The report investigates the broad concept of the economics of drought management, provides a conceptual, two-tier framework for the assessment of proactive and reactive actions, and disseminates case studies
The United Nations estimated 1.5 million people have been "severely affected" by the cyclone that swept through Myanmar, with the United States expressing outrage on Thursday at delays in allowing in aid. In Myanmar, desperate survivors cried out for food, water and other supplies nearly a week after 100,000 people were feared killed by Cyclone Nargis as it swept across the farms and villages of the low-lying Irrawaddy delta region.
Yangon: The first of the UN's relief planes landed in Myanmar on Thursday as a US diplomat warned that the toll in Cyclone Nargis could be over 100,000, signalling a humanitarian crisis way beyond the military junta's estimates so far. Worldwide condemnation of the junta also grew, for keeping US aid planes at bay, even as thousands of hungry people swarmed the few open shops and fistfights broke out over food and water in the swamped Irrawaddy Delta.
Burma's isolationist regime finally gave clearance on Thursday for the first major international airlift of food for survivors of a devastating cyclone after delays that frustrated aid agencies, but US flights remained grounded due to lack of access, officials said. With a death toll that could eventually exceed 100,000, according to a top US diplomat, Burma's generals were still stalling on visas for UN teams urgently seeking entry to ensure aid is delivered to the victims.
Lightning killed 11 persons in north Bengal as a Nor'wester raged through the region this afternoon. Ten of the victims, including a CPM panchayat poll candidate, were from Malda. Taking a break from a hectic campaign schedule, Habibur Rehman, 42, contesting from the Bhado gram panchayat, was sipping tea at a roadside stall, when a bolt from the sky struck him. He died on the spot. Jagannath Mandal, 55, was killed when lightning blew off the roof of his home in Kalichak, while a railway shed in Englishbazar collapsed on 17-year-old Prasenjit Saha.
It was Asia's answer to Hurricane Katrina. Packing winds upwards of 120 mph, Cyclone Nargis became one of Asia's deadliest storms by hitting land at one of the lowest points in Myanmar and setting off a storm surge that reached 25 miles inland. "When we saw the (storm) track, I said, 'Uh oh, this is not going to be good," said Mark Lander, a meteorology professor at the University of Guam. "It would create a big storm surge. It was like Katrina going into New Orleans."
An apparent tornado hit a Mississippi shopping mall as a line of severe storms swept across the Southeast and was headed to the Mid-Atlantic today. Portions of Alabama remained under tornado watches until early Thursday evening as the storm moved east over the Mississippi Valley. The system was due to bring severe storms and wind to southern Virginia today. The storm was due in New England by Saturday, the Weather Channel reported.
Pointing fingers at climate change to be the likely cause of the cyclone Nargis, which killed nearly 22,000 people in Burma, the Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) has cautioned nations to speed up the curtailing of the emission of greenhouse gases.
Geneva: The United Nations said on Wednesday it had obtained permission to fly emergency supplies to cyclone-ravaged Myanmar but aid workers were stsill waiting for visas to enter the country.
The technical and expert committee in its report has suggested introduction of a separate and complete rule for preservation and development of hills in Chittagong to avert casualties and damages of properties during landslides. The committee sent the report to cabinet division on April 21 suggesting measures to stop hill cutting and not to allow housing in foothills, said Additional Deputy Commissioner (Revenue) Md Zafar Alam, also member secretary of the committee.
