunisian “revolution” has climbed to at least 219, a UN team has said.
Day 398 [February 2, 2011]
- Queensland, Australia. YASI powered up to a Mega Cyclone with forecast winds of 300+ km/hr finally prompting mandatory evacuation of about a quarter of a million residents in the super storm’s projected path.
- USA. A mega snow and ice storm stretching about 2,100 miles, has blanketed more than 30 states, from New Mexico to Maine, affecting about a third of the US population. Governors of about a dozen states have declared a state of emergency.
Day 399 [February 3, 2011]
- USA. The mega snowstorm, which stretched about 2,100 miles and left parts of the Midwest under 2 feet of snow, has killed at least 12 people, authorities said.
- Oklahoma, USA. President B.O. has declared Oklahoma a disaster area in response to the deadly snow storm.
- Illinois, USA. Several counties in the state of Illinois have been declared as disaster areas.
- Bangladesh. “The number of people who have died from a mysterious disease this week in Bangladesh’s Lalmonirhat district, some 343 km northwest of capital Dhaka, has reached 10, an official said Thursday.” Said a report.
Day 400 [February 4, 2011]
- Egypt. At least a dozen people have been killed and about a 1,500 others injured as Egyptian police in civilian clothes and hired thugs continue to target the anti-government demonstrators, reports say. According to informed sources, members of the Saudi royal family are bankrolling the violent pro-regime gangs.
- China. A severe drought which has now lasted for four-month has affected Chinese provinces of Hebei, Shanxi, Jangsu, Anhui, Shandong, Henan, Shaanxi and Gansu, destroying/damaging more than 35 percent of wheat crops, covering an area of about 6.4 million hectares, almost 22 percent of total farmland in the region, a report cited an official statement. “The wheat growing area in the eight provinces accounted for more than 80 percent of the country’s total, said the statement.“
- Malaysia. Death toll from flooding in Malaysia has risen to four, with more than 40,000 residents fleeing their homes as the water level continues to rise, a report said. “Several districts in the East Malaysian state of Sabah, as well as the states of Johore, Malacca, Negeri Sembilan and Pahang, have been flooded following the continuous rain brought by the northeastern monsoon winds.”
- Turkey. The death toll from two explosions in an industrial zone in Ankara, that were triggered by a gas leak, rose overnight to 17, with one person still unaccounted for, authorities in the Turkish capital said Friday.
Day 401 [February 5, 2011]
- Mexico. Freezing weather, snow and Ice have paralyzed northern Mexico, leaving tens of thousands of homes without electricity or water as the temperatures dip to as low as -18ºC (0ºF), the lowest in living memory.The cold snap has left up to a dozen people dead, reports say.
- New Mexico, USA. Gov. Susana Martinez has declared a state of emergency ordering all schools and non-essential state government offices to shut on Friday to conserve energy, as cold weather and natural gas outages plague New Mexico.
Day 402 [February 6, 2011]
- Perth, W. Australia. Wildfires have destroyed at least a dozen homes near Perth in western Australia, report say.
- Queensland, Australia. Up to 10,000 people remain in evacuation centers in the state of Queensland, while thousands of others who have returned to their battered homes are without power or water supplies, reports say.
- Melbourne, Australia. In the Melbourne suburb of Elwood in Victoria floodwaters have inundated many houses and washed cars off roads, AP reported. Melbourne received more than 50 percent of its average annual rainfall in less than 24 hours.
- Philippines. “The death toll from a low pressure area that caused heavy rains and massive flooding in parts of Visayas and Mindanao has climbed to 17, the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) said today.”
- Sri-Lanka. New round of flooding in Sri-Lanka has claimed at least 13 lives, and displaced up to a million people. Heavy rains, which started on February 1, inundated north-eastern and north-central Sri Lanka destroying or damaging about 50,000 homes, authorities said.
Day 403 [February 7, 2011]
- Perth, Australia. At least 64 homes have been destroyed and 32 more are damaged as massive twin wildfires leave trails of destruction in the SE and NE Perth suburbs of Roleystone and Red Hill. West Australian Premier has declared the areas of Roleystone, Kelmscott and Red Hill natural disaster areas.
- Iowa, USA. “Gov. Terry Branstad on Saturday added Johnson County to a growing list of counties to receive disaster proclamations from the state following Tuesday’s blizzard.” Said a report.
- Montana, USA. USDA has designated Fergus County as a primary disaster area and Blaine, Chouteau, Golden Valley, Judith Basin, Musselshell, Petroleum Phillips and Wheatland counties as contiguous disaster areas due to the excessive rainfall between Aug. 1 and Oct. 15, 2010, a report said.
- Queensland, Australia. About 75 percent of the state of Queensland has been declared a disaster area “after Cyclone Yasi compounded the damage left by recent widespread flooding,” a report said.
- Philippines. Death toll from floods and landslides in the Filipino states of Visayas and Mindanao has climbed to at at least 21, with 66 more injured and one reported as missing, a report said.
Day 404 [February 8, 2011]
- Sri-Lanka. “Around 1.2 million people are being affected by the deluge in 17 districts of the country. The Disaster Management Centre informs in the Trincomalee district alone around 400 thousand people are affected. They have been housed in 693 relief centres. 14 deaths have been reported so far.” Said a report.
- S. Korea. South Korean government has confirmed an additional case of foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) in its largest port city of Busan, reports say.
- Upper Nile state, Sudan. At least 50 people have been killed in fighting in south Sudan’s Upper Nile state, officials said.
Day 405 [February 9, 2011]
- China. MEGA DISASTER unfolding in China. Up to 13 million acres of China’s 35 million acres of wheat fields have been affected by the drought. Some 2.6 million people and 2.8 million head of livestock face severe shortages of drinking water, FAO reported.
- Egypt. “Human Rights Watch has collected figures from doctors in eight hospitals giving a total of at least 302 killed in the unrest in Egypt since January 28, 2011. The breakdown of these figures is: 232 in Cairo, 52 in Alexandria, and 18 in Suez. These figures are based on unofficial information obtained from doctors by Human Rights Watch at two hospitals in Cairo, two in Alexandria, and one in Suez and by the International Federation for Human Rights, which visited a further three hospitals in Cairo.” Source
- Illinois, USA. Gov Quinn has declared the entire state of Illinois a disaster area following last week’s record-setting blizzard.
Day 406 [February 10, 2011]
- Iraq. At least 11 people were killed and 104 others injured in three car bombings in the northern Iraqi city of Kirkuk, according to reports.
- Iowa, USA. At least nine counties in the state of Iowa have been declared disaster areas in the wake of last week’s snowstorms.
- S. Korea. South Korean dairy farmers are disposing of 200 tons of milk each day as the country continues to combat its worst outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease in 50 years, an official was reported as saying. S. Korea is running out of space to bury the 3.2 million livestock culled so far this year. “Livestock has been buried at more than 4,000 sites in the densely populated nation.” A report said.
- N. Korea. “North Korea has reported an outbreak of the livestock foot-and-mouth (FMD) disease on its soil to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, the Radio Free Asia said in a report on Thursday.” Said a report.
- Sri Lanka. At least 35 percent of staple rice crop in Sri Lanka has been destroyed after two recent rounds of flooding, the Agriculture Ministry has said.
Day 407 [February 11, 2011]
- Queensland, Australia. “Authorities are warning of a dengue fever outbreak in cyclone-devastated north Queensland as an influx of volunteers and workers arrive to help communities recover,” a report said.
- Malaysia. More than 9,000 Malaysians are still in shelters a week after ten districts in southern Malaysia were deluged by Johor floods, which killed at least 5 and displaced 24,000 people.
- Peru. “Health authorities have declared a red alert in Peru’s northern Amazon jungle region following the outbreak of an “very aggressive” dengue strain that has killed 14 people and sickened thousands.” Said a report. “Some 13,000 people have been infected and at least 1,600 people have been hospitalized for treatment, a health official in Loreto, in northeastern Peru, told AFP.”
- Ghana. An outbreak of cholera in the Ghanaian capital, Accra, has sickened more than 200, leaving 4 people dead, the Daily Graphic reported.
Day 408 [February 12, 2011]
- Mexico. Frost has destroyed about 600,000 hectares (1.5m acres) of maize in Sinaloa, Mexico, the authorities said. The loss amounts to about 4 million tons of corn, Mexico’s main staple crop, or 16% of the annual harvest.
- Southern Africa. “Above average rainfall across many parts of Southern Africa is prompting concern ‘about the food security of the affected population in the poorer parts of the sub-region over the coming months,’ the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) said in a new report.”
- “With the rainy season still only halfway through, and with the cyclone season [in the Indian Ocean] due to peak in February, several agricultural areas along the rivers in southern African countries remain at high risk of flooding, including portions of Botswana, Lesotho, Mozambique, Namibia, Zambia, Zimbabwe and South Africa,” said the report.
- “The worst affected countries so far are Mozambique, Lesotho and Namibia’s most northerly province, Caprivi, which has a very poor and vulnerable population. “
- Lesotho. “As a result of recent heavy rains and subsequent flooding, 26 people have died, over 5,000 people have been displaced and 672 houses have been destroyed. Floods have also resulted in wider disruption in the national economy and livelihoods of the Basotho people, including an increase in the number of animal diseases. At least 4,708 animals have been reported dead.” Source.
- Madagascar. Heavy rains have claimed 15 lives in Madagascar, and an “estimated 1,625 houses have been damaged, with 105 houses completely destroyed, and around 2,000 people displaced,” OCHA said.
- Meanwhile, cyclone BINGIZA continues moving west, heading toward the Indian Ocean island.
- Côte d’Ivoire. About 100,000 people have been displaced in Côte d’Ivoire since the crisis began in the W. African country. IOM reported. At least 34,500 other Ivorian refugees currently shelter in camps in Liberia.
- Thailand. Media reports in India say that “a group of 91 Rohingya had been found in the Indian administered Nicobar islands – about 640km west of Myanmar’s Tenasserim coast – on 6 February. The refugees reportedly told police they had been set adrift without adequate food and water, in a boat without an engine, by the Thai navy; a charge the Thai authorities have rejected.” U.N. OCHA said.
Day 409 [February 13, 2011]
- Jonglei, Sudan. Death toll in the deadly clashes between the South Sudan army and armed gangs “loyal to General George Athor” has reached at least 105, a report said.
- Iraq. “The toll from a suicide bombing that targeted Shi’ite pilgrims near the city of Samarra, one of Iraq’s worst in recent weeks, rose to 48 dead and 80 wounded, police and officials said on Sunday.” A report said.
- Nigeria. “At least eleven people are believed killed in a stampede during an election rally in the southern city of Port Harcourt,reports said on Sunday.”
- Afghanistan. “Taliban fighters deploying car bombs and rocket-propelled grenades killed at least 17 members of the Afghan security forces and two civilians in the southern city of Kandahar on Saturday, the U.S.-led coalition said in a statement.” Areport said.
- Luxor, Egypt. “At least 13 people have been killed and 23 others injured when a 6-storey building collapsed in Luxor. ” Areport said.
- Mexico/U-S. “State Department officials say that 79 U.S. citizens were murdered in Mexico in 2009, and that at least 60 were killed last year from January to November, though an official annual figure has yet to be compiled. The numbers have been rising since 2007, when 38 U.S. citizens were murdered in Mexico, State Department records show.” A report said.
- Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. An outbreak of the superbug C. difficile has been declared at a healthcare facility, where 16 infected patients have died in a recent surge of at least 100 cases, a report said. “Last week in Scotland, a public inquiry raised questions about the number of deaths in a C. diff outbreak at Vale of Leven Hospital, where it was originally thought that 55 people had developed the infection and that 18 had died. Investigations are now under way into whether the actual figure is 40 deaths.”
Day 410 [February 14, 2011]
- South Korea. The biggest snowstorm on century-old record dumps up to 110cm (43.31 inch) of snow in the eastern part of South Korea, burying entire cities. Several hundred houses have collapsed under the weight of the snow, reports say.
- Afghanistan. The number of UK soldiers slaughtered in Obama’s war in Afghanistan has climbed to at least 357, reports say.
- Russia. “The death toll from a warehouse fire in the Urals has risen to 16 as 4 four new bodies were uncovered on Saturday,” fire investigators said.
- South Korea. “Two additional bird flu outbreaks near Seoul, S. Korea have been reported. The new cases occurred “despite nationwide efforts to stem the spread of the disease,” a report said.
Day 411 [February 15, 2011]
- Madagascar. Cyclone BINGIZA slammed into northern Madagascar as a category 3 storm. Full extent of the damage caused by the cyclone is not yet known.
- “‘We expect this to be a Type 2 emergency, with over 100,000 people affected by wind damage and/or flooding, and over 30,000 severely affected,’ CARE International, an NGO focusing on poverty eradication, said in an emergency alert.” Said a report.
- South Africa.More than 100 people have died in flooding, landslides and human-enhanced natural disasters in South Africa since mid-December, areport said “Most of the victims were from KwaZulu-Natal and the Eastern Cape and flooding was largely to blame for the fatalities.”.More than 14,000 households have been affected nationally.
- Australia. “AN epidemic of mental illness is developing among children incarcerated in immigration detention centres around Australia, with the numbers of underage detainees at a record and conditions worsening, according to refugee activists” Said a report. “Stories of children starving themselves, slashing themselves with razors, becoming clinically depressed and fighting pitched battles armed with makeshift weapons are emerging from the detention regime, which houses more than 1000 asylum-seekers under the age of 18.” Source.
- North Carolina, USA. “Just a week after a fast-moving bat-killing disease was discovered for the first time in Indiana, the disease has now been confirmed for the first time in North Carolina. The deadly bat illness known as white-nose syndrome, or the pathogenic fungus associated with it, has now been found on bats in 16 states and two Canadian provinces, from New Hampshire to Oklahoma. Two years ago, biologists estimated that more than 1 million bats had been killed by the disease. Mortalities have continued to mount since then.” Source.
Day 412 [February 16, 2011]
- Darwin, Australia.Cyclone CARLOS has buffeted Darwin and Top End, Australia. Darwin received a record rainfall of 366mm in 24 hours. Dozens of houses have already been inundated and many roads in and around Darwin were currently flooded and impassible.
- Chicago, USA. Glenview Board of trustees have declared the village a disaster area following the Feb. 1 blizzard which dumped about 2 feet of snow on the Chicago area, a report said.
- Madagascar. BINGIZA has killed about a dozen people and left up to 3,000 homeless, according to reports. “Tropical Cyclone Bingiza struck the village of Vinanivao on the northeast coast of Madagascar around dawn on Monday morning. Authorities say there were winds of up to 180 kilometers per hour, and more than 600 homes were destroyed, leaving thousands without proper shelter.” Said a report. “Damage to the bridge and road has left the small fishing village cut off from food markets The cyclone also damaged more than 200 other buildings and ruined about 500 hectares of rice just months away from harvest.”
Day 413 [February 17, 2011]
- Japan. A new outbreak of bird flu in Japan has killed more than 160 chickens at a poultry farm in Kiho, Mie Prefecture, western Kansai region, Japan, a report said. “Officials said that genetic testing revealed that the virus found in some of the dead birds was the highly virulent H5 strain that has plagued poultry farms in southern Japan this season, making it the worst national outbreak in Japan since 2004.” The authorities will destroy a reported 67,000 chickens at the affected farms. On February 14, at least 17,000 hens were culled in Japan following the discovery of several avian flu cases.
- Western Washington, USA. Gov. Chris Gregoire has declared Western Washington counties as disaster areas in the wake of damage caused by the Mid-January storms, a report said. “The disaster area includes parts of Chelan, Clallam, Clark, Cowlitz, Grant, Grays Harbor, King, Kittitas, Klickitat, Lewis, Mason, Pacific, Skagit, Skamania, Snohomish, Wahkiakum and Whatcom counties.”
- USA. About 7.3 million cases of breast cancer were discovered in the U-S between 1997 and 2003, according to a study. The outbreak “reflects the fact breast cancer rates are rising”, a researcher said.
- South Korea. New cases of foot-and-mouth disease have been confirmed in Daejeon, the country’s fifth-largest city. The new cases concurred despite vaccinations in the region, a report said. “The number of animals culled has reached 3,333,496 [and counting.]“
Day 414 [February 18, 2011]
- Bahrain, ‘Saudi Arabia.’ The oppressive and corrupt little regime of Bahrain unleashed its armed dogs on peaceful demonstrators protesting against poverty and discrimination. At least [six] people have been killed, 231 injured “and opposition leaders said dozens were detained and about [80] were missing,” a report said.
- “Riot police firing rubber bullets and tear gas stormed a square in the Bahraini capital Manama overnight as thousands of protesters slept, leaving several dead and hundreds wounded… A Sky News correspondent reported that foreign journalists were being detained at Bahrain’s main airport and their equipment confiscated. Earlier an ABC News reporter Miguel Marquez was attacked in Manama, becoming the latest of several Western journalists to be assaulted while covering protests in the Middle East.”
- Libya. Security forces in Libya have killed at least 24 people in peaceful pro-democracy demonstrations, Human Rights Watch have said. “A local medical official in Benghazi meanwhile reported that seven protesters were killed during protests in the country’s second city. Geneva-based Human Rights Solidarity, citing witnesses, said snipers in the city of Al-Baida east of Benghazi had shot 13 protesters dead.”
- Egypt. “At least 365 people died in the 18 days of anti-government protests that pushed out longtime Egyptian leader Hosni Mubarak, the Health Ministry said Wednesday in the first official accounting of the death toll.” AP reported.
- Juba, Sudan. “Attacks by a renegade militia in south Sudan’s Jonglei oil state killed at least 211 people, a minister for the region has said, doubling earlier estimates of the death count.” Source
- Somalia. Drought is threatening about 2.4 million people in Somalia, a UN official has said.
- “Somalia… is on the brink of a much larger disaster due to the threat of a country-wide drought,” said UN under secretary general for humanitarian affairs, Valerie Amos.
- “Malnutrition has increased in the last six months in Southern Somalia and 2.4 million, 32 percent of the population, remain in crisis,” she said.
Day 415 [February 19, 2011]
- Libya. Special Forces reportedly attacked protesters in Benghazi, Libya’s second largest city, early this morning, “attacking hundreds of people including lawyers and judges camped in front the courthouse.” Security forces have now killed at least 84 people in the last three days, Human Rights Watch said.
- Bahrain. The criminal PM of Bahrain has declared a state of emergency in the tiny Saudi Arabian protectorate. Security forces have reportedly opened fire on protesters, injuring many.
- NY, USA. President B.O. has declared New York State a “disaster area” following the damage caused by the blizzard of December 26-27, 2010, reports say.
- United Nations. The US has vetoed a resolution at the UN Security Council that condemned Israeli settlements in the Palestinian territories as an obstacle to peace, reports say.
Day 416 [February 20, 2011]
- Libya. At least 173 demonstrators have been killed in Libya and up to 1,500 injured since Wednesday, Human Rights Watch and other sources say.
- Afghanistan. A suicide bomber has killed at least 38 people in a bank in Nangarhar’s provincial capital Jalalabad, and injured more than 70 others, a government official has said.
- PNG. Death toll in the latest cholera outbreak in Papua New Guinea has reached about 500, reports say.
- Peru and Bolivia. The two neighboring countries of Peru and Bolivia have experienced a significant rise in dengue infections,IFRC said. “The Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) reports that by the sixth epidemiological week there were 22,556 dengue cases, 469 severe cases of dengue and 24 deaths in the Andean region. In addition, the presence of the La Niña weather phenomenon represents an increase of risk, with its periods of intense rains and the continuation of the macro-factors which exacerbate dengue in Region.”
Day 417 [February 21, 2011]
- Afghanistan. Flash floods, mudslides and snow storm have killed/injured at least 100 people, and damaged/destroyed about 3,000 houses in in Parwan, Herat, Wardak and Daykundi provinces since the beginning of the month, the Afghanistan National Disasters Management Authority (ANDMA) has said.
- United Kingdom. The mortality rates from liver disease in the UK increased from 4.9 to 11.4-per100,000 between 1986 and 2008, according to a study published in The Lancet medical journal.
- Poland. Freezing weather has killed at least 179 Poles since the beginning of winter (134 died in December, 22 in January and 23 in February, a report said.
Day 418 [February 22, 2011]
- Christchurch, New Zealand. A 6.4Mw quake followed by two less powerful shocks struck near Christchurch, New Zealand killing at least 65 people and injuring hundreds more. As many as 200 people are still trapped in the rubble as of posting, and many are missing.FIRE-EARTH Blog has been posting specific quake warning for New Zealand Region since 2008, all of which have been buried by New Zealand govt and Google.
- Bamako, Mali. At least three dozen people were killed and more than 60 others injured in a stampede at a stadium in the Malian capital of Bamako, a report quoted officials as saying.
Day 419 [February 23, 2011]
- U.K. Severe child poverty in the UK affects about 1.6 million children, a report said. “[The children] live in low income homes which are often poorly heated and where it is a struggle to pay for basics like food and clothes.”
- New Zealand. The government has declared a national state of emergency as the death toll from Christchurch quake rose to at least 75, with up to 400 people reported as missing, reports say.
- Poland. More people have died from extreme cold in Poland, as night time temperatures fell to minus 20 degrees Celsius, areport said. “In February alone 29 people have frozen to death with over 200 dying of hypothermia this winter in total.”
- Libya. More than a 1,000 people are believed to have died in the Libyan unrest, Italy’s foreign minister, Franco Frattini has said. “We believe that the estimates [of the death toll] of about 1,000 are credible.” He was reported as saying.
- Papua New Guinea (PNG). Prolonged cholera outbreak in PNG has claimed up to 500 lives, a senior medical official has said.
Day 420 [February 24, 2011]
- Christchurch, New Zealand. Police have confirmed that 98 bodies have so far been recovered from the quake rubble, with 226 people missing.
- Bolivia and Peru. The governments of Bolivia and Peru have declared a state of emergency after massive flooding, triggered by weeks of heavy rain, hit both countries. Floods and mudslides have destroyed homes, businesses, roads, bridges and other infrastructure, killing at least 3 people and leaving more than 10,000 people homeless.
- Oregon, USA. President B.O. has declared six Oregon counties disaster areas following the damage caused by winter storms,reports say.
- Ghana. About 1,400 reported cases of cholera in three of Ghana’s Regions have killed at least 34 people since October 2010, areport said.
Day 421 [February 25, 2011]
- Obama’s Nightmaristan. “Afghan government investigators have told the BBC that 65 civilians, including 50 women and children, were killed in a Nato operation last week.” Said a report. killed 20 women, 29 children, and more than a dozen unarmed men. “Afghans – from President Hamid Karzai down – believe that in Kunar province, indiscriminate Nato firepower killed 20 women, 29 children, and more than a dozen unarmed men.”
- New Mexico, USA. Albuquerque Mayor has declared the winter storm that hit New Mexico’s largest city earlier as a natural disaster, a report said.
Day 422 [February 26, 2011]
- Quang Ngai, Vietnam. The province of Quang Ngai in central Vietnam has reported a major outbreak of the foot-and-month disease with about 1,250 buffaloes, cows and pigs infected, a report said.
- Bali, Indonesia. A rabies outbreak in Bali has claimed five more lives this week, raising the reported death toll to more than 120.
Day 423 [February 27, 2011]
- Tunisia. Death toll in the Tunisian uprising has reached at least 222, including 72 prisoners killed during rioting, with more than 500 people wounded, reports say.
- Egypt. Death toll in Egyptian uprising is 384 fatalities and 6,500 injured, the authorities say.
- Libya. An estimated 2,000 people may have been killed in the Libyan uprising, reports say.
- India. The number of young mothers dying shortly shortly after delivery in the city of Jodhpur’s hospitals has climbed to at least 13 in the last two weeks, reports say. “Contaminated intravenous (IV) fluid is suspected to have caused the death of these women. The Umaid Hospital administration has lodged a criminal case against the Indore-based fluid manufacturer, Parental Surgical India Pvt Ltd, and local distributor Anshul Pharma on February 23 after media highlighted the deaths.”
- Peru. “Death toll in a bus accident in central Peru has reached to 27, as rescue teams search for more victims, said a report. At least 49 others have been injured.
Day 424 [February 28, 2011]
- Bolivia. A large landslide triggered by weeks of heavy rains has destroyed at least 300 homes in La Paz, the administrative capital of Bolivia, reports say. “Across Bolivia, weeks of heavy rains have killed at least 40 others and left more than 10,000 homeless.”
- Bandeira do Sul, Minas Gerais state, Brazil. At least 17 people have been killed in a small Brazilian town of Bandeira do Sul after a live power cable broke and fell into a crowd of revelers at a street party. Dozens of others have been seriously injured.
Day 366 [January 1, 2011]
- Deranged Obama’s Slaughterhouse in Afghanistan. NATO occupying forces and its coalition partners in crime have reported a total death toll of at least 709 for 2010, some 36.1 percent higher than their 521 fatalities in 2009, reports say.
- Alexandria, Egypt. Death toll in a car bomb explosion outside a Coptic Christian church in Egypt’s northern city of Alexandria has climbed to 21, with at least 43 others injured, officials said.
- N Waziristan, Pakistan. The latest US drone attacks have killed at least a dozen people in Pakistan’s North Waziristan tribal region, according to local officials.
- “The American drones carried out a record number of 124 attacks in the tribal areas of Pakistan in the 12 months of 2010, more than double the number of predator strikes conducted in the 12 months of 2009, killing 1184 people, compared with 2009’s death toll of 760 in 53 such attacks.”
- China-Russia. An oil pipeline which runs between eastern Siberia and north-eastern China has begun operating, reports say. Russia will be exporting about 15m tons of oil through the new pipeline each year (about 300,000 bpd).
Day 367 [January 2, 2011]
- Kelantan, Malaysia. At least 500 people have been evacuated in the Malaysian town of Kelantan after the ongoing floods worsened overnight due to heavy rainfall, reports say.
- Uganda. Death toll from an outbreak of yellow fever in Northern Uganda has climbed to at least 60, local officials have said.
- Puerto Rico. Despite an increase in the rate of asthma in children across the United States, the U.S. territory of Puerto Rico has the highest asthma diagnosis rates in the world, a report said. “Asthma has spiked in the island territory this year, most likely because of heavy rains that may have unleashed millions of asthma inducing spores.”
- Ohio, USA. “Accidental” drug overdoses in 2010 surpassed car crashes as the leading cause of “accidental” death in the state of Ohio. The death toll is about 1,500 annually, reports say.
- South Korea. The South Korean authorities have confirmed 3 additional foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) outbreaks despite tremendous effort to contain the highly contagious disease through a month-long quarantine, reports say.
- Since the November outbreak, South Korea has culled about 550,000 heads of livestock from about 700 farms across the country.
- “More than 643,000 animals have been ordered culled, and the vaccination of 361,000 animals at 14,000 farms across the country is under way to stem the disease’s spread, with losses estimated at well over 520 billion won (US$463 million).” Areport said.
- South Korea. South Korea has confirmed an outbreak of avian flu in the southeastern city of Sacheon, a report said. On Friday South Korea had confirmed its first outbreak of avian flu in two years, when ducks in two poultry farms in the central and southwestern part of the country were found to be infected with the bird flu virus (H5N1).
- At least 100,000 birds have been culled in an attempt to contain the outbreak.
Day 368 [January 3, 2011]
- India. An intense cold wave has struck northern India killing a large number of people. The official death toll stands at about 40 victims, so far. The capital, Delhi, is the worst hit area along with Haryana, Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, an the Indian-administered state of Kashmir, where the temperature has dropped to as low as minus 23.6 degrees Celsius (-10.5ºF), reports say.
- Philippines. Floods and landslides have claimed about a dozen lives, affecting up to a 100,000 people since last week. Caraga Region is currently experiencing “massive floodings” and landslides, PIA said.
- UK. As many as 20 people have died from common flu over the past week, and up to 1,000 others are in intensive care units in hospitals throughout Britain, reports say.
- South Korea. The foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) continues to spread through the central part of South Korea, reports quotedthe officials as saying. “The farm ministry confirmed two fresh outbreaks [fourth since the weekend] in South Chungcheong Province in the country’s central region, one in the mountainous Gangwan region east of Seoul and two in the country’s southeastern North Gyeongsang Province. … The spread of FMD in Chungcheong is a serious development since it’s close to Jeolla Province, which is one of the major production centers for beef. The province, in addition, is home to several state-run laboratories and breeding facilities for cattle.”
Day 369 [January 4, 2011]
- Australia. Australia’s Disasters Continue to Unfold. QLD flood death toll has now reached at least 10, as thousands of houses are inundated, reports say.
- UK. The UK Govt has been accused of a cover-up concerning the G8′s failure to reduce the death toll from tuberculosis (TB) in south Asia, a report said. “[T]hree experts based in Bangladesh say the UK’s strategy against the disease is aimed at preventing its spread to the west, rather than tackling the living conditions in deprived communities where TB is endemic.” TB kills about half a million people, mostly poor, in south Asia each year, WHO estimates.
- Afghanistan. At least 10,000 people, 20% of them civilians, were killed in Afghanistan violence in 2010, AFP reported. “In addition, the Afghan defence ministry said that 810 Afghan soldiers died in 2010, while independent website icasualties.orgputs the total death toll for international troops last year at 711.”
Day 370 [January 5, 2011]
- Philippines. Death toll from heavy rains, extensive flooding and landslides in the Philippines has reached at least 25, with about 100,000 families (up to 500,000 persons) displaced, reports say. “In its latest situation report, the National Disaster Risk Reduction Management Council (NDRRMC) reported that the displaced families came from 527 villages in 19 provinces of Regions 5 (Bicol), 7 (Central Visayas), 8 (Eastern Visayas), 10 (Northern Mindanao), 11 (Davao), the Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao and the Caraga region”
- Global. Death toll from plane crashes jumped 13% in 2010 with at least 828 people killed, compared with 731 reported fatalities in 2009, Ascend (UK) said.
- Malaysia. “Milk cattle farms in five Malaysian states have been affected by the foot-and-mouth disease (FMD), the Malaysian Veterinary Services Department said on Wednesday,” a report said.
Day 371 [January 6, 2011]
- Global. Food prices hit a record high in December 2010 and are expected to rise further because of volatile global weather patterns, the UN Food and Agriculture Organization reported. The price rises could lead to food riots, civil conflicts, even wars worldwide. The first phase of collapsing cities has arrived.
- Brazil. Heavy floods and landslides have killed at least 35 people and forced more than 30,000 from their homes across Brazil, a report said.
- Uttar Pradesh, India. At least 12 more people were killed by the intense cold wave which has persisted in northern Indiasince Late December.
- KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. Floods in KwaZulu-Natal have killed at least 5 people and forced hundreds out of their homes amid continuing heavy rains, a report said.
- Northern Samar, Philippines. The provincial government of Northern Samar has declared a state of calamity for the province, a government report said.
- NSW, Australia. “Byron Bay, Richmond Valley, Tenterfield and Tweed local government areas have been declared natural disaster areas by the NSW Government today.” A report said. A total of 59 counties in the state of NSW have been declared disaster zones since December 2010. “The rain and flooding in these areas significantly damaged roads, bridges and drains and other critical infrastructure,” a government minister said.
Day 372 [January 7, 2011]
- The Scenic Rim, South East Queensland, Australia. The Scenic Rim has been declared a Natural Disaster Area because of extensive flooding for the second time in less than a month, a report said.
- South Africa. Severe weather, Flooding and thunderstorms in the eastern part of South Africa have killed at least 39 people, the authorities said. “In neighboring KwaZulu-Natal province, police say six people drowned as a result of flooding last week, in addition to seven people killed in a lightning strike there Sunday.” Thousands of people have been displaced as heavy rain and flooding have damaged/destroyed property, inundated farms and ruined crops.
- Vietnam. Foot-and-mouth disease cases have been reported by at least 15 provinces in Vietnam, a report said.
Day 373 [January 8, 2011]
- Shillong, Meghalaya, India. At least a dozen people have been killed and up to 20000 others from Garo and Rabha tribes have been displaced in Assam and Meghalaya after ethnic clashes flared between the two communities, reports say.
- Southern Luzon, eastern Visayas and Mindanao, Philippines. Floods and landslides have killed at least 38 people an displaced about a million others, destroying or damaging thousands of homes, a report said.
- Uttar Pradesh, India. Cold weather has now claimed a reported 150 victims in North India. The state of Uttar Pradesh tops the toll with at least 101 reported deaths, a blog report said.
Day 374 [January 9, 2011]
- Colombia. Death toll from Colombia’s torrential rains, flooding and landslides, starting September 2010 has climbed to at least 312, reports say, with more than 2.23 million people affected. Some 289 people have been injured and 64 others are reported as missing. “Mudslides, floods and overflowing rivers have destroyed 5,323 homes and damaged another 328,420, the institution said, adding that the affected population is made up of a total of 461,337 families.” The ongoing catastrophe has impacted 712 of about 1,000 municipalities in Colombia’s 32 provinces.
- Cruel South Korea. Some one million pigs have been buried alive by the S. Korean authorities as foot-and-mouth disease continues to spread across the country, reports say.
- Tunisia. Death toll in Tunisia’s clashes between the people and security forces has climbed to at least 20 with dozens of others injured, reports say. The recent unrest is believed to be linked to public frustrations with the despotic president and the ruling elite, unemployment, rising food prices and increasing levels of poverty in the country.
- Sudan. Death toll in clashes in Sudan’s disputed border region of Abyei has climbed to at least 15 and many more people wounded, reports say.
Day 375 [January 10, 2011]
- Sri Lanka. Death toll from floods and landslides in central Sri Lanka has climbed to at least a dozen, with dozens more injured and about a million others affected, reports say. Floodwaters have destroyed up to a 1,000 homes, and left more than 3,000 others damaged.
- Kota Baru, Malaysia. New floods in Kelantan have killed at least 3 people and forced thousands of others out of their homes, a report said.
- Thailand. The southernmost province of Narathiwat has been declared a disaster area following widespread flooding caused by heavy rain, reports say. Tens of thousands of people have been evacuated/affected.
- Iran. At least 78 people were killed and two dozen others injured when their plane crashed while trying to make an emergency landing in a snowstorm in NW Iran, reports say.
Day 376 [January 11, 2011]
- Queensland, Australia. An ‘inland tsunami’ has killed at least 10 people and left 78 others missing in Grantham, near Toowoomba, Queensland, reports say. The raging floodwaters have destroyed many homes and infrastructure on their way toward Brisbane.
- Tennessee, USA.Tennessee Gov. Bredesen, has declared a state of emergency after the latest snowstorm hit southern U-S, reports say.
- North Carolina, USA.Gov. Perdue declared a state of emergency on Monday as a winter snow and rainstorm bore down on North Carolina and stirred up treacherous road conditions, disrupting ground and air travel.
- South Carolina, USA. SC Gov. Sanford has also declared a state of emergency: “Given the current conditions throughout the state, I would urge the state’s citizens to avoid all unnecessary travel.”
- Alabama, USA. Gov. Riley has declared a state of emergency in Alabama because of the snowstorm.
- Louisiana, USA. Gov. Jindal has declared a state of emergency in Louisiana because of the snowstorm.
- Georgia, USA. Governor Sonny Perdue has declared a state of emergency in Georgia because of the severe winter storm.
- Iran. “The heaviest snowfall in the country in more than a decade has killed at least 21 people,” the Associated Press reported.
“Some died of the severe cold, some were buried under avalanches, and others died after their cars overturned on snow-covered roads,” the state-run radio reported.
Day 377 [January 12, 2011]
- Brisbane, Queensland, Australai More than a third of the Australian state of Queensland has now been declared a disaster area as floodwaters threaten at least 50 suburbs in the state capital Brisbane, report say.
- Grantham, QLD, AUST. Death toll in QLD flash floods has reached at least 12 in the past 48 hours (22 deaths since December), with more than 70 people reported as missing.
- South Dakota, USA. The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has designated Jackson and Todd as primary natural disaster areas as weather-related grasshopper infestation that began on June 1 continues, a report said. “Farmers and ranchers in Bennet, Jones, Pennington, Tripp, Haakon, Mellette and Shannon counties also qualify for natural disaster assistance because they are contiguous.”
- Nebraska, USA. The Cherry and Keya Paha counties in Nebraska are also contiguous and are declared as natural disaster areas.
- South Dakota, USA. Ziebach County has been declared a natural disaster area following heavy rains, flash flooding, high winds, hail, tornado and weather-related grasshopper infestations, the report said. “Corson, Haakon, Pennington, Stanley, Dewey, Meade and Perkins counties” have also been declared as disaster areas because they are contiguous.
- Washington, USA. USDA has designated 20 counties in the state of Washington as natural disaster areas due to losses caused by heavy rains, frosts, freezing temperatures, high winds and extreme cold weather that began April 1, 2010, and continues, areport said. 12 other counties in the state of Washington are also declared as disaster areas because they are contiguous.
- Oregon, USA. Ten counties in Oregon are also included in the above disaster declaration because they too are contiguous.
- Philippines. Death toll from heavy rains, flooding and landslides in the Philippines has reached at least 43, report say. An estimated 1.35 million people have been displaced.
- Sao Paulo, Brazil. Floods and landslides have claimed at least 13 lives, injured dozens more and left hundreds of people homeless, reports say.
- NYC, USA. NYC Mayor has declared a state of emergency in the city following massive snowfalls. Schools have been shut down and hundreds of flights have been canceled.
- South Korea. A state of emergency has been declared in Korea as as avian flu continues to spread across several regions in the country, the agriculture ministry has said.
Day 378 [January 13, 2011]
- Brazil. Flooding and landslides have killed at least 358 people and left dozens missing in SE Brazil in under 24 hours, reports say. Earlier, floods in Sao Paulo claimed at least 13 lives. See also entry for January 6, 2011.
- Queensland, Australia. Th ecumulative death toll from flooding in Qld. has reached 34 since December, reports say. The floodwaters have submerged about 3 dozen suburbs in Brisbane and large areas of Ipswhich, causing widespread damage.
- Samar, Philippines. At least 42 people have been killed as a result of heavy monsoon rains, which started just before the New Year, 8 injured and five others are reported as missing, disaster officials said.
- Sri Lanka. Death toll from floods and landslides in central Sri Lanka has climbed to a least 23, a report said, with another 36 people injured and one other reported as missing. Floodwaters have forced about a third of a million people out of their homes.
- “About 161,878 hectares of paddy lands are under water and it is still too early to estimate the extent of damage. If the water subsides in the next two-three days we might able to recover 30 percent of it,” the Agriculture Minister said.
- “That translates to 21 percent of Sri Lanka’s total 570,000 hectares of paddy destroyed, and as much a third still at risk.”
- “In the hardest-hit area, the eastern port of Batticaloa, rainfall since the beginning of January stood at 1.8 metres (5 ft 11 in), more than its average annual rainfall of 1.6 metres,” Meteorology Department Deputy Director said.
Day 379 [January 14, 2011]
- Brazil. Death toll from flooding and mega landslides in SE Brazil has climbed to at least 527, reports say. Heavy rains have caused massive landslides destroying everything in their paths and leaving tens of thousands of people homeless.
- Sri Lanka. Reported death toll from massive floods in Sri Lanka has climbed to at least 33 victims. About 1.5 million people have been affected as a result,a dramatic rise since the last report by the local media. The country’s Disaster Management Center has reported that 361,143 people are currently accommodated in temporary camps set up at government buildings, schools and temples.
Day 380 [January 15, 2011]
- Philippines. Reported death toll from floods and landslides caused by torrential rains in parts of the Philippines has climbed to at least 47 with up to 1.5 million people directly affected. The disasters have hit at least “25 provinces in the regions of Calabarzon, Bicol, Western Visayas, Central Visayas, Eastern Visayas, Northern Mindanao, Davao, Soksargen, Caraga and ARMM,” a report said.
- Sri Lanka. More than a million people (about 284,000 households) have been affected by torrential rains and floods in Sri Lanka. The authorities say 27 people have been killed since the disaster started earlier this month. However, some media reports put the death toll at more than 50. Floods have affected about 1.5 million, displacing at least 360,000 people, and submerged as much as a third of the country’s rice paddies, reports say.
- Kerala, India. At least 102 pilgrims have been killed and 44 others injured in a stampede during a religious festival at the Hindu shrine of Sabarimala in the southern Indian state of Kerala, reports say.
- Tunisia. A fire swept through a prison in the Tunisian town of Monastir killing at least 42 people, reports say. The fire broke out amid ongoing unrest, which led to the corrupt ex-president, Bin Ali, fleeing the country. The depraved Saudi royal family have reportedly greeted Bin Ali with open arms.
Day 381 [January 16, 2011]
- Brazil. Death toll from floods and landslides in Brazil’s SE state Rio de Janeiro have climbed to at least 610, with dozens, possibly hundreds of others missing. As of posting, the disasters have left more than 15,000 people homeless.
- Victoria, Australia. About 15,000 properties across the Australian state of Victoria have been inundated, as up to 4,000 people are forced to flee their homes. At least 43 towns and communities have been affected by the floods, said to be the worst flooding to hit northern and northwestern Victoria since records began.
Day 382 [January 17, 2011]
- South Africa. Death toll from ongoing floods in South Africa has climbed to at least 40, reports quoting the SA government say.
- Nan, Thailand. All 15 districts in the province of Nan, northern Thailand, have been declared disaster zones after the cold-spell pushed the temperatures down by at least 6 degrees Celsius below the seasonal norm, reports say. The neighboring province of Uttaradit was declared a disaster zone on Thursday, also due to the cold.
- South Korea. About 70,000 S Korean soldiers have culled or buried alive a total of just under 2 million animals, mainly cattle and pigs, accounting for 11.4% of the country’s total livestock, from more than 4, 150 farms nationwide as of Monday morning, the officials have said.
Day 383 [January 18, 2011]
- Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Death toll from mega flood disasters in Berazil’s Rio de Janeiro state has climbed to at least 661,reports say.
- Queensland, Australia. Death toll from Queensland flooding has climbed to at least 30, with more than 10 people still missing, a report said. FIRE-EARTH estimates that the the cost of damage, as of posting, exceeds $20billion.
- Tunisia. Death toll in Tunisia’s uprising has climbed to at least 78, with the cost of damage estimated at about $2billion, a reportquoted an official as saying.
- Sri Lanka. Reported death toll from flooding in Sri Lanka has risen to 40, with 51 others injured and at least a million displaced, reports say.
Day 384 [January 19, 2011]
- Philippines. Reported death toll from continuous rains that have unleashed widespread flooding in the Philippines have climbed to at least 59, with 32 others missing, a report said. “[...] 323,149 families or 1,650,754 persons, mostly coming from Caraga, Region 8, and the Bicol area have been displaced, with 12,523 families or 61,054 persons still staying in 74 evacuation centers, while 2,430 houses were damaged.”
- Brazil. Death toll from flooding and landslides in the Brazilian state of Rio de Janeiro has climbed to 690, Brazil’s Civil Defense and Health Ministry has said.
- Corfu, Greece. At least 33 migrants have drowned in the Ionian Sea after their trawler sank off Corfu on its way to Italy, areport said.
- Iraq. Death toll in northern Iraq bombing has climbed to at least 65 with more than 150 people injured, reports say. “A suicide bomber joined hundreds of recruits waiting outside a police station in Tikrit to submit applications for 2,000 newly created jobs.”
- South Africa. A wide swath of South Africa, which includes Johannesburg and 27 other municipalities in 7 of the country’s 9 provinces, has been declared a disaster areas because of torrential rains and flooding, reports say. At least 40 people have lost their lives, and 6,000 others have been displaced as heavy rains continue to pound South Africa.
- Clackamas, Oregon, USA. The Clackamas County Board of Commissioners have declared the county a disaster area because of flooding, a report said.
Day 385 [January 20, 2011]
- Global. At least 10,000 people have died prematurely in the past 24 hours from particulate air pollution throughout the world, FIRE-EARTH estimates.
- Victoria, Queensland. Floodwaters have submerged at least a third of the Australian state of Victoria, inundating at least 62 towns and killing hundreds of thousands of poultry and scores of other farm animals. Floods have damaged a reported 1,730 properties, affecting at least 4,300 people.
- Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Death toll from flooding and landslides in the Brazil’s Rio de Janeiro state has climbed to at least 732, reports say, with more than 200 people still missing.
- S. Korea. About 2.3 million livestock, mostly cows and pigs, have been culled or buried alive across South Korea, some 17.5% of the country’s total of 13 million livestock, a report said. Meanwhile, the authorities have destroyed at least 3.8 million poultry in an attempt to slow down the spread of a virulent strain of the H5N1, the report added.
Day 386 [January 21, 2011]
- Victoria, Australia. Victoria’s worst floods in recorded history, which have already surged through at least 70 towns, are forecasted to menace communities in the state’s north and north-west for another 10 days, a report said.
- Karbala, Iraq. “Twin bombings killed more than 45 Shia pilgrims today, taking the number of suicide attacks across Iraq in the past four days to seven with a collective death toll of more than 110,” a report said.
- Queensland, Australia. Premier Anna Bligh has detailed the extent of the damage to properties Queensland, “saying 5400 homes had been flooded over their floorboards, 21,000 had been flooded under that level and 15,000 had water in their yards. Ninety-seven towns were affected by serious flooding or were isolated and 90,000km of local roads were damaged.” Said areport. At least 32 people were killed by the QLD floods since December and about a dozen more are still missing.
Day 387 [January 22, 2011]
- Alexandria, Egypt. “Ahmed Hashim al-Sayyed, 25, set himself on fire because he couldn’t afford bread, couldn’t find work and had lost his sense of dignity,” a report said. “Sayyed and millions of other Egyptians suffer from the same grievances that led to mass protests in Tunisia and forced a president out: joblessness, hopelessness and opportunity only for the elite.”
- Following the self-immolation of a jobless university graduate in Tunisia, which sparked a revolution, forcing the corrupt president to flee the country last week, several others in Egypt, Algeria and Mauritania have set themselves on fire.
- Ivory Coast. Death toll in the African country has climbed to 260 since the start of a power struggle between the two rivals who both claim to be the country’s president, UN said.
- South Africa. Death toll from torrential rains and flooding in various parts of the country has reached at least 71, with more than 8,400 household displaced or affected, the National Disaster Management Center in Pretoria said in a statement.
- NSW, Australia. “Another ten local government areas have been declared natural disaster areas, raising the total number to 77 in flood-ravaged NSW,” a report said.
- Indiana, USA. USDA has declared 52 of Indiana’s 92 counties disaster areas because of the drought that started August 1 and lasted through December 31, 2010, reports say.
- Utah, USA. Gov. Gary Herbert has signed a disaster declaration for Southern Utah’s Washington and Kane counties following damage caused by flooding last months, reports say.
- Alberta, Canada. County council of Grande Prairie in Alberta has declared the area an agriculture disaster for a second straight year becsuse many were “unable to complete harvest, and the livestock sector facing poor pasture conditions and a lack of quality hay for feeding,” a report said.
- Idaho, USA. “Governor C.L. “Butch” Otter declared a disaster emergency in Shoshone County today due to flooding in many areas of the Coeur d’Alene River basin. The flooding was brought on by warm temperatures as well as rain that fell onto snow in the area,” a report said.
- Mongolia. At least 86 counties in 14 provinces of Mongolia have been declared disaster areas, as snow covers 80 percent of the country, a report said. “The strong wind and decrease of temperatures will pose a big challenge to the vast pastoral area. The freezing conditions will pose a major threat to the lives of livestock and livelihoods of herders.” The temperatures are forecasted to dip to as low as minus 45 degrees Celsius in western regions of Mongolia.
- Alexandria, Egypt. “Ahmed Hashim al-Sayyed, 25, set himself on fire because he couldn’t afford bread, couldn’t find work and had lost his sense of dignity,” a report said. “Sayyed and millions of other Egyptians suffer from the same grievances that led to mass protests in Tunisia and forced a president out: joblessness, hopelessness and opportunity only for the elite.”
Day 388 [January 23, 2011]
- Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Death toll from flooding and landslides in the Brazil’s Rio de Janeiro state has now climbed to 791, the Brazilian Civil Defense Department said. The number of people missing has climbed to 430, the Rio de Janeiro public prosecutor’s office reported.
- Victoria, Australia. A massive inland sea of floodwater, 100km long, is spreading across the Australian state of Victoria wiping out farms as it moves deeper into the north-west corner of the state, reports say.
- Vietnam. At least 7 people and more than 10,000 heads of cattle have died due to a prolonged harsh weather conditions in Vietnam, reports say. Cold weather has also caused substantial damage to the country’s crops.
Day 389 [January 24, 2011]
- Queensland, Australia. Death toll from flood-related incidents across Queensland has climbed to 35 since November 30, with up to a dozen people still missing.
- California, USA. A record number of 304 sea otter bodies have been found on California coastlines in the past 12 months, a preliminary report released by the U.S. Geological Survey said. “Based on a spring count of 2,719 living sea otters, those bodies accounted for 11.2 percent of the population,” according to a report.
- New York, USA. USDA has designated Yates County as a primary natural disaster area because of the combined effects of frost, excessive heat and excessive rain between April 1 and Dec. 31, 2010. Ontario, Schuyler, Seneca and Steuben counties in New York are also included in the declaration because they are contiguous.
Day 390 [January 25, 2011]
- Global Disaster. World’s two largest car manufacturers, Toyota and GM, put an additional 16.81 million cars on the global traffic maze in the past 12 months.
- Nepal. Death toll from a cold wave in Nepal has climbed to at least 66, reports say.
- Moscow, Russia. A bomb explosion at Moscow’s Domodedovo airport has reportedly killed at least 35 people and injured about 180 others, reports say. Death toll is expected to rise as some of the injured were said to be critical.
- South Africa. Death toll from widespread flooding and heavy storms in South Africa has climbed to at least 123, with an estimated 20 000 left in need of immediate basic relief aid, a government official has said. “South Africa declared 33 municipalities in eight of its nine provinces disaster areas last week after torrential rains since mid-December damaged thousands of homes and flooded farm lands.”
- NSW, Australia. More areas in Australia’s New South Wales state have been declared as disaster zones. “Central Darling, Cobar, Conargo, Hay, Jerilderie, Junee, Murray, Lachlan and Berrigan Shires and the Unincorporated Area of NSW” have been added to the list of Natural Disaster zones, emergency services minister Steve Whan said. “This brings the total number of councils Natural Disaster declared since 1December to 77.”
- Montana, USA. USDA has designated 9 additional counties in the state of Montana as natural disaster areas in response to severe rainfall which destroyed/damaged crops in the summer. The disaster areas are Blaine, Chouteau, Fergus, Golden Valley, Judith Basin, Musselshell, Petroleum, Phillips and Wheatland counties. Teton County was declared a disaster area in November.
- Victoria, Australia. Floods in Victoria have killed more than 6,000 sheep and destroyed about 41,000ha of crops, reports say.
Day 391 [January 26, 2011]
- Philippines. Death toll from floods and landslides in the Philippines has climbed to at least 73, as property damage reached the P2-billion mark, a report said.
- Vietnam. About 26,500 farm animals in Vietnam have died from the severe cold, a report said. “Hoang Kim Giao, head of the Department of Husbandry under the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD), said it is a result of the recent cold spell, now having lasted for over 20 days, in 19 cities and provinces from central Thua Thien Hue Province to the far northern provinces.”
- Tonga. Cyclone WILMA struck Tonga’s Ha’apai Islands with category 3 force, devastating food crops and causing damage to many buildings, a report said. WILMA is now headed for New Zealand.
Day 392 [January 27, 2011]
- Egypt. The corrupt Egyptian President Mubark’s police force have killed about a dozen demonstrators, beaten and arrested hundreds more including journalists, reports say. The crowds are protesting against unemployment, rocketing food prices and political corruption, demanding the dictator join his Tunisian counterpart in Saudi Arabia. Mubark is believed to have already fled the country.
- Afghanistan. The 350th British soldier was killed in a blast from an IED in Helmand province, reports say.
- Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. The Red Sea port city of Jeddah was placed under a state of emergency after torrential rains triggered intense flash floods killing up to a dozen people and causing widespread damage to infrastructure. “Activists in Jeddah called on Thursday for a protest against poor infrastructure after deadly floods swamped Saudi Arabia’s second biggest city, a rare expression of dissent in the absolute monarchy.” Said a report.
Day 393 [January 28, 2011]
- Sardinata, Colombia. An explosion at La Preciosa mine in Sardinata, northeastern Colombia, has killed at least 21 people, reports say. Another explosion at the same mine killed 32 miners in 2007 .
- Indonesia. A train collision and a ferry fire have claimed 16 lives in Indonesia, reports say.
- Baghdad, Iraq. Death toll from a bomb blast at a funeral procession in Baghdad has climbed to at least 51 people with another 123 wounded, Iraqi police has said.
- East Coast, USA. About a dozen people have been killed or are critically injured in yesterday’s East Coast snowstorm, reports say.
Day 394 [January 29, 2011]
- Egypt. Death toll in the Egyptian clashes between the people and the country’s brutal police force has climbed to about 3 dozens, with hundreds, possibly thousands of people injured. Thousands of others have been arrested, as a dusk-to-dawn curfew is imposed and the army moves in to protect the country’s corrupt pharaoh de joure.
- South Africa. Death toll from flooding has now climbed to at least 120 with up to 10,000 people displaced since December. Eight of the country’s nine provinces have been declared disaster areas, as the damage reaches an estimated $30 million.
- Cyclone WILMA. From east of Samoa, where it was formed, to Tonga and Fiji, where it was strengthened to a category 4 force, cyclone WILMA left a trail of destruction, killing at least 3 people. Weakened to a tropical storm, WILMA hit New Zealand’s North Island dumping up to 300mm of rain, inundating vast areas and triggering severe mudslides and landslips. The floods have caused “substantial damage to the region’s road network,” and killed hundreds, possibly thousands of farm animals, according to local reports. Much of the drinking water sources and coastal waters in flooded areas have been contaminated with sewage overflows.
- Role of “social networking” in Tunisia and Egypt? “Only a tiny percentage of protesters have Twitter and Facebook accounts … [The] major catalyst has been the Arab media retransmitting images from social media. Egypt has responded by shutting down internet access and restricting cell phone use.”
- Philippines. Two cities of Cebu and Mandaue in the Philippines Cebu province have been declared as disaster areas, after widespread flash floods were triggered
by torrential rains, a report said.
Day 395 [January 30, 2011]
- Egypt. The brutal Egyptian security apparatus have killed at least 150 demonstrators across the country since January 25, when anti-government rallies began, reports say.
- Brazil. Death toll from Rio de Janeiro floods and landslides have risen to at least 844, reports say. Up to 9,000 people have lost their homes, with about 21,000 evacuated.
- Germany. At least 10 people have been killed and up to 3 dozen others injured in a train crash in eastern Germany, reports say.
- Illinois, USA. USDA has declared 16 southern Illinois counties as agricultural disaster areas following the drought that began in summer 2010 and lasted through fall, a report said. “The 16 counties declared as primary disaster areas are: Alexander, Edwards, Franklin, Gallatin, Hamilton, Hardin, Jackson, Johnson, Massac, Pope, Pulaski, Saline, Union, Wayne, White and Williamson. The contiguous counties approved for disaster assistance include: Clay, Jefferson, Marion, Perry, Randolph, Richland and Wabash in Illinois; Posey and Gibson in Indiana; Ballard, Crittenden, Livingston, McCracken, and Union in Kentucky; Cape Girardeau, Mississippi, Perry, and Scott in Missouri.”
- Florida, USA. USDA has declared 34 Florida counties as agricultural disaster areas following the December freeze. An additional 28 counties are contiguous disaster areas.
- Pennsylvania, USA. USDA has designated Adams, Cumberland, Franklin and York counties as primary and contiguous disaster areas, following severe drought that began June 5, 2010, and continues. Carroll and Frederick Counties in Maryland are included in the disaster designation because they are contiguous.
Day 396 [January 31, 2011]
- Nigeria. Death toll from sectarian clashes in central Nigeria has climbed to 35, a report said.
- California, USA. Both the state and federal government have declared Tulare County a disaster area following two weeks of storm which caused widespread flooding, a report said. “Tulare County, Visalia and Porterville — as well as the Stone Corral School District in Seville, which experienced light flood damage — eligible for federal financial assistance, along with state assistance, to cover most of their flood-related repair and recovery costs.”
- Massachusetts, USA. USDA has declared five Massachusetts counties, including Barnstable and Bristol, as natural disaster areas because of “unseasonably hot, dry weather last summer” that destroyed or damaged cranberry crops, a report said.
Day 397 [February 1, 2011]
- Oklahoma, USA. A state of emergency has been declared in Oklahoma’s 77 counties as a massive snowstorm moves from the Southwest to the Northeast.
- Tunisia. Death toll in the Tunisian “revolution” has climbed to at least 219, a UN team has said.
Day 398 [February 2, 2011]
- Queensland, Australia. YASI powered up to a Mega Cyclone with forecast winds of 300+ km/hr finally prompting mandatory evacuation of about a quarter of a million residents in the super storm’s projected path.
- USA. A mega snow and ice storm stretching about 2,100 miles, has blanketed more than 30 states, from New Mexico to Maine, affecting about a third of the US population. Governors of about a dozen states have declared a state of emergency.
Day 399 [February 3, 2011]
- USA. The mega snowstorm, which stretched about 2,100 miles and left parts of the Midwest under 2 feet of snow, has killed at least 12 people, authorities said.
- Oklahoma, USA. President B.O. has declared Oklahoma a disaster area in response to the deadly snow storm.
- Illinois, USA. Several counties in the state of Illinois have been declared as disaster areas.
- Bangladesh. “The number of people who have died from a mysterious disease this week in Bangladesh’s Lalmonirhat district, some 343 km northwest of capital Dhaka, has reached 10, an official said Thursday.” Said a report.
Day 400 [February 4, 2011]
- Egypt. At least a dozen people have been killed and about a 1,500 others injured as Egyptian police in civilian clothes and hired thugs continue to target the anti-government demonstrators, reports say. According to informed sources, members of the Saudi royal family are bankrolling the violent pro-regime gangs.
- China. A severe drought which has now lasted for four-month has affected Chinese provinces of Hebei, Shanxi, Jangsu, Anhui, Shandong, Henan, Shaanxi and Gansu, destroying/damaging more than 35 percent of wheat crops, covering an area of about 6.4 million hectares, almost 22 percent of total farmland in the region, a report cited an official statement. “The wheat growing area in the eight provinces accounted for more than 80 percent of the country’s total, said the statement.“
- Malaysia. Death toll from flooding in Malaysia has risen to four, with more than 40,000 residents fleeing their homes as the water level continues to rise, a report said. “Several districts in the East Malaysian state of Sabah, as well as the states of Johore, Malacca, Negeri Sembilan and Pahang, have been flooded following the continuous rain brought by the northeastern monsoon winds.”
- Turkey. The death toll from two explosions in an industrial zone in Ankara, that were triggered by a gas leak, rose overnight to 17, with one person still unaccounted for, authorities in the Turkish capital said Friday.
Day 401 [February 5, 2011]
- Mexico. Freezing weather, snow and Ice have paralyzed northern Mexico, leaving tens of thousands of homes without electricity or water as the temperatures dip to as low as -18ºC (0ºF), the lowest in living memory.The cold snap has left up to a dozen people dead, reports say.
- New Mexico, USA. Gov. Susana Martinez has declared a state of emergency ordering all schools and non-essential state government offices to shut on Friday to conserve energy, as cold weather and natural gas outages plague New Mexico.
Day 402 [February 6, 2011]
- Perth, W. Australia. Wildfires have destroyed at least a dozen homes near Perth in western Australia, report say.
- Queensland, Australia. Up to 10,000 people remain in evacuation centers in the state of Queensland, while thousands of others who have returned to their battered homes are without power or water supplies, reports say.
- Melbourne, Australia. In the Melbourne suburb of Elwood in Victoria floodwaters have inundated many houses and washed cars off roads, AP reported. Melbourne received more than 50 percent of its average annual rainfall in less than 24 hours.
- Philippines. “The death toll from a low pressure area that caused heavy rains and massive flooding in parts of Visayas and Mindanao has climbed to 17, the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) said today.”
- Sri-Lanka. New round of flooding in Sri-Lanka has claimed at least 13 lives, and displaced up to a million people. Heavy rains, which started on February 1, inundated north-eastern and north-central Sri Lanka destroying or damaging about 50,000 homes, authorities said.
Day 403 [February 7, 2011]
- Perth, Australia. At least 64 homes have been destroyed and 32 more are damaged as massive twin wildfires leave trails of destruction in the SE and NE Perth suburbs of Roleystone and Red Hill. West Australian Premier has declared the areas of Roleystone, Kelmscott and Red Hill natural disaster areas.
- Iowa, USA. “Gov. Terry Branstad on Saturday added Johnson County to a growing list of counties to receive disaster proclamations from the state following Tuesday’s blizzard.” Said a report.
- Montana, USA. USDA has designated Fergus County as a primary disaster area and Blaine, Chouteau, Golden Valley, Judith Basin, Musselshell, Petroleum Phillips and Wheatland counties as contiguous disaster areas due to the excessive rainfall between Aug. 1 and Oct. 15, 2010, a report said.
- Queensland, Australia. About 75 percent of the state of Queensland has been declared a disaster area “after Cyclone Yasi compounded the damage left by recent widespread flooding,” a report said.
- Philippines. Death toll from floods and landslides in the Filipino states of Visayas and Mindanao has climbed to at at least 21, with 66 more injured and one reported as missing, a report said.
Day 404 [February 8, 2011]
- Sri-Lanka. “Around 1.2 million people are being affected by the deluge in 17 districts of the country. The Disaster Management Centre informs in the Trincomalee district alone around 400 thousand people are affected. They have been housed in 693 relief centres. 14 deaths have been reported so far.” Said a report.
- S. Korea. South Korean government has confirmed an additional case of foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) in its largest port city of Busan, reports say.
- Upper Nile state, Sudan. At least 50 people have been killed in fighting in south Sudan’s Upper Nile state, officials said.
Day 405 [February 9, 2011]
- China. MEGA DISASTER unfolding in China. Up to 13 million acres of China’s 35 million acres of wheat fields have been affected by the drought. Some 2.6 million people and 2.8 million head of livestock face severe shortages of drinking water, FAO reported.
- Egypt. “Human Rights Watch has collected figures from doctors in eight hospitals giving a total of at least 302 killed in the unrest in Egypt since January 28, 2011. The breakdown of these figures is: 232 in Cairo, 52 in Alexandria, and 18 in Suez. These figures are based on unofficial information obtained from doctors by Human Rights Watch at two hospitals in Cairo, two in Alexandria, and one in Suez and by the International Federation for Human Rights, which visited a further three hospitals in Cairo.” Source
- Illinois, USA. Gov Quinn has declared the entire state of Illinois a disaster area following last week’s record-setting blizzard.
Day 406 [February 10, 2011]
- Iraq. At least 11 people were killed and 104 others injured in three car bombings in the northern Iraqi city of Kirkuk, according to reports.
- Iowa, USA. At least nine counties in the state of Iowa have been declared disaster areas in the wake of last week’s snowstorms.
- S. Korea. South Korean dairy farmers are disposing of 200 tons of milk each day as the country continues to combat its worst outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease in 50 years, an official was reported as saying. S. Korea is running out of space to bury the 3.2 million livestock culled so far this year. “Livestock has been buried at more than 4,000 sites in the densely populated nation.” A report said.
- N. Korea. “North Korea has reported an outbreak of the livestock foot-and-mouth (FMD) disease on its soil to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, the Radio Free Asia said in a report on Thursday.” Said a report.
- Sri Lanka. At least 35 percent of staple rice crop in Sri Lanka has been destroyed after two recent rounds of flooding, the Agriculture Ministry has said.
Day 407 [February 11, 2011]
- Queensland, Australia. “Authorities are warning of a dengue fever outbreak in cyclone-devastated north Queensland as an influx of volunteers and workers arrive to help communities recover,” a report said.
- Malaysia. More than 9,000 Malaysians are still in shelters a week after ten districts in southern Malaysia were deluged by Johor floods, which killed at least 5 and displaced 24,000 people.
- Peru. “Health authorities have declared a red alert in Peru’s northern Amazon jungle region following the outbreak of an “very aggressive” dengue strain that has killed 14 people and sickened thousands.” Said a report. “Some 13,000 people have been infected and at least 1,600 people have been hospitalized for treatment, a health official in Loreto, in northeastern Peru, told AFP.”
- Ghana. An outbreak of cholera in the Ghanaian capital, Accra, has sickened more than 200, leaving 4 people dead, the Daily Graphic reported.
Day 408 [February 12, 2011]
- Mexico. Frost has destroyed about 600,000 hectares (1.5m acres) of maize in Sinaloa, Mexico, the authorities said. The loss amounts to about 4 million tons of corn, Mexico’s main staple crop, or 16% of the annual harvest.
- Southern Africa. “Above average rainfall across many parts of Southern Africa is prompting concern ‘about the food security of the affected population in the poorer parts of the sub-region over the coming months,’ the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) said in a new report.”
- “With the rainy season still only halfway through, and with the cyclone season [in the Indian Ocean] due to peak in February, several agricultural areas along the rivers in southern African countries remain at high risk of flooding, including portions of Botswana, Lesotho, Mozambique, Namibia, Zambia, Zimbabwe and South Africa,” said the report.
- “The worst affected countries so far are Mozambique, Lesotho and Namibia’s most northerly province, Caprivi, which has a very poor and vulnerable population. “
- Lesotho. “As a result of recent heavy rains and subsequent flooding, 26 people have died, over 5,000 people have been displaced and 672 houses have been destroyed. Floods have also resulted in wider disruption in the national economy and livelihoods of the Basotho people, including an increase in the number of animal diseases. At least 4,708 animals have been reported dead.” Source.
- Madagascar. Heavy rains have claimed 15 lives in Madagascar, and an “estimated 1,625 houses have been damaged, with 105 houses completely destroyed, and around 2,000 people displaced,” OCHA said.
- Meanwhile, cyclone BINGIZA continues moving west, heading toward the Indian Ocean island.
- Côte d’Ivoire. About 100,000 people have been displaced in Côte d’Ivoire since the crisis began in the W. African country. IOM reported. At least 34,500 other Ivorian refugees currently shelter in camps in Liberia.
- Thailand. Media reports in India say that “a group of 91 Rohingya had been found in the Indian administered Nicobar islands – about 640km west of Myanmar’s Tenasserim coast – on 6 February. The refugees reportedly told police they had been set adrift without adequate food and water, in a boat without an engine, by the Thai navy; a charge the Thai authorities have rejected.” U.N. OCHA said.
Day 409 [February 13, 2011]
- Jonglei, Sudan. Death toll in the deadly clashes between the South Sudan army and armed gangs “loyal to General George Athor” has reached at least 105, a report said.
- Iraq. “The toll from a suicide bombing that targeted Shi’ite pilgrims near the city of Samarra, one of Iraq’s worst in recent weeks, rose to 48 dead and 80 wounded, police and officials said on Sunday.” A report said.
- Nigeria. “At least eleven people are believed killed in a stampede during an election rally in the southern city of Port Harcourt,reports said on Sunday.”
- Afghanistan. “Taliban fighters deploying car bombs and rocket-propelled grenades killed at least 17 members of the Afghan security forces and two civilians in the southern city of Kandahar on Saturday, the U.S.-led coalition said in a statement.” Areport said.
- Luxor, Egypt. “At least 13 people have been killed and 23 others injured when a 6-storey building collapsed in Luxor. ” Areport said.
- Mexico/U-S. “State Department officials say that 79 U.S. citizens were murdered in Mexico in 2009, and that at least 60 were killed last year from January to November, though an official annual figure has yet to be compiled. The numbers have been rising since 2007, when 38 U.S. citizens were murdered in Mexico, State Department records show.” A report said.
- Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. An outbreak of the superbug C. difficile has been declared at a healthcare facility, where 16 infected patients have died in a recent surge of at least 100 cases, a report said. “Last week in Scotland, a public inquiry raised questions about the number of deaths in a C. diff outbreak at Vale of Leven Hospital, where it was originally thought that 55 people had developed the infection and that 18 had died. Investigations are now under way into whether the actual figure is 40 deaths.”
Day 410 [February 14, 2011]
- South Korea. The biggest snowstorm on century-old record dumps up to 110cm (43.31 inch) of snow in the eastern part of South Korea, burying entire cities. Several hundred houses have collapsed under the weight of the snow, reports say.
- Afghanistan. The number of UK soldiers slaughtered in Obama’s war in Afghanistan has climbed to at least 357, reports say.
- Russia. “The death toll from a warehouse fire in the Urals has risen to 16 as 4 four new bodies were uncovered on Saturday,” fire investigators said.
- South Korea. “Two additional bird flu outbreaks near Seoul, S. Korea have been reported. The new cases occurred “despite nationwide efforts to stem the spread of the disease,” a report said.
Day 411 [February 15, 2011]
- Madagascar. Cyclone BINGIZA slammed into northern Madagascar as a category 3 storm. Full extent of the damage caused by the cyclone is not yet known.
- “‘We expect this to be a Type 2 emergency, with over 100,000 people affected by wind damage and/or flooding, and over 30,000 severely affected,’ CARE International, an NGO focusing on poverty eradication, said in an emergency alert.” Said a report.
- South Africa.More than 100 people have died in flooding, landslides and human-enhanced natural disasters in South Africa since mid-December, areport said “Most of the victims were from KwaZulu-Natal and the Eastern Cape and flooding was largely to blame for the fatalities.”.More than 14,000 households have been affected nationally.
- Australia. “AN epidemic of mental illness is developing among children incarcerated in immigration detention centres around Australia, with the numbers of underage detainees at a record and conditions worsening, according to refugee activists” Said a report. “Stories of children starving themselves, slashing themselves with razors, becoming clinically depressed and fighting pitched battles armed with makeshift weapons are emerging from the detention regime, which houses more than 1000 asylum-seekers under the age of 18.” Source.
- North Carolina, USA. “Just a week after a fast-moving bat-killing disease was discovered for the first time in Indiana, the disease has now been confirmed for the first time in North Carolina. The deadly bat illness known as white-nose syndrome, or the pathogenic fungus associated with it, has now been found on bats in 16 states and two Canadian provinces, from New Hampshire to Oklahoma. Two years ago, biologists estimated that more than 1 million bats had been killed by the disease. Mortalities have continued to mount since then.” Source.
Day 412 [February 16, 2011]
- Darwin, Australia.Cyclone CARLOS has buffeted Darwin and Top End, Australia. Darwin received a record rainfall of 366mm in 24 hours. Dozens of houses have already been inundated and many roads in and around Darwin were currently flooded and impassible.
- Chicago, USA. Glenview Board of trustees have declared the village a disaster area following the Feb. 1 blizzard which dumped about 2 feet of snow on the Chicago area, a report said.
- Madagascar. BINGIZA has killed about a dozen people and left up to 3,000 homeless, according to reports. “Tropical Cyclone Bingiza struck the village of Vinanivao on the northeast coast of Madagascar around dawn on Monday morning. Authorities say there were winds of up to 180 kilometers per hour, and more than 600 homes were destroyed, leaving thousands without proper shelter.” Said a report. “Damage to the bridge and road has left the small fishing village cut off from food markets The cyclone also damaged more than 200 other buildings and ruined about 500 hectares of rice just months away from harvest.”
Day 413 [February 17, 2011]
- Japan. A new outbreak of bird flu in Japan has killed more than 160 chickens at a poultry farm in Kiho, Mie Prefecture, western Kansai region, Japan, a report said. “Officials said that genetic testing revealed that the virus found in some of the dead birds was the highly virulent H5 strain that has plagued poultry farms in southern Japan this season, making it the worst national outbreak in Japan since 2004.” The authorities will destroy a reported 67,000 chickens at the affected farms. On February 14, at least 17,000 hens were culled in Japan following the discovery of several avian flu cases.
- Western Washington, USA. Gov. Chris Gregoire has declared Western Washington counties as disaster areas in the wake of damage caused by the Mid-January storms, a report said. “The disaster area includes parts of Chelan, Clallam, Clark, Cowlitz, Grant, Grays Harbor, King, Kittitas, Klickitat, Lewis, Mason, Pacific, Skagit, Skamania, Snohomish, Wahkiakum and Whatcom counties.”
- USA. About 7.3 million cases of breast cancer were discovered in the U-S between 1997 and 2003, according to a study. The outbreak “reflects the fact breast cancer rates are rising”, a researcher said.
- South Korea. New cases of foot-and-mouth disease have been confirmed in Daejeon, the country’s fifth-largest city. The new cases concurred despite vaccinations in the region, a report said. “The number of animals culled has reached 3,333,496 [and counting.]“
Day 414 [February 18, 2011]
- Bahrain, ‘Saudi Arabia.’ The oppressive and corrupt little regime of Bahrain unleashed its armed dogs on peaceful demonstrators protesting against poverty and discrimination. At least [six] people have been killed, 231 injured “and opposition leaders said dozens were detained and about [80] were missing,” a report said.
- “Riot police firing rubber bullets and tear gas stormed a square in the Bahraini capital Manama overnight as thousands of protesters slept, leaving several dead and hundreds wounded… A Sky News correspondent reported that foreign journalists were being detained at Bahrain’s main airport and their equipment confiscated. Earlier an ABC News reporter Miguel Marquez was attacked in Manama, becoming the latest of several Western journalists to be assaulted while covering protests in the Middle East.”
- Libya. Security forces in Libya have killed at least 24 people in peaceful pro-democracy demonstrations, Human Rights Watch have said. “A local medical official in Benghazi meanwhile reported that seven protesters were killed during protests in the country’s second city. Geneva-based Human Rights Solidarity, citing witnesses, said snipers in the city of Al-Baida east of Benghazi had shot 13 protesters dead.”
- Egypt. “At least 365 people died in the 18 days of anti-government protests that pushed out longtime Egyptian leader Hosni Mubarak, the Health Ministry said Wednesday in the first official accounting of the death toll.” AP reported.
- Juba, Sudan. “Attacks by a renegade militia in south Sudan’s Jonglei oil state killed at least 211 people, a minister for the region has said, doubling earlier estimates of the death count.” Source
- Somalia. Drought is threatening about 2.4 million people in Somalia, a UN official has said.
- “Somalia… is on the brink of a much larger disaster due to the threat of a country-wide drought,” said UN under secretary general for humanitarian affairs, Valerie Amos.
- “Malnutrition has increased in the last six months in Southern Somalia and 2.4 million, 32 percent of the population, remain in crisis,” she said.
Day 415 [February 19, 2011]
- Libya. Special Forces reportedly attacked protesters in Benghazi, Libya’s second largest city, early this morning, “attacking hundreds of people including lawyers and judges camped in front the courthouse.” Security forces have now killed at least 84 people in the last three days, Human Rights Watch said.
- Bahrain. The criminal PM of Bahrain has declared a state of emergency in the tiny Saudi Arabian protectorate. Security forces have reportedly opened fire on protesters, injuring many.
- NY, USA. President B.O. has declared New York State a “disaster area” following the damage caused by the blizzard of December 26-27, 2010, reports say.
- United Nations. The US has vetoed a resolution at the UN Security Council that condemned Israeli settlements in the Palestinian territories as an obstacle to peace, reports say.
Day 416 [February 20, 2011]
- Libya. At least 173 demonstrators have been killed in Libya and up to 1,500 injured since Wednesday, Human Rights Watch and other sources say.
- Afghanistan. A suicide bomber has killed at least 38 people in a bank in Nangarhar’s provincial capital Jalalabad, and injured more than 70 others, a government official has said.
- PNG. Death toll in the latest cholera outbreak in Papua New Guinea has reached about 500, reports say.
- Peru and Bolivia. The two neighboring countries of Peru and Bolivia have experienced a significant rise in dengue infections,IFRC said. “The Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) reports that by the sixth epidemiological week there were 22,556 dengue cases, 469 severe cases of dengue and 24 deaths in the Andean region. In addition, the presence of the La Niña weather phenomenon represents an increase of risk, with its periods of intense rains and the continuation of the macro-factors which exacerbate dengue in Region.”
Day 417 [February 21, 2011]
- Afghanistan. Flash floods, mudslides and snow storm have killed/injured at least 100 people, and damaged/destroyed about 3,000 houses in in Parwan, Herat, Wardak and Daykundi provinces since the beginning of the month, the Afghanistan National Disasters Management Authority (ANDMA) has said.
- United Kingdom. The mortality rates from liver disease in the UK increased from 4.9 to 11.4-per100,000 between 1986 and 2008, according to a study published in The Lancet medical journal.
- Poland. Freezing weather has killed at least 179 Poles since the beginning of winter (134 died in December, 22 in January and 23 in February, a report said.
Day 418 [February 22, 2011]
- Christchurch, New Zealand. A 6.4Mw quake followed by two less powerful shocks struck near Christchurch, New Zealand killing at least 65 people and injuring hundreds more. As many as 200 people are still trapped in the rubble as of posting, and many are missing.FIRE-EARTH Blog has been posting specific quake warning for New Zealand Region since 2008, all of which have been buried by New Zealand govt and Google.
- Bamako, Mali. At least three dozen people were killed and more than 60 others injured in a stampede at a stadium in the Malian capital of Bamako, a report quoted officials as saying.
Day 419 [February 23, 2011]
- U.K. Severe child poverty in the UK affects about 1.6 million children, a report said. “[The children] live in low income homes which are often poorly heated and where it is a struggle to pay for basics like food and clothes.”
- New Zealand. The government has declared a national state of emergency as the death toll from Christchurch quake rose to at least 75, with up to 400 people reported as missing, reports say.
- Poland. More people have died from extreme cold in Poland, as night time temperatures fell to minus 20 degrees Celsius, areport said. “In February alone 29 people have frozen to death with over 200 dying of hypothermia this winter in total.”
- Libya. More than a 1,000 people are believed to have died in the Libyan unrest, Italy’s foreign minister, Franco Frattini has said. “We believe that the estimates [of the death toll] of about 1,000 are credible.” He was reported as saying.
- Papua New Guinea (PNG). Prolonged cholera outbreak in PNG has claimed up to 500 lives, a senior medical official has said.
Day 420 [February 24, 2011]
- Christchurch, New Zealand. Police have confirmed that 98 bodies have so far been recovered from the quake rubble, with 226 people missing.
- Bolivia and Peru. The governments of Bolivia and Peru have declared a state of emergency after massive flooding, triggered by weeks of heavy rain, hit both countries. Floods and mudslides have destroyed homes, businesses, roads, bridges and other infrastructure, killing at least 3 people and leaving more than 10,000 people homeless.
- Oregon, USA. President B.O. has declared six Oregon counties disaster areas following the damage caused by winter storms,reports say.
- Ghana. About 1,400 reported cases of cholera in three of Ghana’s Regions have killed at least 34 people since October 2010, areport said.
Day 421 [February 25, 2011]
- Obama’s Nightmaristan. “Afghan government investigators have told the BBC that 65 civilians, including 50 women and children, were killed in a Nato operation last week.” Said a report. killed 20 women, 29 children, and more than a dozen unarmed men. “Afghans – from President Hamid Karzai down – believe that in Kunar province, indiscriminate Nato firepower killed 20 women, 29 children, and more than a dozen unarmed men.”
- New Mexico, USA. Albuquerque Mayor has declared the winter storm that hit New Mexico’s largest city earlier as a natural disaster, a report said.
Day 422 [February 26, 2011]
- Quang Ngai, Vietnam. The province of Quang Ngai in central Vietnam has reported a major outbreak of the foot-and-month disease with about 1,250 buffaloes, cows and pigs infected, a report said.
- Bali, Indonesia. A rabies outbreak in Bali has claimed five more lives this week, raising the reported death toll to more than 120.
Day 423 [February 27, 2011]
- Tunisia. Death toll in the Tunisian uprising has reached at least 222, including 72 prisoners killed during rioting, with more than 500 people wounded, reports say.
- Egypt. Death toll in Egyptian uprising is 384 fatalities and 6,500 injured, the authorities say.
- Libya. An estimated 2,000 people may have been killed in the Libyan uprising, reports say.
- India. The number of young mothers dying shortly shortly after delivery in the city of Jodhpur’s hospitals has climbed to at least 13 in the last two weeks, reports say. “Contaminated intravenous (IV) fluid is suspected to have caused the death of these women. The Umaid Hospital administration has lodged a criminal case against the Indore-based fluid manufacturer, Parental Surgical India Pvt Ltd, and local distributor Anshul Pharma on February 23 after media highlighted the deaths.”
- Peru. “Death toll in a bus accident in central Peru has reached to 27, as rescue teams search for more victims, said a report. At least 49 others have been injured.
Day 424 [February 28, 2011]
- Bolivia. A large landslide triggered by weeks of heavy rains has destroyed at least 300 homes in La Paz, the administrative capital of Bolivia, reports say. “Across Bolivia, weeks of heavy rains have killed at least 40 others and left more than 10,000 homeless.”
- Bandeira do Sul, Minas Gerais state, Brazil. At least 17 people have been killed in a small Brazilian town of Bandeira do Sul after a live power cable broke and fell into a crowd of revelers at a street party. Dozens of others have been seriously injured.
March 2011
Day 425 [March 1, 2011]
- Florida, USA. A massive 13,000-acre fire continues to grow in Brevard and Volusia counties, Florida, reports say. The Iron Horse Fire has forced the Brevard Emergency Management to declare a state of emergency for the area. The fire has consumed two hunting camps and dozens of mobile homes, as of posting.
- Ohio, USA. Severe flooding caused by torrential rain and melting snow has forced Lorain County commissioners to proclaim a state of emergency in North Ridgeville and surrounding areas, a report said.
- Perth, Australia. A powerful storm that tore through eastern Perth with 150kmph winds ripping building roofs, felling trees and cutting powerlines. Several people were reportedly injured and about 55,000 customers lost power.
- Ohio, USA. The Morrow County Commissioners declared a State of Emergency for Morrow County earlier today due to severe flooding which submerged the roads near Whetstone Creek, reports say.
- Gulf of Mexico, USA. Obama Admin has granted the first new permit for deepwater drilling in the Gulf of Mexico since last year’s explosion at the Deepwater Horizon platform and the subsequent spill from the BP-owned oil well. The permit was issued to Noble Energy to drill a 2,000m (~ 6,500ft) well about 113km (~70 miles) off the Louisiana coast.
Day 426 [March 2, 2011]
- Texas, USA.Wildfires destroyed at least 80 homes in Texas and scorched some 300 square kilometers.
- Austria. At least 30 skiers and snowboarders have been killed on slopes across Austria so far this winter, a report said. “The current death toll is more than twice as high as last season’s number of skiing fatalities (14). The same number of deaths was recorded in the 2008/2009 season. There were 11 fatalities in the winter of 2007/2008 and 18 in the 2006/2007 season. Between 56,000 and 60,000 people have to be hospitalised after skiing and snowboarding injuries in the Austrian Alps every year.” [NOTE: This item was added to disaster list after considerable deliberation! ]
- Mississippi, USA. USDA has declared 44 Mississippi counties disaster areas due a drought that occurred between May 1, 2010 and Dec. 31, 2010. Twenty-two counties in Alabama, Arkansas, Louisiana and Tennessee also i9ncluded in the disaster declaration because they are contiguous.
- New Mexico, USA. Albuquerque Mayor has declared the winter storm that hit the state’s largest city in February as a natural disaster.
- Midwest, USA. Severe storm, up to 2.6 inches of rain and snowmelt triggered flooding in the Midwest states of Illinois, Indiana and Ohio, killing at least one person and forcing the Ohio Emergency Management Agency to evacuate up to 1,000 people. Four storm-related deaths were also reported in Tennessee, as flash floods struck the eastern part of the state, authoritiesreported. Flooding impacted all of Ohio’s 88 counties, NWS reported. Most of Ohio and Indiana remained under a flood warning. Multiple tornadoes reportedly touched down in Indiana, Kentucky, and Tennessee causing damage to homes.
Day 427 [March 3, 2011]
- USA. ” Tobacco smoking is the leading preventable cause of death and disease in the U.S., with more than 400,000 deaths each year attributable to smoking or its consequences. And yet teens still smoke. Indeed, smoking usually begins in the teen years, and approximately 80 percent of adult smokers became hooked by the time they were 18. Meanwhile, teens who don’t take up smoking usually never do.” Says a new study by University of California, Los Angeles.
- Finland. “A new study published in the International Journal of Andrology reveals that semen quality has significantly deteriorated during the last ten years in Finland, a country that previously was a region with high sperm counts. At the same time, the incidence of testis cancer in the Finnish population showed a remarkable increase, following the worrying trends observed in several countries in Europe and the Americas.” Study led by Jorma Toppari of the University of Turku. [NOTE: This item was added to disaster list after considerable deliberation!
- USA. Eastern cougar is now officially extinct, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has declared. Cougar, also known as a catamount, mountain lion, painter, panther or puma, according to its habitat, was put on the endangered species list in 1973. The government officials claim, however, that the animal has been extinct since the 1930s.
- Italy. The authorities declared a weather emergency in central and southern Italy following deadly storms which have so far claimed at least four lives, and caused substantial damage, reports say. "The flooding has caused 100 million euros of damage to agriculture , especially vegetable, fruit and citrus crops, according to Italy's national farmers' union Coldiretti. [He] warned on Monday that all of Calabria’s 450 towns, cities and villages were at risk of flooding and landslides. This compared with around 70 percent of municipalities nationwide.”
- Montana, USA. ” Winds and massive snowfall created blizzard conditions and roof-high drifts Tuesday, leading the Blackfeet Tribe and Glacier County to declare a state of emergency,” said a report.
- Washington, USA.The City of Pacific mayor has declared a state of emergency because of the flood-prone White River, said a report. “There is no doubt that the capacity issue on the White River is a growing problem,” Mayor Richard Hildreth said. “Since 2008, there has been an estimated six-foot increase in parts of the White River adjacent to Pacific Park. With the safe-carrying capacity of the river reduced from 13,000 (cubic feet per second) to less than 5,000 (cfs), the City … can no longer wait for other entities to complete other mitigation projects.”
- La Paz, Bolivia. A major landslide triggered by heavy rains east the Bolivian capital of La Paz has destroyed at least 400 homes in 9 neighborhoods, a report said. The slide has left more than 100,000 people without running water. Meanwhile, the death toll from the intense rain, flooding and landslide has reached 52, nationwide.
- Oakland City, Indiana, USA. Oakland City officials declared a state of emergency after a tornado hit Gibson County with 110mph force, leavings an 18.75 mile swath of destruction from touchdown west of Oakland City into Pike County, a reportsaid.
Day 428 [March 4, 2011]
- Connecticut, USA. President B.O. has declared seven Connecticut counties as major disaster areas, after back-to-back storms dumped more than two feet of snow, destroyed dozens of buildings, a report said.
- Ohio, USA. The Marion County Board of Commissioners have declared a state of emergency in the county following damage caused by widespread flooding, a report said.
- Madagascar. Death toll from tropical cyclone Bingiza has raeched at least 34, according to Madagascar’s National Disaster and Risk Management Bureau. The cyclone which buffeted Madagascar between February 14 and 19, affected more than 200,000 people, left 77,000 others homeless and destroyed vast areas of rice fields, the bureau said.
Day 429 [March 5, 2011]
- Somalia. At least 50 African Union peacekeepers have been killed in Somalia fighting in past two weeks, reports say.
- Ohio, USA. Ashland county has declared a state of emergency, following the widespread damage caused by the flooding throughout the county, a report said.
- Hawaii. “A storm knocked out the power of 14,000 homes and businesses Thursday night. As of Friday evening, Mayor Peter Carlisle was reporting 8,000 homes still without power, 6,000 of who live in Ewa,” a report said.
- Wisconsin, USA. Gov. Scott Walker has declared a state of emergency across southern Wisconsin ahead of a major snowstorm, a report said.
- Florida, USA. Officials in Florida’s Brevard County have declared a state of emergency as a ferocious wildfire consumed up to 20,000 acres. a
The fire is raging about 25 miles north of the Kennedy Space Center, but its dense smoke clouds stretches about 70 miles west through Orlando and north toward Daytona Beach, a report said. “The blaze — which destroyed a mobile home, three outbuildings and three camp structures but is largely confined to wooded areas — threatened 140 other unspecified structures, the forestry division said.”
Day 430 [March 6, 2011]
- SE USA. A violent storm front spawning deadly tornadoes moved through SE United States. A deadly EF2 tornado with winds exceeding 200kmph (125mph) struck the town of Rayne, Louisiana killing at least one person, injuring 4 dozen others and destroying/damaging more than 100 buildings, reports say. The damage prompted the state governor to declare a state of emergency.
- Angola. Torrential rains and severe flooding in the southwestern Angolan province of Namibe has killed at least 25 people, a report said. The extent of damage and numbers of the injured or displaced aren’t known.
Day 431 [March 7, 2011]
- New York, USA. New York state’s Broome and Chenango counties and the City of Binghamton have declared a State of Emergency today following heavy snowfall, reports say.
- N.Y. A state of emergency was declared for the town Jay, N.Y. due to flash flooding. Dozens of people were forced to evacuate their homes.
- N.Y. A state of emergency was declared for Rensselaer County following the severe weather.
Day 432 [March 8, 2011]
- Faisalabad, Pakistan. At least two dozen people have been killed and up to 150 injured after a car bomb blew up a gas station in Faisalabad, Pakistan, reports said.
- Afghanistan. A total of 14 children have been killed in Afghanistan in the past week by the US’s NATO forces and the US-spawned Taliban “insurgents.”
- NY, USA. A state of emergency was declared in Clinton and Essex counties after up to 30 inches of snow fell, reports said. “It did flood ten or twelve homes, four or five of them quite severely. They had to disconnect the power on several of them and there are some displaced people who are staying with friends and family.” Said Essex County’s emergency services coordinator.
- Nigeria. “Lead poisoning linked with illegal gold mining has killed a further 400 children in northern Nigeria since November, the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) said.”
- USA. “The U.S. Supreme Court has upheld liability protections for vaccine makers, ruling that they can’t be sued in state court for design-defect damages.” Said a report. “In its Feb. 22 opinion, the high court ruled 6-2 in favor of vaccine manufacturer Wyeth, now owned by Pfizer.” Meanwhile, Japan continues suspending the use of meningitis and pneumonia vaccines made by both the Pfizer Inc., and Sanofi-Aventis SA, after at least 4 children died shortly after immunization with Pfizer’s Prevenar 13 and Sanofi-Aventis ActHIB products.
Day 433 [March 9, 2011]
- Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province, Pakistan. Up to 4 dozen people were killed and as many were injured in a suicide bombing at a funeral procession in Adezai village, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, north-western Pakistan, a report said.
- New Mexico, USA. A state of emergency has been declared in Lea County, southeastern New Mexico, after grass fires burned more than 65,000 acres in the county since February 23, a report said.
- NY, USA. A state of emergency has been declared in several towns in the Columbia County, N.Y., “due to emergency conditions produced by: heavy rains, snow, Ice and ice melt causing hazardous conditions, road closures and power outages. Such conditions continue to threaten or imperil the public safety of the citizens of this municipality.” Said a report.
Day 434 [March 10, 2011]
- Yunnan Province, China. A5.8 quake struck Yingjiang County in southwest China’s Yunnan Province, killing at least 24 people and injuring more than 200 others, a report said. The shock also destroyed about 1,000 buildings.
- North Carolina, USA. “A 12th infant apparently has died of undetermined causes in military housing at Fort Bragg, N.C., a report said.
Day 435 [March 11, 2011]
- Japan. A Mega Quake measuring 8.9 struck offshore about 130km east of the city of Sendai, triggering a 10-m high tsunami. The quake and ensuing Pacific-wide tsunami caused much destruction along the eastern coast of Japan’s Honshu island. The death toll stands at about 400, as of posting, but it’s expected to rise.
Day 436 [March 12, 2011]
- Japan. A massive explosion at Fukushima Dai-ichi Nuclear Power Plant, tore down the walls of a unit within the facility on Saturday. Several workers were reportedly injured, and Japanese officials said a reactor core meltdown was likely to occur. Tens of thousands of people living within the 20-km radius of the No. 1 plant and 10-km radius of No.2 plant have now been evacuated. Japan’s Prime Minister declared a state of emergency at the two Fukushima nuclear power plants, and soon after it was revealed that as many as 300 people had received varying degrees of radiation, including 60 students at high school in Fukushima located about 3.5km from Plant No. 1, who were waiting to be evacuated.
Day 437 [March 13, 2011]
- Japan. A growing humanitarian crisis looms in Japan. Millions of people are without water, food, electricity, or homes in freezing temperatures. Up to 2 million homes are without power.
- California, USA. California Gov. Jerry Brown has declared a state of emergency in four northern counties affected by the Pacific tsunami after one person went missing, and damage to ports and beaches was reported.
- Oklahoma. USA. A State of Emergency has been declared for all 77 counties in Oklahoma, after a wildfire consumed more than 9,000 acres, destroyed 34 homes and injured 15 people, reports say.
- Mississippi, USA. A State of emergency has been declared in Jones County due to widespread flooding, reports say.
Day 438 [March 14, 2011]
- Japan. A second blast in two days blew up containment building of reactor 3 at Fukushima Daiichi plant, injuring a dozen workers, one of them critically, reports say. Radiation leak was detected outside the building.
- Hawaii. The Governor of Hawaii has declared the state a disaster area following damage caused by the tsunami waves. The damage is estimated at about $3 million, reports say.
- Queensland, Australia. Virtually all of the Australian state of Queensland has been declared a disaster area this summer, areport said. “72 of Queensland’s 73 shires have been affected by flooding or cyclones or both during a season the Premier, Anna Bligh, has called a ‘summer of sorrow.’” Many farms and towns in the western QLD are currently isolated by floodwaters, as torrential rains continue to pummel the northern coastal areas of the state.
Day 439 [March 15, 2011]
- Bahrain. The self-promoted king of Bahrain has declared a state of emergency, effective immediately and to last for three months, according to reports quoting the state TV. To bolster the minority regime, Saudi Arabia has dispatched 1,000 troops and the United Arab Emirates an additional 500 to the capital Manama. “Protesters have blocked all roads leading to the capital’s financial centre, the scene of clashes on Sunday. The protesters are demanding widespread political reforms in the kingdom. Bahrain’s Shia Muslim majority has long complained of discrimination and dominance by the Sunni minority, including the ruling royal family.”
- Texas, USA. The Dallas County Commission has declared a state of emergency following the damage caused by last week’s heavy rains, reports say.
- NYC, USA. The death toll in tour bus crash in New York has risen to 15, local authorities said.
Day 440 [March 16, 2011]
- EQ and Tsunami Zone, Japan. Death toll from Japan’s Megaquake and tsunami in northeastern Honshu has risen to 4,164, NHK television quoted the police as saying. The number of missing, as of today stands at 7,843.
- The disaster however is still unfolding, with the Fukushima NPP reactors facing the threat of core meltdown.
- Some 434,000 people were made homeless and are living in 2,400 shelters throughout 8 quake-ravaged prefectures.
- Lack of water, food, fuel, warm clothes, medicine and other basic essentials pose enormous challenges to the authorities.
- Bahrain. “Security forces with tanks have overrun a square in the centre of Bahrain’s capital Manama where anti-government protesters have been camped for weeks.” Said a report.
- At least 5 people have been killed and more than 200 injured.
- A senior Bahrain opposition MP described the crackdown as a “war of annihilation.”
- “This does not happen even in wars and it is not acceptable,” he told Reuters
- Crete, Greece. “Greek officials say another two bodies have been found off the island of Crete, raising the death toll to 12 after a group of Bangladeshi evacuees from Libya tried to jump ship upon arrival this month.” Said a report.
- Oregon, USA. Oregon Gov. Kitzhaber has declared a state of emergency for Curry County after the damage caused by the tsunami last week, reports say.
- EQ and Tsunami Zone, Japan. Death toll from Japan’s Megaquake and tsunami in northeastern Honshu has risen to 4,164, NHK television quoted the police as saying. The number of missing, as of today stands at 7,843.
Day 441 [March 17, 2011]
- EQ and Tsunami Zone, Japan. The confirmed death toll from Friday’s 9.0Mw megaquake and tsunami has climbed to 5,178, police said. At least 8,606 people are still missing. According to various reports, a number of more remote areas in the megaquake and tsunami zones have not yet been searched for bodies, and the final toll could be higher.
- Libya. Human rights groups say “thousands” have been killed in Libya, since Kadhafi forces launched an offensive against rebel-held areas last week.
- California, USA. USDA has declared San Joaquin and surrounding counties a disaster area after a freeze in late November destroyed about 31% of the region’s olive crop. The other counties included in the declaration are Alameda, Amador, Calaveras, Contra Costa, Sacramento and Stanislaus.
Day 442 [March 18, 2011]
- EQ and Tsunami Zone, Japan. The official death toll from Japan’s megsquake and tsunami has topped 6,500, with more than 10,000 people still missing [see also previous entries.]
- Philippines. Death toll in landslides and floods triggered by torrential rains in the central Philippines has reached at least 11. earlier a family of 7 were buried alive by a mudslide, reports say.
- “A state of calamity has been declared in Leyte and a village in Bohol due to flashfloods that hit parts of the Visayas and Mindanao that has killed at least 11 people and forcing more than 14,000 people to flee their homes.”
- “Aside from Leyte, more than 13,000 people have been displaced, also placed under a state of calamity was Balbalan village in Dimiao town. Reports said the village remained submerged in floodwaters as of press time.”
- Waziristan, Pakistan. Death toll in the U.S. drone attack at a village in the Datta Khel area of North Waziristan has reached at least 44, reports say.
- Illinois, USA. President B.O. has finally declared Cook, DuPage, Lake, Kane and McHenry counties major disaster areas following the mega snowstorm that buried Chicago area and much of the state between January 31 and February 3.
- Massachusetts, USA. President B.O. has declared “a major disaster exists in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and ordered Federal aid to supplement Commonwealth and local recovery efforts in the area struck by a severe winter storm and snowstorm during the period of January 11-12, 2011.” Said a statement by WH.
- California, USA. The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has declared eight California counties as natural disaster aread because of the losses from freezing temperatures and a major storm on November 20 – 24, 2010.
- Western Australia. Extensive flooding in the Kimberley community of Warmun has destroyed 45 homes, damaged 20 others and caused the area to be declared a natural disaster zone, a report said.
- EQ and Tsunami Zone, Japan. The official death toll from Japan’s megsquake and tsunami has topped 6,500, with more than 10,000 people still missing [see also previous entries.]
Day 443 [March 19, 2011]
- United Nations. UN says landmines are still killing or maiming more than 4,000 people annually. They have asked for a paltry $498million “to address the challenge in 29 countries.”
- Yemen. President of Yemen has declared a national state of emergency after 47 people were killed and hundreds of others injured, 55 of them critically, when unidentified gunmen, believed to be army snipers, fired on an anti-government rally from rooftops in the capital Sanaa, reports say.
- Japan. Death toll in Japan’s twin disasters has reached about 7,400 with up to 11,000 still missing.
Day 444 [March 20, 2011]
- Libya. The first phase of collapse in Libya has started.
Day 445 [March 21, 2011]
- Pakistan. Gas explosions at a mine near Quetta, the provincial capital of Balochistan province, Pakistan have killed at least 24 miners and trapped 30 others, reports say.
- Japan. Death toll in Tohoku Megaquake and tsunami has now climbed to about 8,500, with 13,000 people missing.
- Philippines. Death toll from floods and landslides in Visayas and Mindanao provinces has risen to at least 13 with about 200,000 people displaced/affected, the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council said.
- India. “At least 21 inmates of Mizoram Reang refugee camp in north Tripura district were killed in a devastating fire on Saturday.” Said a report.
- Tripoli, Libya. “A Libyan health official said on Sunday the number of people killed as a result of Western air strikes overnight had risen to 64 from 48, a figure given by the government,” a report said.
Day 446 [March 22, 2011]
- Kansas, USA. Gov. Sam Brownback has declared a state of disaster emergency after a large wildfire in Stanton County, an area across the state line to Prowers County in Colorado, reports say.
- New Zealand. NZ govt has extended the national state of emergency for another 7 days, following the Christchurch earthquake, reports say.
Day 447 [March 23, 2011]
- Tokyo, Japan. Up to 210 becquerels per liter of radioactive iodine-131 have been detected in some of Tokyo’s tap water; the safe level for infants is under 100 becquerels per liter. Tokyo residents have been warned not to give tap water to infants, but told the radiation poses no short-term health threat to adults.
- NSW, Australia. Premier Kristina Keneally has declared the towns of Shellharbour, Kiama, Bombala and Bega natural disaster areas after a “month of rain in a day” triggered flooding throughout southeast NSW, the heaviest rain in 33 year, a report said. She said more areas could join the disaster list.
Day 448 [March 24, 2011]
- Kenya. An estimated 2.4 million people in Kenya require assistance with food and esential supplies, according to the latest KFSSG short rains assessment report, Relief Web said. It estimated that some 855,000 people are severely affected in KRCS’s areas of operation.
- Malawi. “Rainfall over the past two weeks has resulted in new cases of flooding and storm damage in Malawi. In the district of Nsanje, 1,323 households have been affected, with 66 collapsed houses. In Nkhotakota district, 72 households have been affected. In Dedza district, 1,658 households have been affected and 414.5 ha of crops damaged.” OCHA reported.
- Namibia. About 4,900 people have been in northern Namibia have been displaced due to widespread flooding, according to the Namibia Red Cross Society (NRCS).
Day 449 [March 25, 2011]
- Japan. Death toll from Japan’s twin Megadisasters has topped 10,000 with about 17,500 people reported as missing. Some 2,800 others were injured as a result of Tohoku Megaquake and the ensuing deadly tsunami.
- Myanmar. A strong quake measuring at least 6.8Mw and two significant aftershocks struck Myanmar near its border with Thailand, killing at least 60 people and injuring more than 90 others in areas close to the epicenter including Tarlay, Mine Lin and Tachileik townships, officials said. The quake also destroyed at least 250 buildings, and damaged scores more.
Day 450 [March 26, 2011]
- Fukushima, Japan. Radioactive iodine in seawater offshore the earthquake-and-tsunami- stricken Fukushima NPP spiked 1,250 times higher than safety limit, Japan’s nuclear safety agency said.
- Ivory Coast. Death toll in Ivory Coast violence has climbed to 462, said a report.
- Thailand. At least 354 districts inf 47 provinces across Thailand have been declared as drought disaster zones, a report said.
- NSW, Australia. “The Eurobodalla has been declared a disaster zone after three bridges on the Tuross River flooded and roads were damaged this week,” said a report.
- Oregon, USA. President Chauncy Gardiner [aka, Barack Obama] has declared the State of Oregon a major disaster area because of damage caused by a tsunami that struck its coastlines earlier this month, reports say.
- NY, USA. The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has declared Brooklyn a disaster area following the record-breaking December snowstorm, a report said.
- Missouri, USA. President Chauncy Gardiner [aka, Barack Obama] has declared as disaster areas 59 Missouri counties, “including eight in Northeast Missouri, that were affected by the paralyzing winter storm that hit the region last month,” a reportsaid.
- USA. Hundreds of Native Americans were sexually abused by Catholic priests at Jesuit schools in Alaska, Idaho, Montana, Oregon and Washington, reports say.
Day 451 [March 27, 2011]
- Japan. More than 27,500 people have been confirmed dead or remain missing 16 days since the deadly earthquake and tsunami struck Japan’s tohoku region. An estimated 244,000 people are still in 1,900 evacuation centers. “Harsh weather is still continuing in the affected areas with snow storms today. The temperature is dropping to minus 6 degrees Celsius overnight and authorities in Miyagi Prefecture say the lack of fuel means they cannot use heaters. 210,000 households (516,600 people) do not have electricity and one million people are without gas.” OCHA reported.
- North Korea. “More than six million vulnerable people are in urgent need of international food assistance, due to a substantial reduction of agricultural production and commercial imports, as well as a decrease or curtailment of bilateral assistance.” OCHA said.
- DR Congo. A Cholera outbreak in areas of Kisangani in Orientale Province in the Democratic
Republic of Congo (DRC) has killed at least 33 and sickened another 537 people, Act Alliance reported.
Day 452 [March 28, 2011]
- California, USA. The city of San Pablo has declared a state of emergency after a large landslide threatened to bury homes, areport said.
- California, USA. Tuolumne County has declared a Local State of Emergency because of damage caused by the latest wave of storms, a report said.
- Sumatra, Indonesia. Authorities in Way Kanan regency, Lampung, have declared a state of emergency following an outbreak of Singaporean flu, or hand, foot and mouth disease (HFMD), a report said.
- North Carolina, USA. Officials have declared a state of emergency in Onslow County, NC and have ordered evacuations as a massive wildfire at Camp Lejeune continues to grow, a report said. The wildfire began on Saturday and by late Sunday had consumed about 4,000 acres, more than half of which was on the Marine base in southeastern North Carolina.
Day 453 [March 29, 2011]
- Thailand. Residents in at least 14 provinces have been warned about “the danger of forest run-off and landslides” after days of torrential rain disrupted “transport, tourism and day-to-day business,” a report said. “This flooding is the worst we have seen experienced in a decade,” a local mayor was quoted as saying.
- About 90 per cent of Narathiwat province have been flooded, “with the water between 40 and 50 centimetres deep.”
- “In Surat Thani, the flood waters are above three metres in places with more than 3,000 households completely cut off.”
- Large scale mudslides and fallen trees have destroyed/damaged major bridges and washed off/blocked roads.
- All train services to southern Thailand have been suspended because of the damage caused by flooding.
- Tens of thousands of tourists have been stranded as major flooding and mudslide forced cancellation of ferry services as well as flights to and from Samui.
- About a dozen people have been killed as a result of flooding and mudslides and a number of others reported as missing since March 23.
- California, USA. Officials in Santa Cruz County have declared a state of emergency following widespread flooding caused by back-to-back storms, a report said.
- “Officials in the San Francisco Bay area city of San Pablo have declared a local emergency to help the owners of several homes that are sliding down a storm-soaked hillside,” a report said.
- Yemen. Death toll in Yemeni ammunition plant explosion has topped 70, with many others wounded, reports say.
- Nepal. Death toll from the country’s 10-year civil war has reached at least 17,265, the Nepalese government said.
- Thailand. Residents in at least 14 provinces have been warned about “the danger of forest run-off and landslides” after days of torrential rain disrupted “transport, tourism and day-to-day business,” a report said. “This flooding is the worst we have seen experienced in a decade,” a local mayor was quoted as saying.
Day 454 [March 30, 2011]
- East Africa. Emergency thresholds in acute malnutrition rates have been reached in Djibouti, Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia and Uganda Karamoja region, UN OCHA said. The lives and livelihoods of about 8,400,000 people have been affected in these areas.
- Namibia. A state of emergency has been declared in northern Namibia after severe flooding displaced about 10,000 people and washed away roads and other infrastructure, and submerged homes and medical centers, reports say.
- “Some 62 people have drowned in Oshakati, 720 kilometres (450 miles) north of the capital Windhoek and 5,000 have been driven from their homes.” AFP reported.
- Thailand. Death toll in widespread flooding and mudslides in southern Thailand has reached at least 21, a report said.
- “The death toll in the Krabi landslide disaster has risen to 12, while 30 people remain unaccounted for,” a Krabi officialsaid.
- At least 2 dozen others have been injured.
Day 455 [March 31, 2011]
- Laos. Thousands of families in central and southern Laos face severe food shortages and are in need of ” immediate and medium term assistance before the next rice harvest in October 2011. People who are already vulnerable to food insecurity after Typhoon Ketsana hit the region in 2009 were struck hard by a 2010 drought lasting throughout June and localized flash floods.” UNWFP said.
- Somalia. Drought has displaced at least 52,000 people since 1 December 2010, “many of them moving to urban areas in search of assistance.” UN OCHA said.
Day 456 [April 1, 2011]
- QLD, Australia. The north Queensland township of Hideaway Bay has been declared a disaster area, after more than 600mm of rain fell in less than 70 hours, triggering large-scale floods and massive mudslides, reports say.
- Tennessee, USA.President Chauncy Gardiner (aka Barack Obama) “today declared a major disaster exists in the State of Tennessee and ordered Federal aid to supplement State and local recovery efforts in the area struck by severe storms, tornadoes, and flooding during the period of February 28 to March 1, 2011.” WH said in a statement.
- California, USA. Small Business Association has declared the 2010 salmon season a disaster, a report said.
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