2024 Disasters in Numbers
<p>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
Natural Disasters
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Relief is priority (editorial)
Neither the west nor the junta should play politics.
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Flood in Dakop in Khulna turns serious
With three more cracks that developed yesterday in an embankment on Shibsha River at Bajua union under Dakop upazila in Khulna district, flood situation has worsened further. Over 3,000 houses of 15 villages under Dakop upazila in Khulna district were inundated as an embankment developed two breaches on Sunday and three more early Monday due to pressure of cross current triggered by high tide.
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Myanmar toll crosses 22000, 41000 missing
Myanmar's government raised its death toll from Cyclone Nargis on Tuesday to nearly 22,500 with a further 41,000 missing, nearly all of them from a storm surge that swept into the Irrawaddy delta. Of the dead, only 671 were in the former capital, Yangon, and its outlying districts, state radio said. The rest were in the vast swamplands of the delta.
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U.S. to send more than $3M in aid to cyclone-hit Burma
The White House said Tuesday the U.S. will send more than $3 million to help victims of the devastating cyclone in Myanmar, up from an initial emergency contribution of $250,000. The additional commitment of funds, announced by press secretary Dana Perino, comes as Myanmar continues to resist entry for a U.S. disaster assessment team. The Bush administration insists that permission for such a team to enter the Southeast Asian nation and look at the damage would allow quicker and larger aid contributions.
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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.
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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
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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.
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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
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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.
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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.