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Natural Disasters

  • Burma in call for aid as cyclone deaths rise

    Burma's military rulers told foreign diplomats yesterday that more than 10,000 people had died in the devastating cyclone at the weekend, as the regime made a rare appeal for international help to bring relief to survivors. The diplomats fear a further 3,000 could be missing. The cyclone, which devastated Rangoon, the largest city, and the rice-growing Irrawaddy Delta, reached speeds of up to 120mph as it ripped through the countryside.

  • India to send relief

    India is sending two naval ships with relief and medical supplies to Myanmar where a severe cyclone claimed over 10,000 lives and rendered many more homeless. The ships carrying food items, tents, blankets, clothing and medicines will sail to Yangon from Port Blair, the external affairs ministry announced here. President Pratibha Patil, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and external affairs minister Pranab Mukherjee have sent messages of condolence, expressing their deep distress at the devastation caused by the natural disaster.

  • Myanmar cyclone toll over 10,000

    More than 10,000 persons have been killed in a tropical cyclone that struck Myanmar at the weekend, Foreign Minister Nyan Win told state television, adding that this nation would welcome international aid. "According to the latest information, more than 10,000 persons were killed,' Nyan Win said, after briefing foreign diplomats. "Information is still being collected, and there could be more casualties,' he added. Nyan Win also welcomed Thailand's promise to send emergency food and medicine, saying Myanmar would welcome international aid from other countries.

  • Myanmar cyclone kills at least 351

    At least 351 people were killed and nearly 100,000 left homeless when tropical cyclone Nargis tore through Myanmar, razing thousands of buildings and knocking out power lines, state media said Sunday. Residents awoke Sunday to scenes of devastation after the cyclone bore through swathes of southern Myanmar late Friday and Saturday, uprooting trees, cutting phone lines and water pipes, and clogging streets with debris.

  • Erupting Volcano Prompts New Evacuation In Chile

    Chile prepared to evacuate another town in its remote Patagonian south on Monday, as ash spewed from a snowcapped volcano for a fourth day after its first eruption in thousands of years. President Michelle Bachelet made her way to the small town of Futaleufu, the second town to be evacuated, as residents packed what belongings they could carry. Futaleufu lies around 810 miles (1,300 km) south of the capital Santiago and 100 miles (160 km) southeast of the erupting Chaiten volcano, which is some distance from Chile's vital mining industry further north.

  • Chronology Of Major Asian Cyclones

    A devastating cyclone has killed 10,000 people and left 3,000 missing in army-ruled Myanmar according to provisional estimates, a diplomat said on Monday after a Myanmar government briefing on Saturday's storm. Here is a chronology of some major cyclones in Asia since 1960: Oct. 30, 1960 - BANGLADESH - About 10,000 people are killed after a cyclone packing winds of 210 km per hour (131 mph) hits Bangladesh at night. May 9, 1961 - BANGLADESH - About 12,500 people are killed in a cyclone with top wind speed of 161 kph (101 mph).

  • Floods recede, tab on outbreak of diseases

    Floods in Ratnapura and Kalutara districts have eased but authorities warned of mosquito and water-borne diseases. "Polluted drinking water is the main problem in flood affected areas, while several measures have been taken by Divisional Secretariats in these areas to control the spread of disease," sources said. A team of officers from the National Building Research Organisation (NBRO) would make a visit today to report on the situation that has arisen due to the floods in Ratnapura district, the Officer of Ratnapura District Disaster Management Centre said.

  • Thousands rendered homeless in Myanmar

    More than 350 persons died in Myanmar after a powerful cyclone

  • Thousands Evacuated As Chile Volcano Spews Ash

    Covered in thick ash, the Patagonian community of Chaiten was a ghost town on Saturday as a volcano spewed ash a day after its first eruption in thousands of years forced nearly 4,500 people to flee. Authorities have evacuated most of the southern Chilean town's residents since Friday, sending many by boat to Chiloe Island farther north and to Puerto Montt on the mainland. Some are staying in guesthouses, while schools have been turned into makeshift shelters packed with stores of bottled water after a blanket of volcanic ash contaminated ground water.

  • Over 350 Dead As Cyclone Devastates Myanmar

    A cyclone killed more than 350 people in military-ruled Myanmar, ripping through Yangon and the Irrawaddy delta where it flattened at least two towns, officials and state media said on Sunday. The death toll is likely to climb as the authorities manage to contact outlying islands and villages that felt the full force of Cyclone Nagris, a Category 3 storm packing winds of 190 km (120 miles) per hour when it hit early on Saturday.

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