downtoearth-subscribe

Natural Disasters

  • Myanmar Cyclone Toll Climbs To Nearly 22,500

    Myanmar's military government raised its death toll from Cyclone Nargis on Tuesday to nearly 22,500 with another 41,000 missing, almost all from a massive storm surge that swept into the Irrawaddy delta. The United Nations' World Food Programme began doling out emergency rice in Yangon, the largest city and former capital, and the first batch of more than $10 million worth of foreign aid arrived from Thailand. But a lack of specialized equipment slowed distribution.

  • Asian disasters

    Dec 26 2004 TSUNAMI At least 230,000 people are killed and 43,000 are missing after a tsunami sparked by a magnitude 9.15 earthquake smashes into 13 Indian Ocean countries. More than half the victims are Indonesians, with Sri Lanka and India next worst hit. March 2005 INDONESIA Nearly 1,000 people are killed after an earthquake of magnitude 8.7 strikes off the island of Sumatra. July/Aug 2005 INDIA More than 1,000 people are killed after the heaviest rainfall recorded drenches the western state of Maharashtra. Oct 8 2005 PAKISTAN

  • Emergency Evacuation As Chile Volcano Spits Lava

    Crackling with explosions, Chile's Chaiten volcano began spitting lava on Tuesday following its first eruption in thousands of years, and Navy warships were deployed to evacuate nearby residents in the southern region of Patagonia. Chaiten erupted last Friday, sending a towering plume of ash into the sky that has since coated the surrounding area of southern Chile and reached into neighboring Argentina.

  • Burma aid effort poses dilemma for generals

    For Burma's normally reclusive military rulers, resented by their own citizens and mistrustful of the outside world's intentions, the devastation wrought by tropical cyclone Nargis has posed an uncomfortable dilemma at a sensitive political moment. With the numbers of dead and missing now exceeding 60,000, the generals

  • US appeal to military regime in Burma

    President George W. Bush offered to send US naval forces to help cyclone-devastated Burma yesterday as the number of people dead and missing soared to 60,000. Mr Bush said the US, which has long-standing trade and investment sanctions against Burma, stood ready to "do a lot more to help", but that the ruling generals had first to open the door to the US. "We're prepared to help move navy assets to help find those who have lost their lives, to help find the missing and to help stabilise the situation," said Mr Bush, who has been a fierce critic of the regime.

  • This monsoon, BMC looks to traffic police CCTVs to monitor water-logging

    To tie up with traffic department, railways and cellphone companies to keep citizens informed This monsoon, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation will rope in a brand new slew of initiatives to cause minimum inconvenience to citizens during emergencies or major floods. While civic officials seeking to monitor water-logging will soon approach the Traffic Police to set up a mechanism to obtain video feeds from 64 important traffic junctions that the traffic department's CCTVs monitor for traffic offences, real-time weather updates will also be uploaded on the BMC's all-new portal.

  • US Disaster Team Awaiting Green Light From Myanmar

    Myanmar, which is under heavy US sanctions, has so far refused an offer of help from a US disaster response team after a cyclone killed thousands of people at the weekend, the State Department said on Monday. The US Embassy in Myanmar issued a disaster declaration authorizing the immediate release of $250,000 in assistance after the cyclone hit the impoverished country, State Department spokesman Tom Casey said.

  • Myanmar cyclone death toll tops 10,000

    Myanmar said on Monday more than 10,000 people had been killed in the cyclone that tore into the impoverished and secretive Asian nation at the weekend, and tens of thousands more may also have died. Faced with the devastation, the foreign minister, Nyan Win, said his reclusive nation would welcome international aid, as neighbouring countries and the United Nations said they were ready to assist in the recovery.

  • Erosion threatens Brahmaputra Right Embankment area

    JAMUNA river erosion has taken a serious turn in the Brahmaputra Right Embankment area in Sirajganj and Bogra, so did on the eve of the current dry season. With the changing trends, the mighty Jamuna is directly hitting the flood control embankment at Sailabari and Shimla points under sadar upazila, Shubhagachha and Meghai points under Kazipur upazila in Sirajganj. Similarly, it is also hitting at Bhanderbari point under Dhunat upazila, Talukdarpara and Karnabari points under Sariakandi upazila in Bogra.

  • Myanmar cyclone death toll hits 10,000

    Myanmar said Monday that more than 10,000 people had been killed in the cyclone that tore into the impoverished and secretive Asian nation at the weekend, and tens of thousands more may also have died. Faced with the devastation, Foreign Minister Nyan Win said his reclusive nation would welcome international aid, as neighbouring countries and the United Nations said they were ready to assist in the recovery.

  1. 1
  2. ...
  3. 1314
  4. 1315
  5. 1316
  6. 1317
  7. 1318
  8. ...
  9. 1468