In 2024, the Emergency Events Database (EM-DAT) recorded 393 natural hazard-related disasters. These events caused 16,753 fatalities and affected 167.2 million people. Economic losses totaled US$241.95 billion. The year 2024 was marked by extreme temperature events in Asia that caused thousands of deaths, severe droughts in Africa affecting over 25 …
A rain storm in Chavuma district in Northwestern province on Saturday left a trail of destruction at some government and private properties. Among these included Kalombo secondary school which had its roof blown off from one of its classroom blocks, while the roof at Chiyeke rural health center, a male …
South Africa is recovering from the deadly storm that hit parts of Gauteng and spread to KwaZulu-Natal and the Eastern Cape killing at least nine people. The “supercell thunderstorm” started on Monday in Gauteng and wreaked more havoc in KwaZulu-Natal on Tuesday where two patients of a hospital died after …
In the aftermath of the storms that battered Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal‚ an expert in hydro-climatology from the University of Cape Town has predicted that climate change is likely to influence more extreme weather patterns in South Africa in the coming years. “While it is not possible to look at a …
This study illustrates the development and implementation of a novel rapid response storm impact survey that combined the use of drone based aerial photogrammetry with numerical modeling. The comprehensive approach employed in this pilot case study was conducted on the Emilia-Romagna coast (Italy), in the immediate aftermath of an extreme …
Johannesburg - Severe thunderstorms that hit various parts of the country on Monday afternoon left at least three people dead and eighteen injured. Several homes and buildings were also destroyed and roads flooded. Road accidents during the bad weather conditions killed at least three people. Netwerk24 reported that an accident …
Natural disasters could become more destructive in Asia-Pacific, where a person is already five times more likely to be affected than in other regions, the United Nations warned on Tuesday, urging countries to invest in resilience plans. Home to 60 percent of the world's population, Asia-Pacific is the planet's most …
BERLIN (Reuters) - Strong winds swept across Germany on Thursday, killing six people and forcing the cancellation of trains in Berlin and the north. Police said a woman died when a tree fell on a car carrying her in the northern port city of Hamburg. The driver was taken to …
SAN JOSE (Reuters) - Tropical Storm Nate killed at least 22 people in Central America on Thursday as it pummelled the region with heavy rain while heading toward Mexico’s Caribbean resorts and the U.S. Gulf Coast where it could strike as a hurricane this weekend. In Nicaragua, at least 11 …
In many coastal communities, the risks driven by storm surges are motivating substantial investments in flood risk management. The design of adaptive risk management strategies, however, hinges on the ability to detect future changes in storm surge statistics. Previous studies have used observations to identify changes in past storm surge …
Reuters) - The death toll in Puerto Rico from Hurricane Maria has more than doubled to 34, a spokesman for Governor Ricardo Rosello said on Tuesday. The worst hurricane to hit the U.S. territory in more than 90 years directly killed 19 people, said Pedro Cerame, the governor’s director of …
(Reuters) - A new tropical depression at the bottom of the Gulf of Mexico could cause life-threatening flash floods and mudslides over portions of Central America, the U.S. National Hurricane Center said on Wednesday. “The depression should be nearing the coast of Nicaragua early Thursday, move across northeastern Nicaragua and …
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (Reuters) - Hurricane Maria destroyed buildings and knocked out power across Puerto Rico before flooding parts of the Dominican Republic and then regaining some of its strength as it approached the Turks and Caicos Islands and southeastern Bahamas on Thursday night. The second major hurricane to …
PUERTO RICO - Hurling winds of 160 mph (257 kph), Hurricane Maria struck Dominica overnight, becoming the strongest hurricane on record to make landfall in the island. The hurricane destroyed much of the island that houses 73,000 people and shredded the Dominica Prime Minister's house. Early on Tuesday, Dominica Prime …
BUCHAREST (Reuters) - A strong storm killed eight people and injured at least 67 in western Romania on Sunday as winds of up to 100 kph (over 60 mph) also brought destruction to parts of Serbia and Croatia, officials said. Road and rail traffic in parts of Romania was halted …
Before tearing up parts of Florida, Hurricane Irma ravaged whole Caribbean islands. In doing so, it exposed the strange territorial shreds that make up the region: it destroyed Barbuda, Antigua’s poorer partner in their independent state; it wrecked most dwellings on St Martin, an island divided between France and the …
(Reuters) - Some 4.2 million homes and businesses, or about 9 million people, were without power Wednesday afternoon in Florida, Georgia and the Carolinas after Hurricane Irma battered the region, down from a peak of more than 7.8 million customers on Monday, local utilities said. Most of the remaining outages …
TAIPEI (Reuters) - Taiwan will lift a shipping warning later on Thursday after Typhoon Talim veered away from the island and moved towards Japan but the capital, Taipei, and other cities can expect heavy rains from the storm, meteorologists said. Some flight cancellations could also still be expected as northern …
MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Tropical storm Max formed on Wednesday off Mexico’s Pacific coast, but it was not expected to gain much strength before making landfall near the resort of Acapulco on Thursday, the U.S. National Hurricane Center said. Max was located about 105 miles (170 km) west-southwest from Acapulco …
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Some 5.8 million homes and businesses in Florida and nearby states still had no power on Tuesday after the pummeling from Hurricane Irma, as utility companies scrambled to get the lights back on in one of the biggest power restoration efforts in U.S. history. The total …
TAIPEI/BEIJING (Reuters) - Taiwan issued a maritime warning and airlines canceled some flights as the island braced for Typhoon Talim, which was expected to hit cities including the capital Taipei, before hurtling towards China potentially as a super typhoon. Talim was expected to gain in strength as it sweeps towards …
